New Bubble Tea Cafe Opens In Fredericton
FREDERICTON–Multi-coloured foil balloons spelling out “hurray” are still hung on the wall of Ami Tea and there’s confetti on the floor. Twenty-eight-year-old owner Doan Tran sits at a table near the window.
He held Ami Tea’s grand opening on February 12, the day after the café passed its health and safety inspection.
Ami Tea is a new café featuring bubble tea—a flavored milk and tea drink with chewy tapioca balls (called boba) that add texture. The popular drink originated in Taiwan.
“Young people in my country don’t drink coffee a lot, they drink bubble tea all day,” Tran tells Huddle.
Three young women come into Ami Tea shortly after 11 a.m., when the doors officially unlock. They order a variety of bubble tea and walk out again, chatting happily.
Tran is from Vietnam and moved to Canada in 2017. He studied electrical engineering at NBCC in Saint John and moved to Fredericton to pursue a job opportunity with Smart Skin Technologies in July 2021.
Tran decided to open a business in his spare time.
“I decided, maybe it’s time to take a risk and bring flavours from home to a new country,” he says.
He had previously worked as a shift manager at KFC, where gained experience in the service industry,
Tran says he started the paperwork to open Ami Tea in March of 2021. He says the paperwork to get into the building took the longest, while construction took two months.
Eleven months after he started the process, Ami Tea was finally able to open its doors.
Ami Tea is a franchised restaurant that originated in Calgary, Alberta in 2018. It started as a small, family-owned Taiwanese milk-tea and Vietnamese bánh mì vendor. It now has locations across Canada.
Tran was familiar with their Saint John location.
The menu offers 96 drink options. From tea drinks like Oreo Macchiato Milk Tea, Watermelon Milk Tea, and Honey Green tea, to slushies, “Ami Fruit Drinks,” coffee, and lattes.
There are 16 options for toppings to add texture to the drinks. There is kiwi, blueberry and strawberry boba, as well as tapioca, mango and white pearl, and lime or lychee jelly.
Ami Tea offers milk substitutes, like almond, oat, and coconut milk.
“I think it’s a good thing, you provide more options for people, the more people know about it, the better,” says Tran.
While he doesn’t currently have the manpower, Tran hopes to eventually add food to his menu, as well as ice cream, snow cones, and waffles.
So far, Tran says, he is seeing a lot of repeat customers.
“Everything’s going really well, I’m happy,” he says.
Mary Allan is an intern with Huddle in Fredericton. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].