If you’ve taken a stroll through Canterbury High Street in the last few months, you’re sure to have noticed that the city has been invaded by a new type of store – bubble tea. This trendy drink has certainly made its mark in the area, with not one but five different boba shops currently serving customers and all sitting just a few minutes away from each other.

Fans of bubble tea are absolutely spoiled for choice in Canterbury, with Ding Tea, Mooboo, Cha Lab, Bubbleology and now T4 all offering different varieties of the drink. It seems five stores just wasn’t enough for this slice of Kent either, with plans for a sixth brand to move into Whitefriars.

New signage has revealed that Bubble CiTea will be the next chain to open in the city, taking over part of the unit that previously housed Beaverbrooks jewellers. With such an abundance of these stores now clustered together, many residents have been left wondering just why these shops in particular have boomed in popularity, and why Canterbury needs so many.

KentLive sat down with Bee Nguyen, owner of T4 Canterbury, to get some answers. “Bubble Tea has actually been around for about 40 years within the Asian co