Engineering the Ultimate Boba Milk Tea, Part 2: Drink Cup

This series is a deep dive into the details and thought process behind our boba milk tea at Camellia Rd Tea Bar. To read the Part 1 introduction, click here.

Here in Part 2, we're going be talk about the drink cup, lid and straw.

Drink Cup

Boba tea drinks are typically enjoyed over a longer period of time. When we think of boba, it's associated with hanging out with friends, getting studying done, or a treat to boost the work day. Boba tea is also very variable in terms of the types of teas, toppings, milks, and other components; this means that different drinks can look very differently and have aesthetic considerations. We wanted our drink cup size, shape, and design to complement these factors.

size

Camellia Rd has one 20 fl oz size.* Having one size helps us to control operational complexity and maintain efficiency, and we felt like a 20 fl oz is right around that medium-to-large size.

For comparison, Starbucks' iced "grande" size is 16 fl oz and the default or regular option at some local cafes is 16 fl oz. Starbucks' iced "venti" size is 24 fl oz, and the "large" option at some cafes is 24 fl oz.

shape

Operationally, we chose this a slightly wide cup shape because it was easy to hold, but this also fits cup holders and drink carriers well. Some shops have "tall" style cups but these tend to be more prone to falling or being knocked over because their center of gravity is higher. Also, they tend to look big, but are either equal or smaller in volume than most medium or large sized drinks. A number of international boba tea chains have thin tall cups that are 500 mL (~16.9 fl oz). A graphic on Piaget's Theory of Conversation I saw many years ago illustrates this idea:

See: Piaget's Theory of Conservation

design

We chose clear cups because we wanted to be able to see the toppings and see drink layers, especially for our specials. Our cups are branded with our minimalist Camellia Rd Tea Bar logo in the center, which helps keep the attention on the drink itself rather than just having an attractive cup. The clear cup is also another pointer to our value of transparency.

Lids

Heat-seal plastic lids are conventional for boba tea shops, but we opted out because we wanted our guests to be able to remove the lid and have easier access in case we needed to do things such as:

• move the straw around to get those last bits of boba
• to easily add sugar or ice if they needed
• or to sip from the cup directly on top for certain specials and drinks

These removable lids also allow us to use variable shapes, such as "dome" lids or "sippy" lids for drink specials.

We also didn't love the idea of our guests having to "stab" the sealed lids, which we've seen cause accidents or messes. Also, those lids are not resealable, so once the straw is in, it is actually more prone to spilling.

Straws

We've been through tens of different types and sizes of straws to get to this one. Straws have different lengths and widths, and boba shops need to stock extra wide straws that can fit toppings. Wider straws can also improve the taste of the drink by increasing the velocity and aeration of the drink as it goes up the straw (more liquid from one sip can lead to a higher impulse to your brain)**.

Our straws also have an angled tip, and even though we don't use heat-seal plastic lid tops, the slight angle in the straw still makes it slightly easier to puncture an X slot lid and makes that experience a little easier. And of course, it also helps when you're circling the straw to try to get that last boba at the bottom of your drink.

When we first opened, we had plastic straws. Several years ago we decided to change and go with bamboo fiber ones. We recognize that this is one area where we intentionally pay more to arguably make a small sacrifice in optimum drink taste. Our bamboo fiber straws cost us approximately 3x an equivalent plastic straw, and there’s a small flavor the bamboo straw has that plastic straws don't. And while it’s much more durable than paper straws, it’s still not as durable and permanent as plastic straws.

"Chinese bamboo is very strong." 
-Jackie Chan, Rush Hour 2

But, that's kind of the point. Bamboo straws are biodegradable and not as permanent as plastic ones. It's an example of a decision that we re-evaluated and changed over time, and we hope our industry can keep adapting in other ways as well.

Thanks for reading! Hope you found this interesting. Part 3 will be on ice.

-Ricky

*Camellia Rd Tea Bar's hot drinks are 16 fl oz, but I focus on the iced drink cup because that's over 95% of our drink sales.

**This Is the Real Reason Why McDonald’s Straws Are So Wide https://www.rd.com/article/mcdonalds-straws/