Scoop. Pour. Smile. Filling a cup with purple taro milk tea, junior Madison Chan hands the drink to a customer and sticks a straw into her finished product. Around her, guests enjoy her boba as the sweet aroma of tea and laughter fill the air.
“Meeting people who have never tried boba before and giving them recommendations was really fun,” Chan said. “We also got to meet other vendors and trade food at the end of the day.”
For Chan, partner of boba business NovelTea, this isn’t just a summer commitment or a weekend hustle — it’s an entrepreneurial adventure.
Rather than picking up shifts at a chain café like many other high school students, Chan helped family friend and senior student at Valley Christian High School Jayden Peterson run NovelTea. At Chan’s first event, a 2025 Pride Month celebration, she and Peterson sold six different rainbow flavors of boba and four toppings.
“Making the drinks for the first time was definitely a different experience than I expected,” Chan said. “It wasn’t hard, but it was more involved than a typical barista job because it felt more personal, as we had to interact with customers on a high level.”
The launch event was a success, giving Chan and Peterson the confidence to keep developing their business. Although they initially had trouble marketing the business, their determination helped them persevere. Now NovelTea caters to birthday parties, fundraisers, school events and public popups, serving up carefully made drinks with customizable flavors, toppings and even personalized stickers.
“In the very beginning, it was tough, as I would pitch to hundreds of people for zero calls back,” Peterson said. “However, simply remembering how much I had already invested in the business was usually enough motivation, as quitting would make everything I had worked for actually pointless.”
NovelTea’s menu includes eight signature flavors of milk tea: classic, jasmine, matcha, thai, strawberry, jasmine, taro and tiger. Toppings and syrups include boba pearls, coffee jelly, mango popping boba, passionfruit syrup and brown sugar syrup.
“Everything is brewed fresh right before the event, and we assemble the drinks one by one on site,” Chan said. “That’s also what makes the experience stand out because it’s not just about the tea, it’s also about giving people a really immersive experience.”
Though still in high school, Chan and Peterson hope to continue expanding NovelTea in the future. For Chan, NovelTea is more than just a boba business. It represents what matters most to her: meaningful work and connection.
“For me, NovelTea is about engaging with different communities and learning about different lives,” Chan said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to interact with people and to do what I love.”
As the music hums and customers connect at another NovelTea-catered gathering, it’s clear that this isn’t just about drinks — it’s about connection, creativity and doing what Chan loves: one scoop, pour and smile at a time.
