Thompson Minter, like many other KU students has had many different
part times jobs during his college career. This April he was looking to find a
new job, because his schedule at Chipotle conflicted with his school schedule.
Minter, the barista at the House of Cha, chose to take the job and make bubble
tea in the tea-shop at 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, 12 a.m. to 9 p.m. on
Saturdays and 12 noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
“After getting hired at the House of Cha, I am better able to maintain
my academics and my work responsibilities,” Minter said.
Minter wakes up around two and a half hours before his shift, because
he must come in an hour and a half before the shop opens.
“I get to the store and start to cook the pearls which take over an
hour to cook completely,” Minter said. “I stock the shop full of supplies:
cups, straws, ingredients, etc. I am ready for the day.”
At the end of the day, Minter must count the money and clean
everything before he can close the shop and goes home.
“It is important to clean everything very thoroughly because it gets
very sticky,” Minter said.
History
Bubble tea is a drink made with a tea and mixed with milk or fruit
flavors with small chewy tapioca balls. Some people call the balls bubbles or
pearls. The bubble tea comes with a big fat straw, so people can drink the tea
and chew the pearls at the same time. Chris
Smith the owner of House of Cha says the drink was invented in Taichung,
Taiwan.
“Taiwan
has claim to have invented bubble tea, but it became popular in the 80s as an
after-school treat for kids,” Smith said.
Bubble tea has been spreading in popularity over the past five years
in the rest of the world such as Asia, Europe and United States. McDonald’s
started to sell bubble tea to its customers this June in Germany. People can go
to every McDonald’s in Germany to order bubble tea. They are many places that
provide an opportunity for Lawrence people to try and enjoy bubble tea.
“I think it is interesting that a part of modern Asian culture is
spreading so rapidly through these parts of the worlds,” Minter said. “It may
seem small, but bubble tea is something that many people can find common ground
on.”
Where to get in Lawrence
House of Cha is located on the corner of the 9th
Street right next to the WheatFields Bakery Cafe and has been open since 2003.
The shop was own by a couple and the wife was from Taiwan. Then Christ Smith
and his fiancé bought the shop from the couple last year, because the previous
owners moved back to Taiwan.
“My fiancé is very passionate about bubble tea and we found a
promising business venture in Lawrence,” Smith said.
Smith has about 15 years of cooking experiences. His first job was
working backstage at concert venues preparing food for the bands and their
crew. He has learned cooking skills from many different chefs from many
different backgrounds along the way in some of Overland Park’s restaurants.
Right now, he is putting his specialty and focus in order to make the best bubble
tea for his customers.
“The goal of House of Cha is to bring quality bubble tea with
fast and with great customer service,” Smith said. “We hope to expand and have
many locations some day.”
According to Smith, the basics of creating a bubble tea are that
the tea and flavor powder or syrup is placed with ice and sugar into the shaker
and shaken until dissolved. The pearls require a complex cooking process that
takes several hours for each batch.
Calories
One cup of bubble tea is about 240 calories to 340 calories,
depending on the flavors people get and quantity of the pearls in it. It is
about the same calories as people get from cheeseburgers. This will not stop
the University of Kansas student Yunchen Liu from drinking bubble tea, because
she can customize her drink and minimize
the calories.
“I love bubble tea so much and I must to drink it at least once a
month,” Liu said. “I always ask them to use skim milk and put less sugar or no sugar in my bubble tea.”
Thompson Minter thinks there are going to be more people in Lawrence
who will start drinking bubble tea because of the large number of international
students, the growing Lawrence economy and the large customer base they already
have.
“I think it is only a matter of time of when it will become more
popular,” Minter said.
To see the diagram of bubble tea.
To watch the video about why do Asian students like to drink bubble tea in Lawrence?
Reported by Hao Hsuan Niu in Lawrence Kansas
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