Northern Michigan University Dining has launched Noba, a new concept on campus that revolves around a variety of bubble tea drink options including milk teas, refreshers and freezes. They come in a variety of flavors and can be infused with traditional boba—tapioca pearls—or popping boba, which are juice-filled pearls. Noba is located in Temaki on Presque Isle Avenue.
“This is a bit more of an Asian concept, which pairs well with the Temaki menu,” said Derek Estes, NMU's certified executive chef. “We're partnering with Botrista, and this concept utilizes formulated drinks inside of a robotic drink-making machine so that customers will get a super-consistent and quality product every time. That streamlines the process for our student employees.”
The drink flavors include taro, mango, salted caramel, dragon fruit, strawberry lemonade and more. Estes said Temaki's retail manager Chris Cooley discovered the concept at a National Association of College and University Food Service (NACUFS) conference. Noba's soft opening began Jan. 28.
The new operation can be accommodated in a small space, which will be helpful when Temaki and Noba move to the former Melted location in Hedgcock next fall to make way for the NMU apartment construction project. Their last day of operation in the current location will be May 2.
“We had been contemplating switching out Smoothie King for a while, and that wouldn't have fit in Hedgcock with Temaki based off the volume, so it was a win-win,” he added. “We can get the staff trained in on the new concept this semester before the move to the new location.
“We've been really fortunate with the team here; they've been very supportive of our students, which helps with employee retention. Our students take great ownership with these concepts. They're really excited about doing the different bobas. It's not incredibly difficult with the drink bot machine, but they still take pride in it.”
Noba and Temaki are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, and closed on weekends.
