After bringing in famous Hong Kong cha chaan teng Lan Fong Yuen’s packaged milk tea-in-a-cup, 7-Eleven Singapore is now jumping on the brown sugar pearl milk trend by offering a bottled Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Drink ($2.70 for a 450ml bottle) in their chilled drinks section. And of course, we bought a bottle to try.

The made-in-Taiwan product is produced by a drinks company called Polar, which also introduced a similar, viral, bottled Peach Bubble Tea earlier in January this year. But don’t expect any fresh milk in this brown sugar version — the beverage is made with whole milk powder, powdered creamer, brown sugar and caramel with konjac starch ‘pearls’ (instead of the usual tapioca ones), according to the ingredients list printed on its bottle.

There are apparently no preservatives or artificial colourings added to the drink, according to a claim printed on the bottle, and the drink’s beige hue comes from the brown sugar. The 7-Eleven cashier also gave us a wide bubble tea straw for our purchase. Cute.

Instead of the gloriously bouncy mochi pearls that were crammed into Taiwanese ice cream company Xiao Mei’s delish Brown Sugar Bubble Ice Cream Bars, the pearls in this drink are made from konjac jelly. There’s a good amount of it stuck to the bottom of the bottle, so shake well before you drink.

Here’s a closer look at the pearls. The irregularly-shaped solid lumps are a dull grey colour and plop out like beads when we pour ’em onto a spoon. And sadly, they indeed taste like hard, chewy, flavourless bits of konjac jelly. It's just like we tasted when we tried the so-so bottled Peach Bubble Tea a few months ago.

Here’s our verdict: the brown sugar milk reminds us of the melted gula melaka-infused dregs that you get in a bowl of chendol. While we can taste caramelly brown sugar, which isn’t bad, the ‘milk’ in this drink is disconcertingly artificial. Unsurprising, considering it’s made from milk powder and powdered creamer. It’s also pretty sweet — since you’re already loading up on sugar, just go for a satisfying cup of freshly-made brown sugar pearl milk lah.

Available at selected 7-Eleven outlets islandwide. www.facebook.com/pg/7Eleven.Singapore.

PHOTOS: YIP JIEYING