John Chen loves bubble tea. He likes the fancier kinds, like Malted Blizzard Tea, Honey Milk Black Tea, and Cranberry Black Tea. But he also attests to the value of classic flavors like Milk Latte, simple but a staple in terms of his business.

Chen is an owner and manager of The Old Teahouse in Collegetown, on Ithaca’s North Hill. He is only part-owner, though, giving credit to his three brothers, who worked together with him to open The Old Teahouse in September of 2001. It was a family effort made by the four California-raised brothers.

You get to make the rules, but you also take direct responsibility for your business’s performance.”

- John Chen, on owning and managing The Old Teahouse in Collegetown.

Chen and his brothers first came to the United States when Chen was five or six, but they made the final move to California when he was 10 years old. Until then, Chen had been going back and forth between the U.S. and his native Taiwan, the birthplace of bubble tea.

“Each year I fly back to Asia,” Chen says, to find the new bubble tea flavors.

Bubble tea started in Taiwan over 20 years ago and spread in popularity throughout Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Bubble tea did not then have the tapioca balls it is known by today. Initially, bubble tea referred to the bubble of foam that layered the top of the tea because it was shaken up in martini glasses. When small tapioca balls were added to the tea, Chen says, it became known as pearl tea.

Soon after, larger tapioca balls were put into the tea, making it what we know as bubble tea today. Eventually, bubble tea made it over to the United States, first being introduced to the coastal areas and infiltrating into the U.S. interior from New York and California.