College Street may be known far and wide for Toomer's Corner, where Auburn students, residents and visitors sip from cups of flavored lemonade, but soon patrons to downtown Auburn will have the opportunity to enjoy boba tea just a few doors up the street.
Kung Fu Tea, a New York City-based boba tea franchise, is set to soft launch in Auburn in October to allow people to try its selection. The Auburn location, opening at 116 N. College St., will be the franchise's second store in Alabama after Huntsville.
Bin Chen will serve as co-manager of the upcoming Auburn location with his brother, Wayne, and he said it was an absence of boba tea on The Plains that prompted them to franchise downtown.
“Back when my uncle first brought me to downtown Auburn, and I was trying to find if there was a boba tea shop because I drink it almost every day,” Chen said. “I was Googling it, but there was nothing around.”
Boba tea, or bubble tea, is a tea-based beverage that originated in Taiwan in the 1980s that comes with tapioca pearls in the bottom of each cup. Chen’s desire to offer boba tea in the heart of Auburn combined with his background in hospitality motivated him to open a shop in the area, he said.
“My dad owned a Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia,” Chen said. “I am a big boba tea fan. I was like, 'Why don’t we just open a store ourselves?'”
Chen said he traveled back and forth between his home in Philadelphia and Auburn over 10 times in search of the perfect spot to open the shop.
“I came to Auburn before COVID to find a location, but there was no space in the downtown strip,” he said. “Then COVID hits us in March so we were delayed. I came down to Auburn again in late 2020 to see if there is any space after COVID because I knew a lot of stores were shutting down.”
Chen said the soft launch will be functionally identical to the shop's full opening and is planning next month to trial the business barring any unexpected delays.
“We will be serving the full menu,” he said. “We just want to be able to see how things go and figure out things we missed.”
The menu will include a variety of drinks including standard boba milk tea, slushes and coffees. Chen said the shop's operating hours have not yet been determined, but with many downtown businesses staying open into the later hours of the night, Chen anticipates implementing later hours on weekends.
Boba tea buzz
Several Auburn students shared enthusiasm for the new Kung Fu Tea with each giving different reasons for why they enjoy boba tea.
Isabella Jordan, senior in English literature, expressed her excitement about the upcoming opening.
“I think it’s really cool they're opening one downtown; I don’t drink coffee but I do like tea,” Jordan said. “It's a lot less caffeine, and I don’t drink coffee so it's a tasty alternative to get.”
Jordan said she feels more people should try boba tea and cautioned against swallowing the tapioca pearls whole.
Emily Nguyen, senior in chemical engineering, said she is also looking forward to the grand opening and finds the pearls in boba to make it a distinct kind of beverage.
“I am obsessed with boba,” Nguyen said. “I love the texture of the tapioca pearls no matter what kind of drink they’re in.”
Sara Mathews, senior in biomedical and neurosciences, said the shop should be a welcome addition to downtown with high temperatures continuing into late summer.
“I enjoy the different flavors it comes in, and it's honestly just super fun to drink and very refreshing with the weather being so hot right now,” Mathews said.
Nguyen said even if people don't care for the drink's tapioca pearls, boba tea can be customized to one's liking.
“I’ve introduced most of my friends to it, and while some of them don’t enjoy the texture of the traditional tapioca pearls, they love the drinks themselves and there are a variety of other toppings that can be added to replace the pearls,” she said.
With the Kung Fu Tea location less than 300 feet from Samford Lawn, it is well within walking distance for Auburn University students and faculty to stop by when they get a craving for boba tea.
“I think having a boba place is a great addition to downtown,” Mathews said. “It'll be convenient being able to walk and get boba after classes instead of driving off campus.”
Chen said he expects to fully open Kung Fu Tea in Auburn by the end of October after the soft launch. He added that interested customers may download the Kung Fu Tea app to gain access to the various reward programs the franchise offers.
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