The popular Taiwanese drink commonly consists of green or black flavoured tea typically with chewy tapioca balls (that act as the ‘bubbles’) and can include milk. Other popular toppings include popping boba (encased spheres of syrup or juice), jelly or fruit.
Customers can adjust sugar and ice levels to their bubble tea as the beverage boasts to be a healthier alternative to other sweet drinks.
“We wanted to use a lot of fresh fruits to make it healthier," said Sina. "People want to have weight control and want a more healthier drink so they can have it every day.”
Zhang and Sina thought about opening a bubble tea shop last summer and began looking for property to open a store in January.
They chose Peterborough since it was a big city in the Kawarthas with a potentially large untapped market for bubble tea according to Zhang. Originally from Toronto, he and Sina believed opening a store in Peterborough would get people familiar with the famed beverage.
"Bubble Tea is already popular in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area),” he said. “Most people (here), I think still don't know what bubble tea is.”
The pandemic created several obstacles for the couple but they persevered in getting their shop up and running. The owners anticipate a shipment of decorations to come in soon before their grand opening at an undisclosed date.
"Of course it's very exciting, we actually did it," said Zhang. "During the time of the renovations, all the supplies were short and the inspections were behind."
Zhang had the idea of opening a store last summer while visiting a friend who went to school at Trent University.
“There are not many Chinese restaurants here so he would always drive to Toronto just for bubble tea,” he said. “That was the first idea that told me that I should start searching out and plan to open up a store in Peterborough.”
The café is offering 20 per cent off all its drinks during the soft launch until their grand opening.
"All the people coming with the feedback, we made the right choice to have it here and I think people like our drinks so I'm happy to see people that walk away with happy faces when holding our drinks,” said Zhang.
