A bubble tea cafe is set to open in a Cardiff shopping centre. Bubble CiTea has locations across the UK but will open its first ever Welsh branch in the capital later this year.
It will serve up variations of the Taiwanese tea-based beverage which has dominated high streets in recent years. The drink, also known as boba tea, is made by blending tea with milk, fruit or fruit juices and adding chewy tapioca balls.
Bubble CiTea will open in St David's shopping centre in a unit previously occupied by Yankee Candle. While an opening date is yet to be revealed, hoarding has been erected outside the unit promising that the tea store is 'coming soon'. Get the latest food and drink news from across Cardiff sent straight to your inbox by signing up to our free newsletter.
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The first Bubble CiTea outlet opened in Guildford in 2013 with the brand going on to open over 35 stores in cities across the UK, including Sheffield, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Oxford, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow. However, while also making it as far as Bath and Bristol, the new Cardiff branch will be its first in Wales.
The company was set up after CEO Suneet Sachdeva discovered bubble tea - which originated in Taiwan in the 1980s - while travelling through Asia and Australia. The new venue will serve handmade fresh fruit and milk teas and crushed ice drinks, with customers able to 'mix and match' flavours, toppings and bubbles.
A wide array of fruit teas are available on the menu, with flavours ranging from strawberry, apple and lemon to the likes of guava, lychee and white peach. Milk teas can be infused with watermelon, coconut, chocolate and vanilla, while you can also get a 'dirty milk' which consists of black tea, fresh milk and brown sugar and is most commonly topped with brown sugar bubbles and tapioca pearls.
There is no shortage of toppings that customers can add to their tea, including aloe vera, crystal bubbles and pudding. You can even decide what type of bubbles you want in your drink, with flavours including mango, passionfruit and lychee.
Bubble tea has been one of the biggest food and drink crazes of recent years and the new venue will not be alone in the capital, with nine other outlets in the city centre also dedicated to the beverage. Bubble Citea will be joined in St David's by the CUPP Bubble Tea stand, while it is also a short walk from Bubblebase in the neighbouring Queens Arcade.
Meanwhile, Boba Time and Mooboo are across the road from each other on nearby St John Street, while Bubbleology on St Mary Street and Tealith Bubble Tea in the Morgan Quarter are also popular. That's not including another Boba Time in the Capitol shopping centre, nor Chatime on The Hayes or Fairy Tea on Charles Street.
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