Best of bubble tea: These 3 Regina cafes serve up their variation on the cool treat

Allan Pulga · For CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Hot upwind is already upon us. What amended mode to chill disconnected than with a fruity oregon creamy (and chewy tapioca oregon coconut jelly) bubble tea?

You'll find aggregate variations of the fashionable Taiwanese dainty passim Regina. For Asian Heritage Month, I sat down with 3 bubble beverage operators to larn astir the best they person to offer.

Ray Chien of IHADAY Cafe & Bubble Tea Bar

Location: 105-2300 Broad St.
Most fashionable bubble beverage drink: Teddy Style (salted caramel and taro) beverage tea.
Ray's preferred drink: Iced pour-over latte.
Vibe and decor: Modern, minimalist Japanese vinyl cafe.

Ray Chien is the OG of the Regina bubble beverage game. First arriving successful Regina arsenic an speech pupil from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, successful 2012, he opened IHADAY (short for "I person a bully day") successful 2017. It was the archetypal bubble beverage store successful Regina.  

There were skeptics aboriginal on, but helium thought, "Sweet worldly and bully drinks. Who's not gonna similar it? [Bubble tea] is much than conscionable a drink. You got thing chewy — it's similar a snack and a portion astatine the aforesaid time."

He's referring to the additive that makes the refreshing portion iconic: the chewy and saccharine achromatic tapioca pearls known arsenic "boba" that interval astatine the bottommost of the drink. About a quarter-inch successful diameter, they're chewy and sweet. I similar them, but they're not for everyone. 

In caller years, bubble beverage cafes person added coconut jelly, flavoured jelly and adjacent "popping pearls" (such arsenic mango and strawberry) with a texture not dissimilar salmon roe, to the drinks.

IHADAY began arsenic a boba cafe. Chien adjacent had plans to franchise the concern to different cities similar Saskatoon and Winnipeg, but helium decided against it. He preferred to support things tiny and to redesign his abstraction with a much Japanese esthetic. The store features vinyl records and high-quality coffee, alongside bubble tea. 

"I wanted to bring the specialty java civilization from Japan and Korea to Regina and explicate that java tin beryllium truly antithetic arsenic well," helium said.

As if serving fantabulous java and bubble beverage weren't enough, Chien is besides a bartender with flair. He doesn't person an intoxicant licence for his space, but helium flips alloy cups and changeable glasses arsenic helium makes your bubble tea. Between being your authentic bubble beverage guy, your knowledgeable barista and your flair bartender, helium mightiness beryllium the astir versatile portion entrepreneur successful the city.

• Read much Regina Bites features.
• Have you signed up for the Regina Bites newsletter?

Tam Streisel of So Tealicious! Café

Location: 10-3701 Duke Ave.
Most fashionable bubble beverage drink: Brown sweetener beverage tea.
Tam's preferred drink: Brown sweetener beverage tea.
Vibe and decor: Bright, societal and tons of plants.

Born and raised successful Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tam Streisel (née Duong) immigrated to Regina successful 2012 to articulation her mom, who already lived here. Streisel was lone 19 astatine the time. She worked successful restaurants and successful retail, with stints astatine Robin's Donuts, McDonald's and Bench covering store, earlier moving successful the room astatine the RCMP barracks.

Now she works full-time successful an bureau occupation with the RCMP, but opened So Tealicious arsenic a broadside hustle successful December 2022 because, well, she loves boba.

"I'm a bubble beverage addict myself," she said with a laugh.

She has fond memories of drinking boba with her precocious schoolhouse friends aft schoolhouse successful Vietnam.

"There was a small stall close crossed from the school. Bubble beverage is large successful Vietnam. It arrived determination astir apt successful the aboriginal 2000s. It's blistery there, truthful to get a cupful of [cold] peach achromatic beverage is truly refreshing. And what does a precocious schoolhouse kid do? Hang retired with friends, spell for immoderate beverage and person a snack."

She besides schooled maine connected bubble tea. Apparently the "bubbles" were primitively literal bubbles that appeared from shaking the beverage tea, not really the tapioca pearls, which aboriginal became known arsenic the bubbles and boba successful the drink.

Tam hasn't mislaid show of the societal benefits of bubble tea.

"I'm arrogant to accidental a batch of radical take my store to conscionable up. I person seen tons of aged groups of friends that haven't seen each different aft COVID. I person customers that person household and visitors from retired of municipality and they bring them here. So I'm benignant of blessed successful that way."

Yoni Lantayona of Sweet Chaperone Café Corner

Location: 1907 11th Ave. (inside the Quality Inn & Suites hotel).
Most fashionable bubble beverage drink: Taro beverage tea.
Yoni's preferred drink: Mango graham smoothie.
Vibe and decor: Comfy and inviting, located adjacent to the edifice lobby.

Leony (Yoni) Lantayona is from Davao City, Philippines. He worked successful Saudi Arabia for 10 years, but bushed of being distant from his family. He immigrated to Regina successful 2019 with the imagination of yet being unneurotic with his wife, Liwayway, and 2 kids. He gets a small choked up talking astir it.

Yoni and Liwayway opened Sweet Chaperone successful April 2024 and their daughters, present 16 and 17, assistance successful the store connected the weekends.

This isn't their archetypal nutrient venture. They were thoroughfare nutrient vendors successful Davao.

In summation to bubble beverage — which Liwayway and the girls emotion — they connection pizza, pasta, inasal chickenhearted and rice, salads and all-day breakfast, arsenic Sweet Chaperone besides provides country work to edifice guests.

I asked him to marque maine their astir fashionable bubble beverage drink, which happens to beryllium the taro beverage beverage with achromatic tapioca pearls, but helium insisted I besides effort their signature drink, the mango graham smoothie. It's spectacular. The graham crumble and the creamy mango flavour spot it determination betwixt a Dairy Queen Blizzard and gourmet milkshake. He boasts that aft having tried it once, galore regular customers bid it via Uber Eats. 

The sanction Sweet Chaperone is simply a translation of the Tagalog expression, Masarap Kasama, oregon "nice to beryllium with."

"When you spell somewhere, you request a chaperone with you," Yoni explained. "To marque it harmless and not boring. Since this is simply a boba cafe, that is the saccharine part. And with chaperone, you volition travel with a companion."

In the tone of Asian Heritage Month, I asked Yoni if helium considers their store a Filipino boba cafe. He said boba is for everyone.

"This is simply a Canadian boba cafe."