For three years, MajesTea was what owner Chen Xue describes as the only place in Newfoundland and Labrador to find real bubble tea.
Now he says it’s popular enough to expand.
“Customers, people from this community, gave us life to make this business survive,” he said.
Xue opened the store in Churchill Square in St. Louis. John’s in 2019 with the aim of bringing a unique experience to this area of the city.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, business was good, he said. But a year later he was thinking of selling the business. The deal didn’t come, however, and he decided to keep it because he didn’t want to see MajesTea fold.
“The milk tea we are serving is an authentic and traditional Asian milk tea,” he said. “All the flavor comes straight from the tea.”
Some of MajesTea’s proposals: traditional bubble tea made with fresh ingredients. (Elizabeth Whitten / CBC)
This is important to Xue because he said it makes MajesTea drinks healthier. It also means that they are halal, that is, they comply with Islamic laws on food preparation.
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980’s. It is a tea-based drink known for its tapioca balls that sink to the bottom of the cup, and are mixed with milk, fruit and fruit juices. .
Making bubble tea well was so important to Xue that he traveled all over the country trying out different tea shops. Before opening MajesTea, he said, he had traveled around Asia and met with farmers and tea growers to make sure he would have a high-quality product shipped directly to his store. Unlike many stores that sell bubble tea, Xue said, he doesn’t add flavor powder to the drink.
Chen Xue credits customers with surviving the COVID-19 pandemic and plans to expand. (Elizabeth Whitten / CBC)
Stephanie Roberts has been in the store for about a year now, after her friend convinced her to try it.
“She said, ‘You have to try this!’ And I said, “I don’t like bubble tea, but I agree. I like it so much I’ll try it. “And it totally hooked me,” Roberts said.
Although Roberts has tried bubble tea from other stores, he said MajesTea stands out because it uses fresh fruit, making it a higher quality product. Sometimes a menu item can’t be served because the fruit isn’t ready, he said.
He said some people don’t like the texture of tapioca, so MajesTea has a choice with popping pearls: small round balls filled with juice.
“It’s a very welcoming environment. And even if you have in mind that you don’t like bubble tea, there are other things you can achieve,” he said.
Xue said his new location, at 1 Olympic Dr. in Mount Pearl, sharing a roof with Pipers, he will serve the drinks for which his cafeteria is known, with some additions. Luxury desserts such as binsu, a shaved Korean ice cream, are added to the menu.
“Right now all the renovations are done and it’s in the hands of the health inspectors. We are waiting for the final review of the health inspector. Hopefully we can open at the end of this month.”
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