A new business that opened downtown in late July offers what its owner calls a first for Brookings.
CupATea at 319 Sixth Street across from Wells Fargo Bank, brings something new to Downtown Brookings as it is the “first and only authentic boba shop in Brookings,” owner James Nguyen said. It is open 10:30 a.m.- 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Sundays.
“We don’t want to sound obnoxious, but we do claim to be the first and only authentic boba shop,” Nguyen said. “We want people to come in and compare what we offer and see the difference between our drinks and others. Once we are tried and accepted as the only authentic, we think that reputation will help with our sale.”
So, what is boba tea anyway?
Boba refers to the topping of the drink. The tea in the drink can be either milk or fruit tea. When you put it together you have a flavored tea with a topping that goes to the bottom of the drink.
“It’s more of a snack in your drink,” Nguyen said.
On a recent weekend, two customers, Mika Brown and Storme Howie, were sampling CupATea’s drinks and both gave the store a thumbs-up.
“It’s so much better than other places that serve boba around here,” said Howie, who always gets the salted caramel milk tea.
Brown said, “It’s one of the best boba shops I’ve ever been to. I usually get the jasmine milk tea with tapioca pearls.”
Since late July, Nguyen has brought this new concept to Brookings and business has been “OK,” he said. Now that the college students have returned for the school year, sales have increased.
“We’re pretty happy about that and I hope with more time more people will know about it and try it because they will have a different type of drink compared to the other ones in Brookings,” said Nguyen.
When starting a new business in downtown Brookings, it can bring a few challenges for owners. For Nguyen, the problem is that people aren’t aware of the shop and many people hesitate to try things from other cultures.
“Some hesitate to try something completely unknown [to them] so with time we hope people will try and recognize it’s not like trying a completely new food,” Nguyen said. “New food is much harder to [become] accustomed to. Who likes wasabi at first try? Yet it is so popular.”
The shop ran out of ingredients on Aug. 4 in the first week it was open combined with some staffing situations, the shop had to close for a few days to get things in order.
“But now we should be OK,” affirmed Nguyen. “Occasionally we will run out of things but not a lot.”
“CupATea has certainly brought something new to the downtown scene,” said Kirsten Gjesdal, executive director of Downtown Brookings, a group that promotes the Brookings area.
“Having great options like that, for people to come by and have a snack, is something that we’re missing in our downtown,” Gjesdal said. “People can kind of grab it and go in the middle of the afternoon. [CupATea] is not a coffee shop; some people don’t want caffeine. It’s kind of a hipper, in trend, beverage, too. Having something like that [has] pulled in the younger crowd.”
Gjesdal described downtown Brookings as having a neighborhood-feel because of the setup of the buildings and she is happy to see businesses opening downtown. For many small-business owners, they will choose to open downtown because they will get more customers and are more visible than starting somewhere different.
Nguyen also owns Brookings Nails & Spa, which has been open for a year and decided to open CupATea, after a year in the making.
“When I wanted to get a good drink, I would drive all the way to Canada, where my family lives, and order about 40 cups of milk tea to put into a cooler to bring back,” Nguyen said. “In the past 10 years, I didn’t see anyone opening a boba shop, so I decided to open my own.”
He added that CupATea is original, from the franchise itself to the recipes for the drinks.
“We make most of our drinks from scratch and use only premium ingredients imported from Taiwan. Come and see the difference,” Nguyen said. “To those who haven’t tried, here’s a chance to experience a piece of Asian cuisine and culture, right here in Brookings, South Dakota.”
