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April 7, 2021

Tea business launches in Elm City, coming to Wallingford

PHOTOS | Steve Blazo
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

If you love drinking tea, New Haven has a new business for you to grab your favorite brew.

Loose Leaf Boba Company launched with a soft opening on March 30 at 46 High St., in The Shops at Yale, in the Chapel Street Historic District in downtown New Haven.

Owner Lisa Satavu and her brother, William Bok, are behind the new business. The siblings have been involved in other city establishments, such as Pokémoto Hawaiian Poké, Saladcraft and FroyoWorld.

They wanted to bring the California-inspired boba tea concept to Connecticut. The original Loose Leaf Boba Company is in Long Beach, California, and it is expanding, with more locations opening soon, including in Wallingford within a month.

“We want to change the game in how people view boba and tea,” Satavu said. “Each drink is inspired by different cultures and boba tea shops all around the world. Downtown New Haven is a cultural hub for innovative and creative ideas, and I couldn’t imagine a better location to open Loose Leaf.” 

The High Street location had previously been home to a FroyoWorld. 

According to Bok, a co-owner and partner, the new business has been getting a positive reaction already from the community.

“People are loving it - we are actually busy, with a lot of people coming in,” Bok said. “We had a FroyoWorld in the location, but decided to replace it with Loose Leaf Boba. We are hoping to open more locations, and the Wallingford one should be opening in three to four weeks.”

The Wallingford eatery will be at 1094 N. Colony St.

So what exactly is boba? 

Boba, or bubble, tea, has chewy tapioca pearls in it. The new store offers both hot and cold beverages with a focus on all-natural and organic ingredients. Drinks can be made to order. The menu features offerings such as Strawberry Matcha Latte, Hong Kong Milk Tea, Banana Foster and Pandan Pina Collision. For coffee lovers, the store offers coffee brewed through a Vietnamese steel coffee drip filter.

The business is using milk sourced from Arethusa Farm in Litchfield, and vegans can order plant-based milk options.

To date, it has created 10 full and part-time jobs in New Haven.

The business is open Sundays to Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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