Lamba said that when she was a teenager, there weren’t nearly as many bubble tea options around, so her family would travel 45 minutes to Flushing, getting “like 15 bubble teas to take back to the house” in Long Island, where she grew up. They were such big fans that they even had the store manager’s phone number. Still, she had no idea she’d make a career of it.

Gong Cha, which means “tribute tea for the emperor,” was founded in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2006. Lamba was introduced to the brand by her father, who had tried it during a business trip to Asia. She was intrigued, and that was all it took.

“We started negotiating, my father and I, with the corporate office in Taiwan for Gong Cha to develop here in the U.S.,” she said. “It was basically just a love of bubble tea and that opportunity presenting itself. I was ready to go all in because I also had the support of my father.”

From Fashion to Franchising

After graduating from Fordham in 2012 with a B.A. in international political economy and a minor in business, Lamba went to work at a private-label fashion accessories company in Manhattan. That’s where she was when her father tipped her off to Gong Cha, and things moved quickly from there.

She left the company after two years, as soon as her master franchise agreement with Gong Cha was finalized. And in January 2014, a week after resigning, she was on her way to Taiwan to “learn the ins and outs of the bubble tea business.” By April, she had opened her first location— in Flushing, the same neighborhood where her love for the beverage grew.

Eight years later, Lamba has launched 80 locations across New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma. She operates seven of those locations herself, and the remaining ones are operated by sub-franchisees. In 2019, Forbes recognized her as a rising star in the food and beverage industry, naming her to its annual 30 Under 30 list of the “brightest young entrepreneurs” and business leaders.

A Creative, Customizable Core

One of the things that drew her to bubble tea, Lamba said, was the variety, and the ability to customize practically every aspect of the drink, from temperature and toppings to ice and sugar levels.

“I think it’s just a fun drink, and it can appeal to a lot of people, especially college students, young adults, and professionals,” she said. “I love that there’s not really a drink out there like it. You have the texture of the tapioca, which is soft and chewy, combined with tea. It’s a creative drink, and I think a lot of people do fall in love.”

People familiar with the mall-kiosk version of bubble tea won’t notice too much in common with Gong Cha’s offerings. The tea is brewed every four hours, and the tapioca pearls are made fresh in each store, also every four hours.

Though the stores feature some seasonal drinks, the core menu is pretty consistent and “has probably 40 different customizations,” Lamba said. One of the staples is milk foam. If you’re thinking of the milk foam that traditionally tops lattes, think again: Gong Cha’s version is a slightly savory foam of milk and butter.

Lamba said Gong Cha was “one of the first bubble tea companies to do this cream topping,” and it’s responsible for the brand’s popularity in Asia. Her personal favorite drink, Milk Foam Green Tea, has brewed green tea on the bottom and is topped with the milk foam.

Gong Cha’s Six Series

Fordham Magazine visited the East 187th Street location, which Lamba said was chosen for its proximity to high school and college students, and tried a handful of drinks. The menu is sorted into six categories: Milk Foam Series, Milk Tea Series, Slush Series, Creative Series, Coffee Series, and Tea Latte.

One of the most popular drinks, from the Milk Foam Series, is the Dirty Brown Sugar Milk Tea, which can fall anywhere on the spectrum from savory to dessert-like depending on how much sugar you want included in your drink.

From the Coffee Series, for people who can’t imagine giving up their daily brew, there’s the Dirty Brown Milk Coffee, made with coffee instead of black tea. Coffee, tapioca, and a buttery foam may sound like a combo made in misfit heaven, but it works.

The Hibiscus Green Tea, on the other hand, is light, fruity, and—thanks to the customizable sugar level—not too sweet. The Milk Foam Earl Grey Tea is a Taiwanese take on the classic London fog latte (typically Earl Grey tea and steamed milk) and features Gong Cha’s signature foam and fresh tapioca.

Customers craving something a bit different should try the caffeine-free Taro, made from a tropical Asian plant root reminiscent of sweet potato. From the brand’s Creative Series, the drink is a fun purple color.

