Highlights
- CPA Katrina V. explores and expresses her Filipino background through Boba Bar.
- Katrina shares that one of the most important flavours in her arsenal is ube.
- Because the business relied on open catering, Katrina had to adjust to selling home kits online due to the pandemic.
"Be proud of your heritage and really own it. Be proud to show what that culture means to you by showcasing what you can produce."
For Boba Bar owner Katrina V., showcasing what she can produce is focused on boba tea products with distinctive Filipino flavours.
Rediscovery
"I'm a CPA by trade and I've never been in the food industry except when I was a teenager, bussing for a cafe," she admits, adding, "But I've always loved food and I've gotten more interested in Filipino flavours through the years."
Moving to Australia at the age of 3, Katrina found that Filipino flavours became her way of connecting to her roots.
"I'm 33 now and for people like me, [who have lived in Australia for most of my life], we kind of lose our culture as we grow up. I don't even know how to speak the language; but the Filipino in me wanted to get more involved with the food I grew up with."
Filipino food is Katrina's way of connecting with her roots. Source: Supplied
This involvement met its pivotal moment when Katrina created a DIY boba tea buffet for her brother and sister-in-law's baby shower.
"I guess the inner child in me loves bubble tea and I did a DIY setup for them. There were a lot of people saying that it was really fun and that it would be popular in parties. From there, other family members asked me to do their events."
"There were a lot of people saying that it was really fun and that it would be popular in parties." Source: Supplied
"I started with regular Asian bubble tea, but I wanted our own Filipino flavours in there as well. That's how my menu evolved."
Filo flavours
The evolution of her menu began with a lot of research and taste tests.
"There were sessions that I would have my friends come over and try all my drinks. I did a few that I thought were creative in my head, but they didn't go well. Like one of the failed ones was a drink out of chocnut [Filipino peanut milk chocolate] but maybe I'll try it again next time," she laughs.
The evolution of her menu began with a lot of research and taste tests. Source: Supplied
While her initial attempt at making a chocnut drink wasn't a success as she had hoped, her other Filipino flavours have proven to be crowd favourites.
"Our customers are mainly Filipinos or Asians. We catered for a Chinese wedding before and they wanted taho on their menu. It was pretty encouraging because a non-Filipino wanted a drink made out of tofu and burnt sugar syrup."
"Pandan, ube and there's also one that is inspired by the peach mango pie dessert from Jollibee [a popular food chain in the Philippines]."
"It was pretty encouraging because a non-Filipino wanted a drink made out of tofu and burnt sugar syrup." Source: Supplied
Of all the Filipino flavours on her menu, Katrina shares that ube [Philippine purple yam] is one of the most important ones for her.
"Taro is a typical flavour in bubble tea, but I wanted to change it. There's a difference between taro and ube. I wanted ube because it's a Filipino flavour. The colour and flavour of ube are stronger than taro. I didn't want to dilute that. I want to keep it as strong as it is."
As strong as the Filipino flavours she presents, Katrina is unwavering in her enthusiasm to introduce the mainstream market to what she has to offer.
"The colour and flavour of ube are stronger than taro. I didn't want to dilute that. I want to keep it as strong as it is." Source: Supplied
"The challenge is in pushing something that isn't common. It can be hard to convince people to try the products, so I do my best to communicate and tell stories about them. I give them a background as to what they are [in order to spark interest]."
From pop-ups to home kits
Katrina managed to spark a lot of interest from her pop-up events, but things changes when the pandemic hit.
"We were catering for private functions and pop-up events for a year. The nature of our business was open catering, open table. People get food with their hands. We had to stop all of that."
When Katrina had to stop all of that, she opted to start selling DIY boba kits online while she started rebranding her company.
"The nature of our business was open catering, open table." Source: Supplied
"We call our kits Boba Bar at home. Kits have boba [tapioca pearls], sago [smaller pearls made from the sago palm] and four different teas. We did the first round during the first lockdown in April. They went quickly. I didn't expect it because there are other shops selling boba kits; but I wanted it to capture our audience, which it did."
"I've also compiled some of my own Boba Bar recipes in a book because people were missing going to our pop-up events. Now they can recreate the drinks at home. I've given them away."
A home kit Source: Supplied
ALSO READ / LISTEN TO
