Augusta Eats: With chewy, tasty boba, Martinez shop serves up flavorful tea by the cupful
Boba tea’s big popularity seems to fit perfectly in a small shop in Columbia County.
Gong Cha, at 3821 Washington Rd., Martinez, opened nearly two years ago in a former Subway sandwich shop. According to owner Angela Tran, it’s the first shop in the Augusta area to offer the flavorful beverage that’s also called bubble tea, bubble milk tea, tapioca milk tea or pearl milk tea.
“The community’s grown a lot,” she said, “but I just wanted to bring in more.”
Tran moved to Augusta in 1997 to be closer to Vietnamese family members. Starting work here as a nail technician, she ran her own nail salon for 23 years. But Tran never completely forgot how much she loved a particular taste of home.
Originating in Taiwan in the 1980s before spreading throughout Asia, boba tea typically contains milk and can include an array of flavors and toppings. Boba is the name for the tea’s main feature: tapioca balls about a quarter-inch to a half-inch thick. Boba lovers enjoy the taste and texture of the balls that sink to the bottom of the cup, but customers also can request any beverage without boba.
Until recently, if someone in Augusta wanted boba tea, they needed a car and plenty of gas.
“We grew up with boba tea,” Tran said. At first, she thought, “’Why would anybody drive two, three hours to get boba tea?’ That was before I went to Atlanta and brought like 15, 16 boba teas to put in the fridge and drink. So I said, ‘Might as well bring it here so people can drink it fresh.’”
Tran was slightly apprehensive about introducing a new beverage concept to Augusta, but that changed as soon as she opened in late 2021.
“The line was wrapped around the building. It was overwhelming,” she said. “I was worried. I said, OK, this is so new to everybody here,’ but I guess everybody was hoping for a boba tea place.”
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Customers can order a tea that includes only tea with no added flavors, but a top-10 beverage list posted on the wall greets incoming customers who might not be very familiar with Gong Cha’s offerings. Additional flavors include honey, apple, mango, passion fruit and lychee, a Chinese fruit with a sweet and slightly tangy flavor that’s been compared to strawberries or pears.
Gong Cha also sells matcha, a powdered, high-caffeine green tea whose popularity is rising in the United States because of its reputed health benefits. Matcha’s earthy, coffee-like flavor can be off-putting for some palates, but not at Gong Cha, Tran said.
“With us it’s not as strong,” she said. “A lot of people like it. One customer, she orders it every day. When she walks in, we know what she wants, what sugar levels she wants.”
Gong Cha is building a local customer base of regulars who don’t have to drive for hours as Tran once did to drink boba. Some customers have driven to Tran's location from as far as the Hephzibah area, home to a growing Korean community.
Tran said she’s looking for a possible second location – to appease other long-driving customers and to provide better customer access. Gong Cha sits on one end of a small commercial strip that can be difficult to enter and exit on busy Washington Road.
“But they love us,” she said. “They still come and support us.”
Ben Brucker has visited Gng Cha only twice, but he’s sold.
“Probably the best boba in Augusta, to be honest,” he said. “It feels like the most authentic.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Bubble tea, boba tea – whatever you call it, this Martinez shop has it
