Students at UNC Asheville asked for boba tea, and their request was fulfilled.
ACE Sushi opened in the Highsmith Union Food Court on Aug 16, along with 828 Burger and Qdoba, according to UNCA Dining Services by Chartwells. They sell fresh sushi, boba tea, pocky sticks and other retail items in their grab-and-go market.
Bris Stoehr, a freshman at UNCA, said she has never tried boba tea anywhere in Asheville except for Ace Sushi because she is from out of state. She was pleasantly surprised by the taro milk tea and fruit boba.
“Honestly it’s really good, and I liked the fruit boba. I didn’t expect it to be like a gummy type texture. I thought it would be popping boba, but it was a nice new thing to try,” Stoehr said.
Stoehr said she would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t had the chance to try it yet because it is something different, and makes a great refreshing summer drink.
“Boba in general is something I’d tell people to try. It’s such a fun drink plus, it’s really good,” Stoehr said.
Freshman Emma Salee, said she was very pleased with the boba tea at Ace Sushi because of the convenience, easy atmosphere and the quality of drinks.
“The tea itself is really great. It seems a bit pricey but I get that I’m paying for convenience, so I don’t mind. The atmosphere is good though, and checkout is refreshingly quick,” Salee said.
Salee said she would recommend the boba tea to UNCA students because of the diverse flavoring, freshness and quickness.
“I’d recommend all my friends try it out at least once, especially if they like jelly tea because I feel like their boba is closer to jelly in consistency,” Salee said.
While many agree the tea on campus is accessible and favorable, freshman Charlie Irish said she’d rather get her boba tea fix elsewhere.
“Compared to other boba tea shops I would say the taste is not as good, but I also prefer milk tea which has a short shelf life,” Irish said.
Irish said she doesn’t think the boba tea is worth the price because the quality of the ingredients, and texture of the tapioca pearls was not up to her standards.
“The texture reminded me of raisins when I tried it, which was very off-putting,” Irish said.
Irish said she would not personally recommend the boba tea to students even though it is conveniently on campus, she said there are other places in Asheville to get better quality boba tea even though it is typically more expensive. She also gave suggestions to make the boba tea more desirable in the future.
“Personally, I think because of how the boba is served on campus it’s not possible to make it perfect. Maybe popping pearls could help with the texture instead of tapioca pearls, or the campus could sell the tapioca pearls in a packet to the side so it does not wrinkle as badly,” Irish said.
