Bruú May Not Be for You
Bruú Café, a new addition to the bubble tea scene, presents both strengths and weaknesses to customers.
PHOTO | Lauren Shaw
Bruú Café is a bubble tea shop that recently opened on the Country Club Plaza. The establishment itself is very aesthetically pleasing, and had a relaxing environment.
Bubble tea, a milk-based drink mixed with a variety of tapioca and other flavors, originated in Taiwan in the 1980s but has since taken the United States by storm. Having become a popular beverage, many new bubble tea shops have opened up around the city. I was given the opportunity to visit one of the many new businesses Bruú Café located on the Country Club Plaza to see if the new establishment can compete with the older tea rooms.
Arriving at the destination was relatively easy. Parking was readily available on the side of the street and in the parking lot directly across from the shop. This was very convenient considering plaza parking can sometimes be hard to come by. The atmosphere inside was somewhat tense. Although the store was beautiful with aesthetically pleasing
furnishings, the space was so small that it was difficult to know where the line to order started, let alone attempting to social distance from others. Another inconvenience is that the café only accepts credit or mobile pay only for safety reasons, which is understandable but not common for businesses during a pandemic to not accept all forms of payment. As a person that regularly uses cash for purchases, I would instantly not be given the chance to purchase a drink I did not have my card on me.
Once I got up to order I was optimistic, considering the wide range of flavors and sweetness preferences. To my disappointment, the establishment does not have any dairy-free recipes, which is discouraging because I, along with many others, chose a milk substitute for their beverages that require one. To replace the milk missing in my drink, I had to order my honey milk tea with 100% sweetness, with the regular recipe usually calling for 75%. Given the change made to my beverage, it was too sweet for much of the other flavors to present themselves at all. Because of the strong sweet taste, I was only able to finish half of the serving which came with a stomach ache shortly after.
For Bruú Café, the presentation of the shop itself including the visual appeal of my drink was very satisfactory. The $5.50 I paid is also pretty fair for a cup of bubble tea, without any add-ons such as different bubbles. I was hoping for a better experience from other customers loving their drinks, and I will wait to revisit as soon as the business introduces milk-substitute recipes to their menu!