Pinkies up for tea time

Diana Tran has blended her love of tea and bobas and her desire to start a business — and Pinky Up is the tasty result. The new tea spot opened last week on West Colonial Drive in Winter Garden and offers a variety of teas, several coffees and a selection of toppings to personalize the flavor of the drink.

Pinky Up resembles a sunroom and is located behind Moon Salon, owned and operated by Tran’s parents, Moon and Vicki Tran. One wall is covered with pink roses, and a white, gold-trimmed settee awaits customers beneath it. Silver and gold beads hang in the windows, and funky crystal chandeliers adorn the ceiling.

She said her mother created the fun decorations and inviting interior after seeing photos of Tran’s vision.

Another person who was instrumental in getting Pinky Up started is Tran’s boyfriend, Min Yu, who was a barista and created most of the drinks on the menu.

“He’s a huge part of why we are able to accomplish this today,” she said.

Tran said her Top 4 drinks are the Brown Sugar Milk, Butterfly Tea, Thai Milk Coffee and Viet Coffee. Others on the menu include black, green and rose teas; fruit and butterfly teas; matchas; fresh-brewed teas; classic milk teas; and toppings such as boba, mixed jelly, coffee jelly, espresso shot and extra cheese mousse.

The recipes are fairly simple, she said.

“A lot of it is just prep work,” she said. “For us, it was finding out how to brew it properly, how long you brew it. (For) a lot of the teas, we brew it with the brown sugar, like the thai milk.

And the golden tea is with golden tea and non-dairy creamer.

“For the fruit teas … the fruit enhances the tea,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of ‘Slushie’ flavors; we use natural fruit to enhance the flavor. … We don’t use the syrups or powders.”

Once the business is established, Tran plans to offer private after-hours tea parties and gatherings. She would like to offer tea catering for social events.

“The soft opening was really great,” Tran said. “We had a lot of great traction. Everyone is super supportive in the Winter Garden community.”

Her family has been supportive, as well. She and her parents wanted to open a shop when she was in high school, but it a few years longer.

“We decided, OK, let’s start with something small and see how that goes,” Tran said.

She wanted her new place to be in Winter Garden because it’s “such an amazing place,” she said.

There is an eclectic mix of residents and personalities, and she is excited to meet all who walk into her tea spot.

Because of all the precautions and advisories pertaining to COVID-19, Tran said, she is conducting business through phone orders or Instagram messaging for now. When customers arrive to pick up their order, they can go inside or someone on the staff will take it to their vehicle.