The story of CUPP

It all began way back in 2009 whilst the founders of CUPP lived on the island that brought bubble tea to the world: Taiwan! After falling in love with the country, food, people, and the national drink, they thought what better way to bring an integral part of their life back to the UK than opening an authentic bubble tea shop.

Spending their days sampling Taiwan’s huge variety of bubble tea shops, from small vendors to bubble tea franchises to tea growers in remote parts of the island. The founders of CUPP learned the true origins and authentic techniques of bubble tea and trained in a small independent tea shop in Kaohsiung to perfect this famous tea drink.

CUPP launched in Bristol in 2012. We began in a converted Citroen H van which we called Pearl, touring music and food festivals up and down the country before embarking on our residency in Cabot Circus.

Within a year, our popularity grew so quickly, it was time for our Citroen H van in Bristol to be swapped for a larger unit. We decided on a shipping container! In 2013, we converted a 20ft shipping container and later that year, we proudly won an award at the nationally acclaimed SCEPTRE Awards for our very unique and innovative bubble tea cafe.

We continued to attend music festivals around the UK including unique festivals like Glastonbury and Wilderness. Success saw us take a second bubble tea shipping container to the festival fields! Not always the best idea at Glastonbury, as one year our container was stuck there for a month!

We now have multiple stores in Bristol and Cardiff. We’re planning to grow nationwide so we may be opening a new store near you!