On July 17, Final Fantasy XIV started a cross promotional campaign with Gong cha tea stores, offering unique drinks, a free mount with purchase, and collectable key chains. This collaboration was quite the surprise, as it wasn’t region locked like many other FFXIV promos.
As a result, players in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, and all over the world, are able to get in on the promotion and get the mount. I took to the streets of my local city center to place an order at Gong cha and get my own King Porxie mount.
Image Credit: Square Enix/Gong cha
My local Gong cha was incredibly busy when I went in, and it was easy to spot people just there for some tea, and those looking for the FFXIV promotion, because the latter were all ordering three drinks a person. It took about 10 minutes for my drinks to be made, but only because, as mentioned, there was a lot of footfall from the promotional event.
Staff were dutifully asking whether customers wanted the code or the keyring, although you could tell they were a little confused with why more people were opting for the small piece of card than the genuinely pretty nice keychains.
I saw a few people ordering as many as six drinks, to get a code and a keychain, but otherwise most people stuck with just the three. A few had recruited significant others and family to help them drink three drinks. I probably should have done this, instead of trying to tank three teas on my own. Unwittingly, I had made my own Gong cha (Savage) raid…
Image Credit: Esports.net
I ordered each item the “intended” way, with 100% sugar, 100% ice, although usually when I drink bubble tea I go a little lighter on the sugar and ice. I chose regular, rather than opt for the large.
Image Credit: Square Enix/Gong cha
I started off with the Fat Cat Brown Sugar Milk Tea, which looked the tastiest in the early afternoon after a wait and a trip home. As a cold-brew and iced coffee enjoyer this was a big treat, with solid coffee notes, but the inoffensive ease of drinking that a latte gives you. The brown sugar pearls ended up making the end of this drink have a strong liquorice taste, but that was definitely not unpleasant. I’d have this again if I was craving a coffee-based bubble tea.
Image Credit: Square Enix/Gong cha
The Fat Chocobo Mango Frozen Tea was next up and initially I was not sold. But once the tapioca started flowing, the drink really started working. Incredibly refreshing, and actually a good palate cleanser for the Sugar Milk Tea, which was obviously bitter at points. The mango actually tasted like mango, which took me off guard, because I’m used to over-processed mango juice that tastes basically like a citrus fruit.
At this point I did realize that I was in the process of consuming around 3,000 calories of sugary caffeinated drinks, and decided to slow down on finishing each of these, opting for a more ‘sip test’ technique for the final drink.
Image Credit: Square Enix/Gong cha
The Cactuar Matcha Milk Tea was definitely more of a serious drink, for people who really like tea, rather than fruity sugar injections. The sprinkle of matcha right on top meant there was a heavy green tea flavor right from the first sip, and all that delicious complexity that you get from a premium tea – just a little less bitter because of the huge amounts of sugar. I really liked this, but I’m also a big tea drinker, and green tea fan.
Ultimately, how good this was made me give up on the “just sip the final drink” idea, because it was just really tasty. However, I wouldn’t recommend drinking three servings of tea in one sitting, no matter how delicious they were… This definitely wasn’t as difficult as the notorious Black Chocobo (Savage) promotion which saw players eating mountains of KFC, but still better to recruit at least a Light Party for this one.
Image Credit: Esports.net
Now this was actually a little more confusing than usual. Once you get your code card, you’ll need to scratch off the silver layer and reveal your code. That code on the card can only be redeemed at a special redeeming site, and not Mogstation.
Head to redeem.finalfantasyxiv.com to turn that code, into the usual 20-digit code you can enter into Mogstation. Those codes are also timed, and will only function until September 4, at midnight, and appear to be region locked, although this isn’t confirmed. Just makes sure you follow the steps properly!
The drinks were tasty, the promotion easy to get, and the mount looks great. I’d criticize that the mount itself is only a slight modification of the Portly Porxie mount from the Pixie allied tribe quests, but it’s still unique enough in its own right. Also, other promotional mounts, like the Fat Black Chocobo, were redesigns of existing mounts, so it’s to be expected.
Price-wise, I spent £16.50 (around $21.50) on three drinks to get the mount code. Compare this to the average mount in the Final Fantasy XIV Online Store which sells for £13.80 (around $17.50). I think this means they’re roughly comparable, because I also got three drinks, and the collectors cups. To get one of the keyrings, you also needed to buy three drinks. I think that would be a little too pricey for a FFXIV keyring, but if I was at Gong cha again during the promotion, I might pick it up.
Overall, I’d say if I had to pick, the Cactuar Matcha Milk Tea was my favorite, but I’d only recommend it if you’re already a green tea drinker. Otherwise, the Fat Chocobo Mango Frozen Tea was a very easy to drink option for those who prefer fruit teas over traditional brewed beverages.
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Ohhhh so you choose between the code and keychain…
Yeah, unfortunately! This was detailed in some of the posts, but not others. And I think every location is different about what they can offer as well.
At my gong cha the guy let me buy two drinks and a cookie plus he gave me a Keychain and the code. Was doing that for everyone too. So that’s weird that you had to choose. I wonder if my store did it wrong the Keychain is nice too so I’m glad I got one
Yeah your store was doing it wrong. Lucky you. It says one or other on poster outside store, gongcha Instagram and lodestone. And that it has to be 3 drinks, any three of the menu but still 3
I am surprised you thought the matcha had a strong flavor. I tried all 3 with my husband and even at 30% sugar it seemed light on the flavor of matcha. I thought the mango at 100% just tasted like sugar. The brown sugar being the best but still light on flavor and in no way bitter or coffee like…