Ep 238 | Kristin McCoy-Ward: Everything About Bubble Tea from the "Bobba Queen‪"‬ Talking Taiwan

How is it that I haven’t done an episode about bubble tea? It’s surprising that of all the things related to Taiwan, that I’ve covered on this podcast, I haven’t covered this one.
 Last year I heard that April 30th was National Bubble Tea Day when I saw a tweet by President Tsai Ing-wen. So I got to work planning to release an episode about bubble tea for this year’s April 30th.


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I started off speaking to New York-based bubble tea shop veteran Sam Lin who brought the Quickly bubble tea brand from Taiwan to New York. His first Quickly shop was in Flushing near the public library on Kissena. Now he runs 22 Coco bubble tea shops in New York, New Jersey and Boston. Sam’s mother is a street vendor in Taiwan selling douhua (a sweet dessert tofu) and Sam grew up eating douhua with tapioca balls long before there was this thing called bubble tea. Sam had some interesting things to say about the origins of bubble tea and who invented it.
 As I was getting this episode ready for the end of April, I also spoke to Borcheng Hsu, organizer of the Bubble Tea Festival in New York, who clarified the origins of National Bubble Day.
 And finally, I came across a YouTube channel called Bubble Tea Kristin. It’s an amazing resource for almost everything related to bubble tea. Kristin has recipes for those wanting to make bubble tea drinks at home. In the past she’s owned and run several bubble tea shops and what she does now is help people who dream of opening their own bubble tea shop. I wanted to find out why she’s been called the “Boba Queen,” so I looked her up and invited her to be a guest on Talking Taiwan.
This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.
 
NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:
1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,
2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,
3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,
4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,
5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.
 
To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com
 
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
 
             
·         The origins of bubble tea and who invented it
·         Why National Bubble Tea Day is on April 30th
·         What should New York City celebrate as bubble tea day
·         Kristin the “Boba Queen”
·         Where Kristin’s love and interest in bubble tea comes from
·         How she learned about the bubble tea business and opened her own bubble tea shops
·         How she sold her bubble tea business at the beginning of the pandemic and now mentors and helps other people to open bubble tea shops
·         How her past experiences and childhood prepared her for being an entrepreneur and business owner
·         How it’s difficult to be profitable in the first year of running a bubble tea shop
·         What it takes to have a successful bubble tea shop
·         How to get the right texture for the tapioca pearls in bubble tea
·         The different types of tapioca pearl balls and toppings
·         How long tapioca pearls last after they are cooked
·         Kristin’s visit to Taiwan in 2018
·         How bubble tea shops are popping up all around the world
·         The different flavors of bubble tea that Kristin created for her shops
·         How bubble tea has e