IVINS —Inspired by a love for boba, one entrepreneurial couple started their own boba tea stand, complete with everything from boba tea to slushes, and they’re sharing it with the community one downtown market at a time.
“What’s so great about it is that we get to bring something here that not a lot of people know about,” co-owner Alexis Anderson said.
Boba originated in Taiwan, and Anderson said this chewy ball known as a tapioca pearl tastes like sweet brown sugar. The boba is placed in drinks with a large straw, allowing consumers to slurp up the tasty snack along with their favorite beverage.
Anderson, a professional esthetician who opened St. George’s first mobile spa, said she learned entrepreneurship at a young age when her family started their own pest control company. Her husband, Trent Anderson, is also an entrepreneur and the co-owner of Oasis Shade Sails, which offers custom shades and awnings.
“We don’t like the corporate lifestyle … just isn’t for me,” Alexis Anderson said. “I’d rather work 24/7 for myself than a nine-to-five. It’s obviously scary, but it’s fun. It’s rewarding and we both like a challenge.”
Anderson said she grew up in Las Vegas, a place popular for boba. When she moved to St. George, she was disappointed when she found out there were no boba-specific tea houses. While sipping the sweet drink on her way home from a visit to see her family one day, she and her husband talked about how St. George needed one, and it sparked a delicious idea.
The couple went home and began to research how to make their own boba teas. Through trial and error, they tweaked recipes until they came up with a special version of their own.
Their boba stand, Boba Go – a name inspired by the grab-and-go mentality – made its market debut at Tuachan on July 9. Trent Anderson said they received an outpouring of support from the community. Their boba stand sold out within two hours on the reopening day of the St. George Downtown Farmers Market.
“We were first both worried that people wouldn’t show up,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect. We were one of the busiest shops. It’s cool to see the demand and feedback with all these people asking when we were going to open a truck or a static location.”
When one of the pair is down about the business or otherwise, Alexis Anderson said the other is usually up, creating the perfect balance. With a love for each other and the business, she said there’s nothing in the world like starting a business with your best friend.
“Everything is funded from our savings, so this is like heart and soul just from us,” Anderson said. “Lots of hard work.”
Trent Anderson makes the boba by hand every week, which includes a process of making dough, forming the dough into balls and boiling them.
At Boba Go, customers can choose from teas and fruit slushes along with brown sugar milk, which is a fan favorite. Teas include Tai Tea, Matcha, Black Milk Tea and Taro – a tea made from a Southeast Asian purple yam.
Fruit slushes include coconut, avocado, pina colada, mango and passionfruit, with their newest flavor, peach, which recently was added to the menu. They also added popping boba, a strawberry boba that bursts in your mouth, and they recommend a coconut slush with popping strawberry pearls. Every drink is made fresh to order with the goal of keeping it authentic.
“We really care about authenticity, making sure we keep true to what boba is and where it comes from, like the Taiwan Black Milk Tea … everything comes from Taiwan,” Alexis Anderson said. “People can really tell there’s a lot of love and thought put into this and it’s really honoring where it came from.”
As for future goals, the couple said they hope to expand to a food truck and offer the community boba deliciousness six days a week. And when it comes to boba competitors, Anderson said there’s room for everyone.
“Seeing a shop on every corner would put a smile on my face since that was our goal – to bring boba to St. George,” Anderson said.
For more information on Boba Go, visit their website or follow them on Instagram. Find their booth at the St. George Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.
Photo Gallery
A drink menu for Boba Go is shown | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
A fruit boba slush from Boba Go is made, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
Boba Go owners Trent and Alexis Anderson smile for the camera, Aug. 31, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Trent and Alexis Anderson pose together at the St. George Downtown Farmers Market, September 3, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Trent and Alexis Anderson pose together at the St. George Downtown Farmers Market, September 3, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Trent and Alexis Anderson pose together at the St. George Downtown Farmers Market, September 3, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
A drink from Boba Go is shown at the market, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
A boba tea from Boba Go is shown, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
Trent Anderson smiles at the couple's Boba Go stand during the Tuacahn Saturday Market, Ivins, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
Customers order boba tea at the Boba Go stand, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
Customers order boba tea at the Boba Go stand, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
Boba is shown being scooped up for a drink during the market, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
Boba Go owners Trent and Alexis Anderson pose together at a market, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Alexis Anderson, St. George News
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