Boba on Lockdown

Milk + T is anything but your ordinary boba shop. From giving back to the community with free lunches to their innovative style of DIY Boba Lockdown Kits they are challenging how we enjoy a notable treat with Covid-19.

Located in Los Angeles, CA - Milk + T has been serving their renowned self-serve boba since December 2015 when the shop was nothing more than just a Boba Truck, the first of it's kind, before they signed the lease for their flagship store in Little Tokyo on January 2017. Since then they have expanded to a shop in DTLA, Portland, OR, and Las Vegas, NV.

Milk + T is not only innovative with their self-serve Boba bar, but they are also eco-friendly with their reusable glass cups for no extra charge. The company was founded by two powerhouse females, Beyah and Stacey, with what started out as a crazy idea that has since expanded into something beyond just your average boba experience.

They are not only known for their drinks but for also throwing events for the community and for the notable charity work they do. They have collaborated with creators and fans alike to host events that have had people lining up for hours at a time with proceeds from certain events having been donated to various causes.

Like most businesses as the pandemic began, they were concerned with how their business, their livelihood, and their employees would survive if the store would be shut down. As many stayed home, even pick up orders were few to none. Their stores, like many in this crisis, were far down on sales and were running in the reds of their books.

Beyah and Stacey saw this as an opportunity to once again innovate the way we saw boba and began the first batch of "Lockdown Kits" to be delivered to locations around Southern California, making it easier to access the beloved drinks many have been craving at this time.

They packaged loose leaf tea, their boba, and brown sugar into their signature glass containers with instructions on how to make your very own Milk Tea boba at home. A small team of them prepared and packaged each boba kit with designated delivery dates to each county. Some would be door-to-door deliveries while others met Stacey at a public location to pick up their kits. Their DIY boba kits soon became a nationwide service as they began to package them for shipping across the nation.

In this pandemic supplies were also thin to none but that did not stop Milk + T from giving back to the community despite their own struggles to make ends meet. They began to package free lunches for pick up, no questions asked. Delivery drivers, the homeless, students - anyone was free to come into their Little Tokyo store and pick up as needed. Members of the community they built also lent out a hand during these hard times by donating supplies for these grab and go free lunch bags. A result of the dedication, value, and impact that Milk + T has.

Not only were they packing free lunches but Milk + T also made several deliveries to Hospitals in Southern California for free DIY Boba Kits and premade drinks as a small token of their appreciation for healthcare professionals during this crisis.

Milk + T did not let Covid-19 stop them of thinking of others, it did not change their values, but most importantly it instead allowed them to show up for the community now more than ever. Whether it was delivered in person or through mail, it was always done with a smile and met with a smile.