Boba Nation Is Back For Round Two

Photo courtesy of Reed College Department of Admission

Boba is a fun and sweet take on a standard cup of tea: it's a Taiwanese beverage made from milk tea and sweetened tapioca pearls. This beverage, also called bubble tea, is a popular choice for Reed College students looking for sweetness and/or caffeine. But the closest place that serves it is a disgraceful 24-minute walk away from campus. 

To ameliorate this and bring people together through boba tea, Boba Nation was formed. Boba Nation is a campus club dedicated to providing fun boba (tapioca pearls and coffee jelly cubes), tea, and similar beverages right on Reedies' doorsteps at our Boba Gardens. 

Last semester, Boba Nation held an incredible Boba Garden with Reedies 4 Reedies, offering milk tea, boba, coffee jelly, and decaf tea options! Additionally, we revived the Olde Reed tradition of the Stimulants Table, a table formerly run by RKSK (Reed Kollege Shit Kollectiv) that provides free caffeine and other essentials to students suffering through Reading Week. We added energy drinks, drip coffee, coffee jelly, boba, and several tea options (oolong, assam, and yerba mate, plus caffeine-free rooibos) to the table. Snacks were also provided; over last year Reedies powered through their Reading Week studies with 1275 lbs of clementines in total.

This year, we plan to continue hosting Boba Gardens and running Stim Table at the end of each semester. We are always looking for more people interested in making boba at events–don't worry, we'll teach you how! We also hope to collaborate with other campus organizations to host fun boba-themed community events and run a class or two about how to make your boba drinks at home. If any of those things sound cool to you, don't forget to vote for us in the Funding Poll and join the Boba Nation mailing list—ask ellacrotty@reed.edu or tuckerrtwomey@reed.edu to join. Whether you prefer boba or coffee jelly, assam or rooibos, we'll be glad to serve you at our events!