Florence Hui is bringing a new, refreshing take on boba to the San Gabriel Valley. There’s no shortage of boba here, even specialty boba shops each with a unique lineup of drinks, but Ohsweetea wants to stand out with its cold-pressed juices.
“For us, all of our drinks are cold-pressed, fresh juices and imported tea from Taiwan. We don’t use any syrups,” Hui said. Most boba shops use syrups to sweeten their drinks, but Hui is big on healthy eating and wanted to find a shop that used natural, fresh ingredients.
Then, she had the thought, “Why not start my own?”
Hui began researching and developing what would eventually become Ohsweetea in January of 2024, which took months of experimenting before her first event in September.
“The reason why we went with cold-press instead of, say, blending up fruits, is that when you use cold press you keep the good minerals and nutrients in the juices. Our most popular flavor, and actually my favorite and our first, is our Yuzu Apple Jasmine Green Tea. We use yuzu that’s imported from Japan and we cold-press it in house,” she said.
Right now, Ohsweetea only sells at pop-up locations, like at the 626 Night Market, but Hui is looking into having a physical storefront. Her next appearance will be at the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Festival on January 18-19, followed by the Alhambra Lunar New Year Festival in February. Each menu is different, depending on what fruits are available and in season to ensure that all of the drinks are offered when their ingredients are at their best and most flavorful.
Hui, 29, has worked in many fields including medicine and software engineering, but hospitality is where she thrives. She funded a lot of her business, which is her passion, herself through her full-time work. “Hospitality is my main thing. When I serve people food that I made, it’s a feeling that I can’t get anywhere else. It makes me so happy.”
She hopes to open a permanent store in the future, wanting to create a space for people to visit as a normal part of their days. “I want to provide a space for students to study. I want to be a part of peoples’ day-to-day activities. They don’t necessarily have to drink alcohol to have a good time. I want to provide that opportunity for our community.”
“Tea got me through college,” she said. “When I went to USC, I would get boba maybe four times a week. My justification was that if I get it at 25% sugar, I could have it four times to make it 100%. It really got me through college.”
A Mark Keppel alumna, this has been a dream of Hui’s since high school. She said, “All my friends could tell you that I’ve always wanted to have a cute little cafe where I could serve people. I love hospitality and I love exploring it. Just having that one-on-one, personal interaction, I find a lot of fulfillment. I met this one couple recently, they loved our limited edition Sudachi Lime Grapefruit. They came back three or four times just telling me that they loved it so much. It’s really nice to see people enjoy what you make. It’s such a nice feeling that you can’t really describe.”
Plus, she sees a big future for Ohsweetea. The global boba market was valued at $2.46 billion in 2023 and is expected to double in the next decade, according to data from Fortune Business Insights.
Though Hui currently works full-time, her heart is with Ohsweetea. “I’m a software engineer trying to make this childhood dream come true.”
Follow Ohsweetea on Instagram @ohsweetea.usa to stay up to date with their pop ups, and try out their Yuzu Apple Jasmine Green Tea and other drinks at the Alhambra Lunar New Year Festival on February 8.
