If you think Singapore hasn’t had enough of brown sugar fresh milk, you’re wrong.

The Alley rose to fame quickly as one of the first few brown sugar milk tea speciality stores in Singapore. It’s been years since, with many more bubble tea stores launching their own version of the viral drinks. Admittedly, this sweet treat has lost its hype over the years, but it’s already etched itself into the permanent menu of many stores.

So, does The Alley’s Brown Sugar Deerioca Series, named after their deer logo, taste good? Or did people just hype it up for the novelty factor.

Does The Alley taste good?

To answer the immediate question, The Alley is one of my top choices for a good cup of brown sugar milk tea in Singapore as it uses premium brown sugar and Japanese fresh milk, giving it that richer, deeper flavours, while some other alternatives are just plain cloying.

The Alley’s Brown Sugar drinks are available in: Original ($5.3), Cocoa ($5.8), Matcha ($5.8) and Creme Brulee ($6.3).

While all three drinks has their own unique personality, the original brown sugar fresh milk left the biggest impression on me.

For anyone who is dying from the blistering Singapore heatwaves, their Macchiato Series is pretty thirst-quenching as well. Personally, I love how their Black Tea Macchiato ($3.8) has that touch of creaminess and saltiness which elevates the flavour of the tea. It’s also slightly cheaper than their brown sugar series!

What happened to their cruffins?

If you’re wondering if The Alley still sold cruffins, the sad answer is no. It’s almost like a fever dream. They were one of the first few cafes in Singapore to launch cruffins, only available in their Cineleisure branch in 2019.

However, they quickly removed it off the menu even though they were all damn good.

Here’s what we tried.

The balance of sweet and savory of the filling in their Salted Caramel Cruffin ($5) was perfect. Their Almond Croissant ($5) also had a strong nutty aroma.

Where is The Alley located at?

The Alley has 12 outlets across the island, such as Jewel Changi Airport, Funan and Tampines. If you’d like to know if there’s one near you, you can check out their store locater.