Bubble Tea Training for Café Staff: What to Cover, and the Manual in the Box
Ning MaShare
A new drink on the menu means new things for your team to know. The good news with a TeaJoy kit is that there is less to learn than there looks: no brewing, no boiling, no equipment, and a training manual in every box.
This post is a one-page briefing for an independent café. Copy it onto a card for the counter: the method for each kit, the dietary words from the packs, the opened-pack rules, and the five questions customers ask most at the till.
What to cover in training
Five things, in this order:
- The method for each kit. One card per kit, one drink at a time.
- The dietary words from the packs. What the box prints, and what it means in practice.
- The opened-pack rules. Which packs have a clock, and which do not.
- The five customer questions. Short answers, so anyone on shift can reply with confidence.
- The counter layout. Where the water, milk, boba and cups sit, so the drink is made the same way every time.
Most of it is in the training manual already in the box. Your job is to read it, laminate it, and put it where the drinks are made.
The method for each kit
Two kits, two methods, and neither needs equipment.
Fruit Tea Kit (and the three fruit café kits)
- 300ml of water
- One 50ml measure of fruit tea syrup, stirred in until dissolved
- One spoon of popping boba, from the box's ladle
- Ice on top
No boiling, cooking or brewing required.
Classic Milk Tea Kit (and the Classic Milk Tea café kit)
- 300ml of milk or a milk alternative
- One sachet of classic tea powder, stirred in until dissolved
- One sachet of instant tapioca
- Ice on top
No boiling, cooking or microwaving required. The instant tapioca needs no heating.
Each drink takes about 20 seconds, start to finish. The measures are fixed, so whoever is on shift makes the drink the same way.
One to watch: in the Matcha Bubble Tea Kit, the matcha drinks take milk and the fruit drinks take water. The box says "just add milk/water and ice". Teach the split before the first order.
The dietary words from the packs
Say only what the pack says.
| Pack | Printed on it |
|---|---|
| Cans | Vegan, gluten free, allergen free, halal |
| Home kits (Fruit Tea, Milk Tea, Matcha) | 100% plant based, allergen free |
| Commercial kits (fruit and milk) | Vegan, allergen free |
What to say at the counter:
- "Every TeaJoy drink is vegan, gluten free, allergen free and halal." This is our statement for the range, and the cans print all four.
- "No milk in the kit itself." The milk in a milk tea is the one you pour, so a milk tea made with plant milk is vegan.
- "If they have a serious allergy, check the pack." The full ingredient list is on Our Bubble Teas and on each kit's product page, and staff should be able to hand it over rather than guess.
TeaJoy is allergen free across the range, but every café should still follow its own allergen procedure at the counter.
The opened-pack rules
This is the part that catches cafés out. It splits the two kits cleanly.
| Pack | Rule once opened |
|---|---|
| Fruit kit: 1.2kg syrup bottle | Store away from the sun, use within 30 days |
| Fruit kit: 1.1kg boba tub | Store at 0 to 7°C, use within 30 days, so in the fridge |
| Milk kit: powder and tapioca sachets | One sachet, one drink. Use straight away |
So a fruit kit has a clock: write the opening date on the bottle and on the tub, and use by opening date plus 30 days. A bottle or tub opened on 1 October is used by 31 October.
A milk kit has no clock. Every drink is its own pair of sachets, opened only when a customer orders.
Unopened, every product keeps for 24 months from production.
One more line from the kit pack, worth knowing so a paler box doesn't worry anyone: "All products made with natural colours, which may fade over time. This does not affect taste or freshness."
The five questions customers ask at the counter
Teach short, confident answers. The full answers are in the packs and on our blog.
1. "What's in it?"
A fruit tea is water, fruit tea syrup, popping boba and ice. A milk tea is milk, classic tea powder, instant tapioca and ice.
2. "Does it have caffeine?"
Yes, a small amount from tea. Traces in the fruit teas, a small amount in the milk teas and matcha.
3. "Is it vegan and gluten free?"
Yes. Every TeaJoy drink is vegan, gluten free, allergen free and halal. The milk in a milk tea is whichever milk you choose.
4. "Can my child have one?"
Every TeaJoy pack prints "CHOKING HAZARD Not suitable for children under 3 years". A fruit tea, made with water, is the simpler choice for older children.
5. "What's the boba?"
Popping boba in the fruit teas and the matcha drinks, a thin gel shell with fruit juice inside that bursts when you bite it. Chewy instant tapioca in the milk teas.
Training card to copy for the counter
| Fruit Tea Kit | Classic Milk Tea Kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid | 300ml water | 300ml milk or plant milk |
| Tea | Fruit syrup, one measure | Classic tea powder, one sachet |
| Boba | One spoon of popping boba | One sachet of instant tapioca |
| Finish | Ice on top | Ice on top |
| Time | About 20 seconds | About 20 seconds |
| Once opened | Syrup and boba within 30 days, boba in the fridge | Sachets used straight away |
| Dietary | Vegan, gluten free, allergen free, halal | Vegan, gluten free, allergen free, halal |
Questions people ask
Do staff need barista training to serve TeaJoy?
No. The measures are fixed and nothing is brewed, boiled or cooked, and a training manual comes in every box.
What dietary words can staff say?
What the pack says: every TeaJoy drink is vegan, gluten free, allergen free and halal. The milk in a milk tea is the milk you choose.
Which packs have a 30 day rule?
The fruit kits. The 1.2kg syrup bottle and the 1.1kg boba tub are used within 30 days of opening, with the boba in the fridge at 0 to 7°C.
How long does a drink take to make?
About 20 seconds, start to finish.
Where can staff find the full instructions?
The training manual in the kit box, with the steps also on each product page and in our blog guides. Stockists also get step-by-step preparation instructions, marketing materials and staff training resources from us.
Train your team
Register on our wholesale page or email hello@teajoy.co.uk: free samples, £200 minimum order, free delivery. Every kit is on our commercial kits page, and keeping drinks the same across sites is in our guide to bubble tea staff training across QSR locations.