Thunder Bay·Northern Nosh

Cool off with a bubble tea from Thunder Bay's Milktease

For this week's brand new edition of Northern Nosh, we'll take you to a shop in Thunder Bay serving a Taiwanese drink perfect for the warming weather.

Red River Road business inspired by a trip to the Philippines

Aaron Parrilla, Hazel Capillan and Dave Salanga own Milktease in Thunder Bay. (Submitted by Aaron Parrilla)

For this week's edition of Northern Nosh, we're back on Red River Road in Thunder Bay to learn about a shop called Milktease.

It's owned by Aaron Parrilla, Hazel Capillan and Dave Salanga — three twentysomethings that decided to open a cafe dedicated to bubble tea.

If you haven't had bubble tea before, it's a cold drink from Taiwan that combines sweetened tea — sometimes with milk — with chewy, black pearls made of tapioca.

Aaron told me the business was inspired by a trip to the Philippines a few years ago. 

Tap on the player to hear our conversation.

The official first day of summer may be a few weeks away, but it sure feels like it's already arrived in some parts of northern Ontario. For today's brand new edition of Northern Nosh, Jonathan took us to a shop in Thunder Bay serving a Taiwanese drink that's made to cool you off. He spoke with Aaron Parrilla, one of the owners of Milktease on Red River Road.

Milktease is at 222 Red River Rd. in Thunder Bay.

"Northern Nosh" is a weekly feature on Up North, CBC Radio One's regional afternoon show for northern Ontario. If you know of a restaurant, bakery or farm you think would make a great story, get in touch! 

Send an email to upnorth@cbc.ca, message us on Facebook or Twitter — or call 1-844-85NORTH.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Pinto is the host of Up North, CBC Radio One's regional afternoon show for Northern Ontario and is based in Sudbury. He was formerly a reporter/editor and an associate producer at CBC Windsor. Email jonathan.pinto@cbc.ca.