Today we’d like to introduce you to Joan Tong.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Joan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a lifelong foodie, it has always to be my dream to one day own my own tea shop. As my two beautiful babies grow up and went on to start school, I have all the sudden found myself with a lot of free time to pursue my dream. To prepare for this business, I spend 6 months enrolling at the culinary school in Hong Kong to the art of dessert.
With my passion for sweet and prior 7 years management experience at Teavana, running my own tea shop allow me the freedom to develop my unique product line while delivering superb quality to the customers.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Although it’s scary to run my own business for the first time, my prior experience at Teavana helped me tremendously. From personnel management to customer service, what I learned from Teavana has made my business adventure smoother than others.
There are two challenges unique to my business. The first challenge is finding a balance between my family and my business. While pursuing my dream of running my own tea shop, my family, especially my two babies are still the top priority for me. Every day prior to opening, I would volunteer at my children’s school for at least two hours. This way allows me to spend some valuable time with them and provide more networking opportunities for my business.
The second and more difficult challenge is the sourcing for the right tea. While there are teas from the third party here in the US, the taste and freshness of teas they offer leave much for desire. With my family connection in Hong Kong and China, also my own connection in Taiwan and Korea, every year I would take two to three trips to Asia to find the right tea for my customers. So far, we are able to directly source our tea leaf from tea farms in Southwestern China and mountainous region in central Taiwan.
Although the price is a little higher than the ones currently offered by suppliers in the US, I am more confident to offer our customers superior tea experience in the heart of Texas.
Please tell us about Moo House Cafe.
We thrive to deliver a unique tea experience for customers from all ages. From traditional Chinese herbal teas to coffee hazelnut frappe, we are the one-stop drink place for everyone in the family.
Besides the traditional teas you can expect from any tea shop, we also offer our customer more fusion drinks and snacks uniquely ours. From vegetarian Kimchi fries to halal hot dog, our menu is full of delights to our customers.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My father is a huge collector of Yixing clay teapots. He collects over 100 clay teapots.
Ever since I was a little kid in Hong Kong, I was introduced to the art of Tea. Everything from the different brewing temperature to choose the right tea for the right season, tea has always been an important part of my childhood.
Every Chinese New Year, on new year eve, I would have to brew the freshly picked green tea leaf to honor my grandparents. The smell of the fresh green tea from Yunnan region in China can quickly fill the entire room and leave a memorable taste in you until the next new year eve.
Pricing:
- Milk tea – ($3.50-$5)
- Seasonal drinks – ($5-$7)
- Popcorn Chicken with Kim chi fries combo – $7
- Halal Hot Dog – $5
- Hong Kong style honey toast – ($4-$6)
- Mousse cupcake -($3.5-$4.5)
Contact Info:
- Address: 7310 Louetta Rd A120, Spring Tx 77379
- Website: www.moohousecafe.com
- Phone: 3468087182
- Email: moohousecafe@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moohousecafe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/moomoosweethousetx/ads/?ref=page_internal
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