Calling all bubble tea lovers, a new boba shop is “crash landing on you” in Gastown today. Located at 102 West Hastings Street, the 491-square foot cafe Boba Run curates quality, consciously-sourced ingredients for its menu, including an exclusive Korean-inspired collection of boba drinks – a Vancouver first. Think roasted corn, dalgona, yu-ja, and Jolly Pong.
“You can say it was love at first sip as I simply adore boba tea, which is definitely a popular drink in Vancouver,” says Christine Alu, owner of Boba Run. “At Boba Run, our focus is on introducing Vancouverites to new, delicious, and unique flavours using quality ingredients. No milk powders, instead, our drinks feature 100% organic milk or alternative milk such as oat and almond. We also use a house-made organic syrup and have sourced premium teas and tapioca balls directly from Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.”
Its first-to-market Korean-inspired collection of boba drinks feature a variety of brewed teas from Korea, such as roasted barley, roasted corn and Yu-ja tea. Speciality drink flavours include a Korean Oat ‘N Barley Latte; Honeycomb Dalgona Latte (based on a popular candy that was sold on the streets of Korea in the 1970s.) Roasted Soy Latte, Sparkling Honey Yu-Ja Tea (Korean citron); and a Jolly PongShake, featuring Korean puffed wheat breakfast cereal.
Boba Run also has an extensive Matcha Series. They partnered with Vancouver’s Whisk Premium Matcha to find the best Japanese matcha for their drinks. All matcha used are organic, made organically from handpicked young tea leaves through a traditional Japanese grinding technique. The Matcha Series include classic Matcha Latte, Dalgona Matcha, Red Bean Matcha, Matcha Mud Slush, Yu-ja Matcha Slush, and Black Sugar Matcha Latte.
“Whisk Premium Matcha definitely sources some of the best matcha in the world,” adds Alu. “You’ll want to savour every drop in your cup. Our team had a blast creating and taste testing with their amazing matcha. We hope to work with more local like-minded businesses in the future.”
Boba Run makes all their syrups with raw cane sugar instead of processed sweeteners and artificial flavours. Guests have a choice of hot or cold for most beverages on the menu, and can also add toppings, such as boba, lychee jelly, crystal boba, organic chia, honeycomb dalgona, and banana milk pudding.
Boba Run opens today, December 15, 2020 at 102 West Hastings Street. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Guests can order take-out or pre-order via its online store for contactless pick-up.