Coming Full Circle

As an undergraduate at Fordham, Lamba joined F.U.S.E., the Fordham University South Asian Entity, and served as president of the student-run club. She planned and marketed events for the campus community, coordinating with vendors and fellow students. Lamba said “having that entrepreneurial period” on campus helped her learn many of the leadership skills she relies on today.

“When we opened the store, it kind of brought me back to being here 10 years ago,” she said. “I’m grateful for the education I had at Fordham, and I think it did really set me up to become who I am and where I am now. It feels full circle in a way, to bring bubble tea and my business to the Fordham community here in the Bronx.”

Students competed in a round of Kahoot! with Asian themes, snapped photos of each other against a celebratory background, and consumed chicken poppers and samosas that they washed back with good ol’ American Coca-Cola served in champagne flutes.

Later, the group counted 330 origami cranes that committee members and other participants have been folding over the course of April as part of an Origami Awareness project. They hope to make 1,000 cranes by April 2022. According to Japanese tradition, the making of a thousand origami cranes grants the creators one wish, which in this case was for peace and acceptance for all Asian communities, said Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Angela Ly.

“It’s been really hard on the Asian community in general. That’s why,” said Ly, the AAPI cultural programming coordinator. Normally the month-long celebration of Asian identity is held in May, but with Fordham’s commencement and end-of-year celebrations held that month, the committee opted to honor their heritage in April.

Ly, who identifies as a Chinese-Vietnamese American, said that as the event was coming together, the committee decided to invite students from South Asian groups, who might not normally attend an AAPI event.

“It’s like when you fill out the census, not every Asian think of themselves as just Asian,” she said. “There are so many other countries in Asia, you could be Indian or Pakistani. We wanted to embody that, so this is the first time that we got so many different clubs that are Asian identified together.”

With the rise in Asian hate crimes coming on the tails of the Black Lives Matter movement, Ly said that over the past year the committee sought out solidarity with the Black History Month Committee and will continue to forge alliances through events like the Cultural Showcase.

FCRH junior Nazeath Emama identifies as Bangladeshi. She said that the Asian students can also count the Muslim Students Association as steadfast allies.

“We completely understand what’s happening to them because we go through it a lot. I hear slurs at me all the time,” she said. “I just want them to be aware that they have our support 100%, regardless of what is happening. We will be there to either protect them or show our support to let them know that they’re not on their own.”

Emama said she’d like to see more white students come to the events.

“These events are not just to make our people comfortable, but also for white people to come and ask questions, to learn more,” she said.

Ly agreed that club mixing could be the key to integrating campus more.

“We’re making it something more, something more like a family, where we can embrace our cultural backgrounds, but it’s also about just being at college,” she said.

Arthur Liu is an international student from Hong Kong and president of the Asian Cultural Exchange. He concurred with Ly that the common denominator is college life at Fordham.

“The American college experience is so rich and there’s a lot to learn from it. You sort of run into an issue as to who should reach out to international students, but I think specific outreach from these clubs could do it,” he said.

Liu’s dad is from Malaysia and his mom is from Hong Kong, though he has full Chinese lineage on both sides of his family. He identifies as Hong Kong-Malaysian because Hong Kong was where he was born and raised, but he maintains strong ties to Malaysia.

Liu said he’d like to see more club involvement from international students like himself.

“There’s a natural tendency to want to stick to people of a similar background to you,” he said.

But he noted that everything from language skills to the culture shock of arriving in New York can keep international students from mixing with the cultural clubs, where a lot of the members are fluent in English and have adapted to the city to the point of being New Yorkers.  He said he’d like to see these clubs be integrated into the orientation for international students.

Later, as Liu hosted Kahoot!, students participating in the evening’s fashion show began to arrive in elaborate Bengali and traditional Chinese dresses. Allies arrived in Bronx style, and one student wore a traditional Muslim thobe for men. For his part, Liu was wearing shorts and what most Americans might call a Hawaiian shirt, but in this case, it was Southeast Asian.

“It’s not necessarily traditional, but it’s authentic—especially the flip-flops,” he said.