Popa tea suddenly became popular in the inland northwest with several new stores and suppliers in the area Activities in the land area

2021-11-13 06:18:14 By : Ms. Clean Simple

Boba tea-also known as bubble milk tea, bubble milk tea or milk tea-with its super fat straws and black tapioca pearls floating on the bottom, it is essentially an eye-catching drink. Its popularity quickly became popular in the northwestern inland areas.

Boba tea is not new; it has been around for decades since it was introduced to Taiwan in the late 1980s and quickly became popular in Asia and the world. However, you may be different based on the surge of new Boba tea shops that have opened in the area in the past year or two.

One of the newcomers is BocoPop, a free lake tea and coffee shop launched at the end of 2020.

Steven Kelly, the boss of BocoPop, believes that the main reason bubble tea seems to be popping up all over here suddenly is that the drink is almost infinitely varied.

"This is a specialty beverage that can be highly customized in addition to tapioca flour and milk," Kelly said.

For example, at BocoPop, home-made blends include customers’ favorite Tiger Milk (a creamy caramel-colored brown sugar milk and tapioca pearl blend), as well as bright pink and orange longan tea made from lychee jasmine green tea and Dragon fruit puree.

"It's definitely an eye-catching and cool look," Kelly said. "People eat and drink with their eyes, and we are very proud of Boba's aesthetics."

In addition to the most traditional combination of tea, milk and tapioca pearls, boba drinks also include smoothies and refreshing fruity teas.

Tapioca pearls are made from the white starchy pulp of cassava tubers. In addition to the standard black, there are different flavors, colors and shapes. Popping boba is a colorful pearl filled with juice that explodes in the mouth when chewed. Lychee jelly and other chewy fruit-flavored chunks can also be substituted for tapioca flour.

Although the import of cassava pearls has been particularly affected by supply chain issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic, local shopkeepers said they are not worried about running out. As a precaution, some people order slightly more boba than usual, but other components such as boba straws and beverage cups are occasionally difficult to purchase.

Then there is cheese foam.

"Cheese foam is not like cheddar or Kraft singles," Kelly explained. "It's like a cheesecake, and it works like a creamer and coffee. It produces a rich creamy flavor, which is different from the consistency of a milkshake, accentuating all the flavors."

Another factor that prompted the re-emergence of bubble tea in the inland northwest is that it is easy to find bubble tea in larger metropolitan areas such as Seattle, Vancouver, British Columbia, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Until recently, transplants from these areas found that the area lacked tea options.

Sisters Cynthia and Mindy Bach founded their mobile boba business Tea's Company as a farmers’ market pop-up store in 2019. She said that in the Bay Area community where they grew up, with friends or family It is very common to go out to buy bubble tea.

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"I think it's interesting when people call boba a trend, because I guess as Asian Americans, having this kind of stuff is really normal for us," said Mindy Bach.

Awaken Coffee 5767 N. Atlas Rd., Coeur d'Alene

Black Straw Tea Bar & Kitchen 11808 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley

Boba Bubble 4750 N. Division St. (Northtown Mall)

BocoPOP 21980 E. Country Vista Dr., Liberty Lake

Bubble Tea 14700 E. Indiana Ave. (Spokane Valley Shopping Center)

Kokoro Ramen & Boba Tea Time 509 N. Sullivan Rd., Spokane Valley

Lalozy Food & Coffee 13917 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley

Le's Teriyaki & Pho 2018 N. Hamilton St.

Poke Express & Boba Tea Time 12208 N. Division, 113 W. Indiana Ave., 2829 E. 29th Ave.

Poke King 905 S. Grand Blvd.

Tea's Company Mobile Food Trailer

Tea Boba Bar 1227 W. Summit Pkwy.

Vina Asian Restaurant 2303 N. Ash St.

She pointed out that recent changes in the boba market have also promoted the development of this beverage.

"It's like reinventing the old boba, using real milk and real fruit puree [instead of powder]. Some shops even make the boba themselves instead of drying it," Bach said.

At Tea's Company, ordering boba drinks is a simplified process. This provides a novice-friendly and ultra-customizable experience for boba enthusiasts.

First, customers choose a base material, either milk tea or fruit tea. Two non-tea beverages, strawberry and taro milk are also provided. Then choose how much sweetener you want to add to the drink, as well as any additives: boba, jelly and sea salt cream, and non-dairy milk substitutes.

Although Tea's Company was closed last year due to the pandemic, this season it rotates weekly at Fairwood, Kendall Yards, South Perry and Spokane Valley farmers markets. In the end, the Bach sisters hope to open a permanent tea house.

Other local boba shop owners have also entered the industry, sharing familiar drinks with the community.

Zane Huang, who came to the area through China and Las Vegas, opened his popular Black Straw Tea Bar in Kobe Hibachi Sushi and Bar in 2019. He moved to a space in Spokane Valley in mid-2020 and added a full pan-Asian cuisine menu.

"The reason bubble tea is popular in Spokane is because many people have moved to Spokane from different places in recent years," Huang said. "A lot of people know about making tea."

Tong Yan Liu and Colleen Wilbur, the co-owners of the Tea Boba Bar opened at Kendall Yards last month, also learned about the popularity of boba tea in big cities. When the Paper & Cup coffee shop closed last year, the two saw an opportunity to open an elevator-free Boba tea shop in the space, and quickly began to study this specialty drink. The owner of The Tea also works in management at Umi Sushi Bar & Kitchen near the block.

"We thought,'Why not?' We were just doing takeaway due to the lockdown, so we took over this new project because we thought it would be very beneficial to the Kendall Yards community because we have a lot of pedestrian traffic," Wilbur Say.

The Tea’s drink menu has been carefully designed to encourage customization, from milk tea to smoothies, and even Red Bull Italian soda. According to the customer's request, Thai iced tea will be added soon, and when the weather gets cold, Wilbur said they will launch hot drinks. Boba at The Tea (and most other local stores) is freshly made several times a day.

"The bubble tea market is constantly growing, and people have more and more understanding and understanding of its existence," Wilbur said. "However, I think part of the reason is the changes we have seen from the coronavirus and some new developments brought about by population growth. Business owners are looking for concepts and know that people like to make tea so much. This is right now." ♦

The original print version of this article was titled "Bubble"

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