BUBBLE VISION.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

If you think you're seeing double when you enter the Boba Bubble, you just might be right.

After all, the new bubble tea shop on the University of Oregon campus is run by two sets of twins from the same family, although it's not likely you'll find all four of the siblings there at the same time.

The Boba Bubble Tea Shop began as a food-cart business last summer in front of a video store at the corner of East 24th Avenue and Agate Street in south Eugene. But this summer, the business run by the teen-age siblings - 19-year-old twins Maiah and Sarah Albi and their brothers, Colin and Keegan, 15 - has its own storefront on East 13th Avenue.

Which brings us to your next question: What in the world is bubble tea?

Bubble tea began at a small tea stand in Taiwan in the early 1980s. Tea and fruit flavors were added together and sold mostly to the schoolchildren across the street.

The name comes from the bubbles that form when the mixture is shaken. Eventually, someone added marble-sized tapioca pearls to the mix, which also looked like bubbles, and the term "bubble tea" was born.

More popular than lattes and cappuccinos in Asia, bubble tea has become increasingly popular in the United States, especially in Western cities such as Seattle and San Francisco.

Bubble tea is also known as boba drink, pearl tea drink, boba ice tea, boba, boba nai cha, zhen zhou nai cha, pearl milk tea, pearl ice tea, black pearl tea, tapioca ball drink, BBT, PT, pearl shake and QQ (which means chewy in Chinese), according to www.bubbleteasupply.com.

Todd Albi, the father of the two sets of Albi twins, suggested that his children set up the bubble tea food cart last summer. He discovered the popular Asian drink during his days in the Navy and thought it would be a great way for his kids to get some retail experience and hold down a summer job while doing something unique.

"All my friends ask me if we're hiring," Colin Albi says.

Oh, the drudgery of owning your own business. And for the record, they're not hiring. It's most likely just a summertime gig. However, keeping the storefront on East 13th Street open during the school year is something they'd like to do, if they can figure out a way to staff it and the building's owner doesn't do something else with the property.

Maiah is a University of Oregon student who is going off to Japan in the fall to study abroad for a year. Sarah will return for her second year at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

And Colin and Keegan will be busy with soccer during their sophomore years at South Eugene High School.

Besides, as Colin says, "Nobody really wants a cold drink in the winter."

Yes, bubble tea is served cold - as in cool and refreshing and sweet. There are fresh-fruit flavors, from blueberry to mulberry, to pineapple and strawberry. There are milk-based bubble teas and plenty of coffee flavors to choose from, and the Boba Bubble Tea Shop has more than 65 flavors.

And if you've never sucked a starchy tapioca ball through a big, fat straw that you've used to pierce a bubble tea cup's plastic covering, then you're missing out.

"At first I didn't like it that much, but now I'm kind of addicted," Maiah says.

Indeed, you'll find yourself searching with your straw to vacuum up those last black, chewy tapioca pearls floating in the bottom of your cup.

The Boba Bubble Tea Shop is not the only place in Eugene or Lane County that serves bubble tea. In fact, you can get it right across the street from the Boba Bubble at Milky Way Tea & Pastry, and at other locations, as well, such as Aiyara Thai Cafe in Springfield.

But the Albis' teen-run shop seems to be the only one in Lane County specializing in bubble tea.

Business was pretty slow at the corner of East 24th Avenue and Agate Street last summer, but a run at the annual Asian Festival at the Lane Events Center in February was a big success.

"It went so well we're going to do it next year," Colin says.

Maiah, who's majoring in Japanese and one day hopes to combine that with her business experience, expects to learn more about bubble tea during her year in Japan.

"I'm kind of excited to check it out over there," she says. As for how the Boba Bubble Tea Shop is doing this summer, Maiah says they've figured out that they have to sell 31 bubble teas a day at $2.75 apiece to break even. And they're doing more than that right now, despite the fact that few students are around.

As for working with her siblings, Maiah says that, too, is a learning experience.

"It's interesting," she says. "Sometimes it's a bit tricky. Sometimes it's a bit stressful.

`But overall, I like it."

BOBA BUBBLE TEA SHOP

What: Bubble tea store opened by two sets of twins - Maiah and Sarah Albi, 19, and their brothers, Colin and Keegan Albi, 15.

Where: 841 E. 13th Ave.

CAPTION(S):

The four Albi teens - Colin (from left), Maiah, Sarah and Keegan - have opened the Boba Bubble Tea Shop on the UO campus. The Albis have spent the summer selling bubble tea, a blended drink with tapioca pearls.