June 29, 2023

A mobile boba tea business will make its debut Saturday.

Shibi Tea is the creation of friends Gabe Carlisle and Jesse Frederick, who share a love for the ancient Japanese dog breed Shiba Inu. Frederick has two purebreds, Mochi and Momo, and Carlisle owns Yuna, a Shiba Inu/American Eskimo mix.

The friends, who met when Frederick’s husband worked with Carlisle, bought the original Fat Kid Filly’s food truck two years ago. Frederick had a stroke that winter, delaying plans to start last year, but now she’s recovering and ready to go, Carlisle said.

Saturday, customers can find the truck, now painted bright green instead of black, in the parking lot at Lowe’s. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It will serve traditional Taiwanese bubble tea and baked goods.

“Our boba is going to be handmade, no packaged stuff,” Carlisle said of the drinks — and that includes the little balls of tapioca. Customers will be able to choose black or green tea, the type of milk, different flavorings and regular or popping boba.

Frederick, who once had a side gig selling baked goods, plans to make cupcakes and edible cookie dough, and possibly cookies and cake pops. An occasional feature will be cheesecake cups with popping boba as a topping, Carlisle said.

With a later start to the season, Shibi Tea isn’t booked for any public or private events yet, but the friends plan to do pop-ups as their schedule starts to fill in. They plan to run the truck until winter returns and can provide catering of drinks and baked goods year-round.

“Specialty cakes such as for weddings, pies, bars, cookies and other sweets can be ordered from the bakery to fulfill holiday and event needs as well,” Carlisle said.

Find locations on Shibi Tea’s Facebook page or on Instagram at shibi_tea.

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