Latea Lounge brings its tea drinks to Colorado

Latea Lounge hosted its grand opening in Colorado early April, showcasing its bubble tea and iced tea specialties and promoting the tea-drinking culture.

Located just outside of Park Meadows Mall, at 8433 Park Meadows Center in Lone Tree, the shop took over an existing location of a tea shop that closed its doors during the pandemic.

“We took our time training our staff for our interpretation of boba,” said owner Wei-Chih “Wei” Kao, 35, adding that they are offering full service with delivery and online ordering.

Before the grand opening, Latea dialed up its presence by hosting private events for the Colorado community, including Yelp Elite members and food bloggers, who have shared fantastic reviews of their beverage selection on social media.

By Mary Jeneverre Schultz

Hsiao continued the family’s entrepreneurial path by attending Purdue University for hospitality and tourism management.

“When I came to the States, my dream was to share the love of bubble teas as much as Americans love their coffee,” he said.

Before starting the chain of bubble tea shops, he took a fourmonth road trip in the West to visit all the tea shops in Seattle down to Los Angeles.

Beverage Selection

*Brown Sugar Milk Tea: As the signature drink, the brown sugar is made in-house and from scratch.

*Cream Brulé Matcha Latte: This beverage is a favorite for those who enjoy Japanese flavors. With a touch of caffeine, the blend is imported from Japan and the perfect mix of boba pearls.

*Grapefruit Green Tea: This drink can be customized in the level of sweetness. It is an ideal preference for the beginner’s palate. With grapefruit pulp, it stands as a refreshing summer drink.

*Tiramisu Milk Tea: Sip from the top of this rich espresso drink instead of using a straw. The top layer of the drink shows dark, brown, cocoa powder made from Belgian dark chocolate.

Made from scratch, powders are not used during the process of creating their teas with more than 40 different varieties offered. Real tea leaves are brewed every morning.

Founder Jack Hsiao, 35, shared the creation of Latea was a “tribute” to his grandmother, Shu Teng Lai, who operated as a dessert vendor in Taiwan and continued her business as a catering company. With great emotions and teary eyes, Hsiao indicated part of his passion and vision of serving these beverages originates from his grandmother’s recipes.

“If you can’t serve family, don’t bother serving it to others,” he said. “I wanted to share the love and passion for food and drink.”

Hsiao indicated ube is a big cultural flavor in Asia. He also suggested Oolong tea as a creamy cheese float.

The entrepreneurial spirit was passed down from his grandmother to his parents. His father owned a tutoring business.

During the early stages, Hsiao came up with the name, Latea, or “the tea,” when he was in Spanish language classes. The company’s slogan, ‘Connecting over Tea,” continues its branding to share tea with others.

After his diligent research, he started as a delivery service in 2013. His first location begun operations in Lafayette, Indiana, a year later. He then expanded to two more locations in Indiana. Voted best on campus at his alma mater, Hsiao gained confidence in adding more locations to his repertoire.

“The Midwest doesn’t know much about bubble teas,” Hsiao confessed. He then took a leap and ventured to the West coast in 2019 with a location in Culver City, California.

Meanwhile, Kao started his journey in the US in 2013 when he attended language school. Kao, who obtained an MBA in Marketing from Regis University, was introduced to Hsiao by his best friend’s cousin, Wei-an Chen. After living in Colorado for 10 years, Kao was determined to run his own business. He flew to Los Angeles to meet Hsiao, where both discovered similarities with the company’s vision of introducing bubble teas. Returning to Colorado, they opened their first location in Lone Tree and the soft opening of their second location in Littleton started early April.

By Mary Jeneverre Schultz