An unusual drink, native to Taiwan, will be available to Athens residents thanks to a new café, GG's Bubble Tea, on Court Street.
The café, located at 19 S. Court St., will serve bubble tea, a green or black tea blended with fruit juice and ice and filled with tapioca pearls.
A straw wide enough to accommodate the tapioca pearls is used to drink the tea. The tapioca pearls can also be eaten after the tea is gone, said James Schrickel, a freshman studying French. Schrickel said he has been drinking bubble tea for two years.
(The tapioca pearls) don't really taste like anything and are there more for the sake of texture
Schrickel said.
The drink is popular in Asian countries, especially Taiwan, an island located off the southeastern coast of China.
The café has been under construction for four months and is expected to open as soon as the final permit is approved, which restaurant owner John Baird said he submitted about a month ago.
Baird said he got the café idea after visiting bubble tea cafés in St. Louis, Mo., and Ann Arbor, Mich.
In addition to bubble tea, GG's will sell coffee, espresso, Italian soda and snacks such as small pizzas, Baird said. He added that GG's will also host nights to play Nintendo Wii, foosball and cornhole tournaments.
The café intends to target international students at •Ohio University, Baird said.
One international student, Wei Zhou, a senior studying finance, was born in China and moved to the United States a year and a half ago.
The restaurant could survive on international students' business alone Zhou said.
[GG's Bubble Tea] is in a good location and bubble tea shops are great little cafés
Schrickel said. They kind of one-up the coffee shops that we have here. It's probably going to be a really nice lounge that's great for homework just like any other coffee shop - just more unique.
The café will offer free samples of bubble tea and an explanatory video about the drink outside the café when it opens, Baird said.
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Victoria Calderon
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Tyler Close | FOR THE POST
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