Is boba tea the new coffee in Minnesota?

Has "Let's grab boba" replaced "Let's grab coffee"?

It might look like it, as more Minnesotans are embracing the milky tea with its hallmark small black "pearls" and the number of shops serving it swells, especially around college campuses and shopping malls.

The drink, which originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s, came to the United States with Taiwanese immigrants in the 1990s. The traditional recipe calls for tea mixed with milk and chewy tapioca balls, called boba in Chinese. Now, bubble tea comes in several variations: pure tea, chai tea, matcha and cheese cream foam, and with all kinds of mix-ins, from red bean and grass jelly to chewy mochi and popping boba. (The terms bubble tea and boba tea are interchangeable.)

There are many bubble tea shops in Minnesota, but two — Mu Mu Tea in Minneapolis and Tin Tea in Northfield — have striking similarities. Both are owned by young adult entrepreneurs (with no food business background), and both stem from a love for the tea and a goal of bringing a taste of their cultures to the communities they serve.

Tin Tea

Chau Truong would crave bubble tea when she visited Asian markets with her parents. And she used to hear her classmates at St. Olaf College in Northfield complain, "Why do we have to drive 40 minutes for bubble tea?"

To solve both issues, Truong, a former barista, took matters into her own hands and opened Tin Tea in 2021 — at age 19. The brightly colored, Instagram-friendly shop was an instant hit.

"It felt impossible," Truong said of running a business while being a full-time student. During Tin Tea's first year, she worked every hour the store was open — 70 hours a week — while maintaining a 3.88 GPA.

It was a family affair: Her parents offered financial support; her boyfriend drove her to food safety classes and helped manage the store; her older brother helped design the store logo; and the store is named after her younger brother, Tin.

"I'm really thankful that I was raised in a family that prioritized working together instead of working as individual parts and pieces," Truong said.

For Truong, growing up in a Vietnamese family that always cooked in bulk and shared meals together, food became "a natural language to express love and care."

"I've always asked people 'Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?' so getting to do that for hundreds of people that come into Tin Tea every day is so huge for me," Truong said.

Within months of opening, and at the request of customers, Truong added bánh mì, the traditional Vietnamese-style sandwich, to the menu. The recipe was from her parents, who are originally from Ho Chi Minh City. Spring rolls soon followed.

The move also gave Truong — and Tin Tea — a higher purpose. With a lack of Vietnamese food in town, Tin Tea was a chance to shine a spotlight on Vietnamese culture, and for its owner to be an inspiration for girls and BIPOC children.

"Growing up in Faribault and Northfield, I didn't have a lot of role models that looked like me, so it was really hard for me to believe I could become a successful businesswoman of color," she said. "I not only look at my younger self for motivation to work hard, but I hope just to inspire all the little girls to be able to have the confidence in themselves to do something like this."

2010 Jefferson Road, Suite C, Northfield, tinteamn.com; open Wed.-Sat. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Mu Mu Tea

Amid a cluster of Asian restaurants and dessert shops near the University of Minnesota, you'll find Mu Mu Tea, the dream of spouses Zhi Li and Molly Shao.

Shao, an avid bubble tea drinker, had wanted a shop of her own. When the couple learned the space below the WaHu Apartments was about to become available, they immediately embarked on what Li called a "very lucky" business venture.

With no previous experience, Shao opened Mu Mu Tea in 2019, three years after graduating from the U. But she did her homework, flying to Taiwan and mainland China to learn how to make milk tea and fruit tea from Taiwanese bubble tea shop experts.

"We actually flew in two people from Taiwan to help us get started," Li said.

Mu Mu Tea's first day was still chaotic. Thinking a "buy-one-get-one-free" promotion could be good for drawing business, Shao and Li weren't prepared for the surge of customers they would get and quickly ran out of milk.

"Our friend went to a nearby supermarket to buy milk for us. I think he cleared the shelf," Li said.

COVID-19 hit soon after they opened, and Mu Mu Tea went into survival mode, like many other food businesses. That's when Li decided to quit his full-time job to run the shop with Shao.

"All of a sudden, people didn't want to come out of their dorms or apartments anymore. So, it was really a period where just me and my wife were working in the store," Li said.

They also got a lot of support from the community. Li remembers on a late night, staff from a nearby hospital placed an order with a heartwarming note thanking them for always making great drinks.

But the couple have their sights set on more than bubble tea; Li and Shao are bringing more Chinese tastes and traditions to the Twin Cities. Mu Mu Tea features unique flavors inspired by Chinese ingredients, such as taro milk tea, longan red date milk tea, and purple rice milk tea. Customers will also find treats like wheel cakes, a popular Taiwanese dessert made from a waffle-like batter cooked in cast iron pans, with fillings such as red bean, matcha, taro and salted egg yolk.

And while they don't want to open another Mu Mu Tea, they do want to expand their reach and their creativity.

They recently launched Mu Mu Mochi in Maplewood Mall, which features milk mochi, a chewy Taiwanese dessert made from glutinous rice flour, sugar and milk. It also serves mochi doughnuts, a fusion pastry that crosses traditional American doughnuts and Japanese mochi.

"We're always experimenting with new stuff," Li said, "It's never going to be the same store replicating in a million places. So, I have a feeling our third store might again be different."

313 Huron Blvd. SE., Mpls., mumuteausa.com; open Sun.-Thu. noon-9:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. noon-10 p.m.

Bubble tea guide

If you're new to bubble tea, Chau Truong of Tin Tea and Mu Mu Tea's Zhi Li have some tips on where to start:

Truong recommends starting with Tin Tea's fun menus, "like our Barbie menu or our fruit tea with popping pearls. I feel like people get addicted to those pretty fast," she said.

Li discovered that many people like strawberry-related drinks, especially new customers. Mochi strawberry jasmine milk tea from Mu Mu Tea's summer menu has been a popular choice.

Most boba stores can adjust sugar and ice levels, so request the sweetness you think you'd like. You also can customize your drink by adding more mix-ins.

Don't be afraid to experiment.