Bubbly Tea, Bubbly Ideas
Originating in a restaurant in Taiwan, bubble tea has spread throughout various cultures worldwide and is becoming a well-known drink. San Jose is now home to more than a hundred milk tea stores where shop owners are designing drinks with distinctive flavors and additional toppings.
Shincha, one of the top milk tea shops in East San Jose based on Yelp reviews, opened in 2015 and continuously provides their customers with healthy food options and unique tea drinks. The store has board games, couches, and wooden tables and chairs for the customers’ enjoyment. The store displays two wide screen menus: signature drinks and food options.
Eranthe Mitome, the co-founder of Shincha, started her shop because her mother became obsessed with bubble tea when countless shops opened.
“Her American dream was to open a boba shop and three years ago, we opened Shincha,” Mitome said.
Her mother’s passion for boba drove her to research tea leaves and boba because she wanted to provide the customers with a wide range of options. Shincha offers fruit and milk tea, tea and fruit slushies, coffee, sandwiches, bowls, and chicken wings.
“Everything in the store is created by my mom [and] she came up with the recipes because it’s all from her head. She has put everything together flavor by flavor with all the teas,” she said.
The owners made the menu very broad with tons of flavors, so it can appeal to all types of customers. The names of the signature drinks are Sabrina’s ideas because she focuses on combining the flavor of the drink and the tea base.
“Some of the signature drinks are from the customers, since they keep coming back and ordering the same thing,” Mitome said.
The Cha Yen Thai, thai tea with sea salt cream and lychee jelly, is on the signature mixes menu because customers created it. Shincha stands out from an ocean of milk tea stores in San Jose because they allow full customization. Customers have absolute control of what they want in their drink, making unique combinations.
Katie L, an employee at Shincha, was a loyal customer before she began working at the shop.
“I come here to study and hang out. I used to get the Cha Yen Thai and I would sub the lychee jelly for pearls,” she said.
The teas are brewed fresh daily and honey boba is made every few hours, ensuring that everything in the drinks are fresh and healthy.
Address: 2487 Alvin Ave
Hours: 11 am to 10 pm
Contest: Use the #Shincha on your post or story of a drink from Shincha and tag @upa.aquila to enter a raffle!
Chelsea Nguyen is a senior entering her third year in journalism. She runs multiple Instagram accounts, including one aptly named “chelsteaa” and a...
