After seven years in Iowa, Aom Meesangkaew missed bubble tea.
"I am a big bubble tea fan," she said. "When I was in Thailand, I drank bubble tea like three or four times a week."
Meesangkaew moved from her native land to pursue a Ph.D. in hospitality management at Iowa State University. She told her husband, Nick Apichatwoot, that she was determined to open a bubble tea cafe in Des Moines, serving the drinks she loved from Thailand. After graduating in 2019, she took classes on making bubble tea.
With recipes carefully developed to match the drinks she remembered, she opened Ocha Bubble Tea & Dessert Cafe at 7216 University Ave. in Windsor Heights on Sept. 10. It sells a wide variety of bubble teas and bingsu, a Korean shaved ice dessert. "Ocha" is Japanese for "tea" and Thai for "delicious."
The store was an instant hit, Meesangkaew said, with a two-hour wait on its opening day. She had ordered supplies to last her through the first month of business, but she sold out of several flavors within the first week.
"We ended up having almost 100 people lining up in order to come in and get the drinks," she said.
More: New restaurants continue to open in Des Moines metro, though pandemic is putting a bite on their business
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. The most common variety is a sweet milk tea, served over ice and with chewy tapioca pearls, called boba, at the bottom. There are seemingly infinite variations of the drink: some with fruit flavors, with jelly or "popping" boba, and some without any tea at all.
Bubble tea grew in popularity as it moved through East and Southeast Asia and, eventually, to the United States. Google Trends show U.S. interest in bubble tea and boba tea growing over the past 16 years.
Iowa has been slower to adopt the trend. There are some scattered bubble tea shops across the state, mainly in college towns — Ames, Iowa City and Cedar Falls. In Des Moines, there's 8 Degrees Ice Cream & Boba near Drake University, and a few Vietnamese restaurants offer it as a sideline.
Meesangkaew said her store currently limits entry to five customers at a time to promote social distancing. Ocha does not currently offer curbside pickup — Meesangkaew said meeting customers face-to-face is important, especially for Iowans trying out new varieties of tea.
"I realize that sometimes it's kind of (a) new thing for Iowans here," she said. "That's why we need time to talk, to guide the customers."
Ocha Bubble Tea & Dessert Cafe is open from noon-8 p.m. every day except Mondays.
Ocha Bubble Tea & Dessert Cafe
Hours: Noon-8 p.m.Tuesday-Sunday
Location: 7216 University Ave.,Windsor Heights
COVID-19 precautions: Limited entry to the store. No curbside or delivery options available yet.
Website: Visit Ocha Bubble Tea & Dessert Cafe on Facebook
Katie Akin is a retail reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8041. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.
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September 23, 2020 at 07:04PM
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Ocha Bubble Tea & Dessert Cafe opens in Windsor Heights, offering a treat that's still rare in Iowa - Des Moines Register
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