"It's magic" - Portsmouth's Happy Lab Bubble Tea & Dessert experiences popular start to life in Cascades

Olive Chan and Ken Lau opened the doors to Happy Lab Bubble Tea & Dessert in the shopping centre last month. In the early weeks they have already received a positive response from locals who have popped in to try their range of drinks.

Olive said: “It has been good start, we have had lots of customer come in and say they enjoy our drinks. A lot of people have enjoyed our Signature Bubble Milk Tea which we use fresh tapioca and an earl grey tea base.”

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The due are originally from Hong Kong, so alongside the bubble tea they sell traditional drinks from their homeland.

Olive said: “As we are from Hong Kong we also serve two famous drinks from there. One is the Hong Kong Milk Tea and the other is the Hong Kong Lemon Tea, which we use fresh lemons to make. They have been very popular as well, we had one customer come in a buy ten bottles of the lemon tea the other day.”

Bubble tea has become a popular drink over recent years with a number of specialised stores opening to cater for a growing number of consumers. Traditionally, it is a tea-based drink made with tapioca balls and milk - with a variation of flavours on offer.

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Olive said: “Bubble Tea comes from Taiwan and has now spread to every country and is very famous. We serve tapioca bubbles but also have a lot of options for fruit teas which have different fruit juices inside. When you bite it, the fruit juice comes out, it’s magic.”

On announcing the opening, Cascades Shopping Centre posted on Facebook: “Now Open at Cascades: Happy Lab Bubble Tea & Desserts. Your new go-to for all things sweet and sippable has arrived! From refreshing bubble teas to mouth-watering desserts, Happy Lab is serving up joy in every bite (and bubble). Find them now at Cascades – your next treat is waiting!”

Happy Lab Bubble Tea & Dessert opened in the unit formerly occupied by Trendy Nails next to the public toilets.