You might have heard of the robots taking over Isla Vista. Or maybe you’ve walked past the Ai Cha storefront and personally seen the claw-machine-looking gadget encased in a pink box machine. In either case, these seem to be the biggest stories going around regarding the newly opened boba shop called Ai Cha.  

Ai Cha’s fresh approach stands out from typical Isla Vista businesses, where upon entering, you are often greeted by workers who seem to have lived through your darkest finals or your brightest daygers right alongside you. Or, you are met by the store owners themselves, whose stories and I.V. legacies are well known to everyone (shoutout Yetz’s bagels). Ai Cha takes a more modern approach to serving drinks, promising that their creations use high-quality ingredients and “a touch of AI-powered innovation.”

Once you enter Ai Cha, you are instead greeted by large machines, spanning from floor to ceiling. One of these is supposedly tasked with making milk tea drinks, while the other is meant to cook noodles. Unfortunately, when I went, I was not able to see these robots in action, so perhaps this will be a development in store for the future of I.V. To place your order, you are able to make a selection on a large screen monitor, customizing your preferences of sweetness level, toppings and flavors. 

Coming from the Bay Area, I would consider myself a fairly seasoned boba connoisseur, and I was impressed with the variety and complexity of options Ai Cha has to offer. All of their drinks fall within three categories: milk teas, fresh fruit teas and smoothies. Listing out their entire flavor selection would take a while, but their top 10 drinks deserve mention. Included in the list of people’s favorites are tiramisu black tea, mochi taro milk tea, mango cheese smoothie and the Pink Love strawberry smoothie. For toppings, customers are able to choose from boba, water chestnut, red bean, lychee jelly and cheese foam. Some of their drinks also feature a generous serving of whipped cream, presented in a special cup with a lid that won’t crush the beautiful cloud of sugar and cream.

My first time there, I decided to go with a classic to act as a baseline for comparison, and got the taro coconut milk tea. I was once again pleasantly surprised with the cup in which I got my drink, with it being made from a matte material that doesn’t sweat water droplets all over your hands as you hold it. The drink itself was certainly impressive as well. The flavor was pretty strong and I really enjoyed the shredded coconut bits in it. It seemed to have a bit of a salty aftertaste which I found interesting, but it did contrast nicely with the sweetness. Next time I go, I will certainly be trying a more adventurous flavor such as mango lemon coconut milk tea.

Overall, I would say that Ai Cha has certainly established themselves as a business that knows how to do boba in I.V. As we all curiously wait to see the activation of the AI-driven robots, I encourage you to try out the new cafe and explore the various flavor combinations Ai Cha has to offer.

A version of this article appeared on p. 12 of the February 6th, 2024 print edition of the Daily Nexus.