Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: GETTING CHILL WITH BUBBLE TEA

013115-bubbletea2-500x387-7855023Fabiana Villegas holding a vial of boba, above, and her “anatomy of bubble tea” wall drawing, below.  (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

013115-bubbletea3-220x152-2924680The latest attempt to satisfy the thirsts and sweet tooths – teeth? – of visitors to downtown Red Bank is a tea shop offering cold beverages with a chewy finish.

The new Chill Bubble Tea Bar, at 15 White Street, blends drinks that combine several types of tea and fruit juices with “boba,” or tapioca, that’s been infused with fruit flavor to deliver an intense, chewy mouthful that proponents claim is healthy stuff.

013115-bubble-tea-500x418-9632587Chai tea boba, left, and a green tea mango mix flavored with strawberry boba on the right are just two of the many menu options at Chill. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

What distinguishes bubble tea from other tea is the boba – a Cantonese slang term for “breast”  – that you order as “popping,” “bursting,” or “chewbee,” each having a different texture.

Tasting a “Mango Mango” green tea with strawberry-infused boba was an experience that won’t quickly be forgotten. The mango-flavored ice tea was refreshing and sweet. Sucking up the boba through the wider-than-average bubble tea straw was weird enough, but the fish roe texture of the tapioca that literally bursts in your mouth is something else.

Shop owner Denise Russo PieHole that when her kids were little, they wanted “those slushie drinks that weren’t good for them.” But while living in California, she discovered bubble tea, made with organic teas and pureed natural fruits.

“I thought it was a healthy alternative, and decided to bring it to the Jersey shore,” she says.

She opened her first shop on the Ocean Grove boardwalk, just south of the Casino shell, but it was wiped out by Hurricane Sandy. A second shop, in Belmar, “was such a hit that we thought Red Bank needed a store, too,” Russo says.

Initially, she hoped to open her bubble tea bar within Shore Scoop, the ice cream store formerly at the White Street location. But when the full space became available, she decided to take it over on her own.

“A lot of people are coming here because they went to the one in Belmar,” says shop employee Fabiana Villegas, a student and aspiring artist at Red Bank Regional who painted the “Anatomy of Bubble Tea” image on the shop wall. “It’s fun, just something different.”

A taste of the chai tea, made with almond milk and infused with black pearl tapioca, was an entirely different taste and texture experience. The boba in this case were chewy and more like the tapioca pearls you might remember in your grandmother’s puddings.

There is a list of styles of tea such as Milk Bubble, Ice Bubble and Snow Bubble to choose from. Then you mix and match from the variety of flavors offered.

The drinks run between $3.50 for a 12-ounce to $5 for a 20-ounce. A vial of the fruit-infused boba, which are eaten like candy, can also be bought for about a buck.

Villegas says the pina colada is the most popular, but her favorite is a more exotic taro, an acquired taste to be sure with an appealing aroma.

Chill Bubble Tea is open part-time on weekends, but Russo says she expects to offer extended weekend hours in March and, as the weather warms, the store will be open all week.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
THIS LOT IS GOING TO POT!!
Do NOT hit this monster pothole in Red Bank’s best parking lot for people watching or your weekend plans may go up in smoke. In the backgr ...
DEM GOV HOPEFUL FULOP VISITS RED BANK
110 people braved the ice on Super Bowl Sunday morning to head to Triumph Brewery to hear Steve Fulop’s case for why he should be our ...
REAL BRICKS!
Pardon our nerdiness, but we were excited to see the facade of the long-vacant building at 42 Monmouth being renovated with a facade that ap ...
NAVESINK SUNRISE
Sunrise colors Sunday over the Navesink. Shot from Maple Cove. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
PET OWNER TO RED BANK: SCREW YOU
(photo and text by Partyline contributor Anna Cruz; headline by redbankgreen) Remember to scoop the poop!  
A HAIR DRYER IN A TREE?
(Photo and text by Partyline contributor Nicole Taetsch) If someone is missing a red hair dryer, it’s hanging from a tree on Oakland S ...
FROM DEEP LEFT FIELD..
(Photo and words by Partyline contributor Peter Cavalier) Shapes, Angles, and Colors: an Artist’s Canvas Where: A frigid Saturday morn ...
SUNSET ICE BOATING
Sunset ice boating Saturday. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
ICY NAVESINK BLISS
Ice boating is back, baby! (Photo by partyline contributor Boris Kofman)
TEACHERS GET COUNCIL KUDOS
The Mayor and Borough Council honored five teachers from the Red Bank Borough Schools who were selected for the Governor’s Educator of the ...
RED BANK LIBRARY HEAD BIDS ADIEU
Eleni Glykis in her last day on the job in Red Bank Thursday (photo by Brian Donohue) redbankgreen stopped in the Red Bank Public Library to ...
TO TOWER HILL!
Parents and kids flocked to Tower Hill on Monday morning, taking advantage of the federal holiday and perfectly timed Sunday snowfall.
BROAD STREET IN WHITE
Taken during the snowstorm Sunday. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
Stunning Sunrise at Marine Park
Sunday’s sunrise from Marine Park. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)  
WALL STREET CLOSED FOR LEAK
Wall Street in Red Bank closed for water leak.
INDOOR SOCCER KICKS OFF
Pre-k and kindergarten aged kids were at Red Bank Middle School bright and early Sunday, participating in the indoor soccer program hosted b ...
SUNSET OVER FROZEN NAVESINK RIVER
Sunset colors Saturday evening over the ice shot from  Shrewsbury Ave. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)  
ICY VIEW FROM TRAIN WINDOW
View of the partially frozen Navesink River Saturday afternoon from NJCL Train #7244. (Photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)
RBR BEATS RBC IN BOYS HOOPS RIVALRY
 Red Bank Regional's boys basketball came out with the win at home against their crosstown rivals Red Bank Catholic on Tuesday in Little Si ...
FRIGID DINNER FOR WATER LINE WORKERS
Work continued into the late night hours on Bank Street Tuesday night as a crew replaced several water lines to homes under the town wide le ...