Aloha

At Aloha Tea and Coffee, Alvin Nguyen is passionate about serving authentic milk tea. Here's why he makes boba from scratch despite the challenges.

I have to go to the supermarket and get box by box,” Nguyen said. Though Aloha Tea and Coffee wasn’t impacted by the boba shortage that made headlines last year, “now we may (be impacted) because even the raw material, we're not getting (it),” Nguyen said. “I don't want to expand so quickly and, you know, it's just going to be a disaster.” “Before, I used to order pallets of starch and I could use them for a few months. Since opening, the recipe has been “trial and error,” Nguyen said. But what remains the same around the world is that these pearls made from tapioca starch should have a specific bouncy texture, called “Q” or “QQ” in Taiwan, that's similar to a noodle cooked al dente. This category of drink — which often requires a fat straw to consume and was born in Taiwan — has different names across the globe, such as boba tea, pearl tea or bubble tea. Many places that sell boba tea around the Valley purchase their pearls in bulk and cook them in-store. I guess that’s the reason why not a lot of people do that, especially in Arizona,” he said. A raised platform toward the back of the store houses a low table and zabuton cushions for customers to sit on the floor. In 2019, he opened Aloha Tea and Coffee at Glendale and 67th avenues. “It was very hard to find restaurants, especially (good) Asian food,” Nguyen said.

Premieres Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 9 p.m. on KPBS / On demand with PBS Video App. Narrated by Jason Momoa, discover the inspiring story and considerable ...

By the time Hawaii became the 50th state, surfing had spread throughout America and around the world because of Kahanamoku’s influence and celebrity. The documentary presents Kahanamoku’s rise to fame and how he became the face of a changing Hawaii as it evolved from an isolated island kingdom to a multi-ethnic American paradise. Five-time Olympic medalist Duke Kahanamoku shattered records as a swimmer and brought surfing to the world while overcoming rampant racism in a lifetime of personal challenges.