Boba Guys offers artisanal boba and tea. The organization brews real tea leaves rather than uses powder. All teas are steeped internally. They have partnered with local producers like Straus Family Creamery to use organic milk and provide Califia almond milk or organic soy milk for non-dairy alternatives. For sweeteners, the company makes their own syrups from natural brown sugar. Boba Guys also provides Hong Kong Toast made with their very own housemade buttercream.
Boba Guys began this year when owners Bin and Andrew worked together at Timbuk2 (another PCV company!). Bin and Andrew found they had the same upbringing despite their geographic and cultural differences: Bin from small-town Texas and Andrew from New Jersey.
They bonded over lunch runs to the local small business boba shop within the Mission. One day, it closed down. After watching countless hours of YouTube videos about creating the perfect cup of boba milk tea, they went into business together. They threw up their first pop-up event with their friends at Ken Ken Ramen – and they've been growing since!
Boba Guys primarily serves the Bay Area with two stores in Bay area – one in the Mission and something near Union Square. Their funding from PCV will assist them in opening another store in Hayes Valley and finally a fourth in Potrero. They'll also employ their funding to increase their operational capacity and accelerate development in their catering – in 2022 they did 90 events including some for Square, Twitter, Facebook, and Dropbox.
Boba Guys is also committed to good jobs, paying above minimum wage, and hiring from a number of different populations. Along with its milk tea product, Boba Guys strives to increase use of culture through food. Part of their mission is to bridge cultures and alter the way people consider boba and tea. From referring to controversial topics on their own blog to offering insight on where their teas are sourced, Boba Guys really wants to give all cultures the chance to learn about each other along with the culture of boba over enjoying tea.
