SIDNEY – A business once located at the Miami Valley Centre Mall in Piqua will be reopening June 1 at 505 N. Vandemark Road.
Dani’s Boba Tea & Coffee started in the Piqua mall when owner and Sidney resident Lisa Wade became mentally overwhelmed as an in-home health care employee during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wade’s daughter, Danielle, came up with the idea to open the tea and coffee business.
“I was driving with my daughter one day, Danielle, and I was like ‘I love my job, I love what I do, I love helping take care of people in their homes that need the help, but it’s mentally bothering me,’” Wade said. “So, my daughter was like ‘mom, open up boba tea.’”
At the time, Wade was unfamiliar with boba tea and if there were any businesses in Ohio that sold it. She tried it for the first time in Fort Wayne, Indiana while visiting her mom. She enjoyed it, and the rest is history.
The name “Dani’s” transpired from Wade’s daughter’s name, Danielle, but also from her other daughter, Dani, her son, Trenton Daniel, and her husband, Daniel.
Dani’s was in the Piqua mall for one year before deciding to relocate, partly because of other businesses relocating from the mall, and partly because their customer base requested a drive-thru option.
“All the other people in the food court left and I was like ‘I’m the only one left,’ and I was like ‘I have to do something here.’ And that was what people said the most – a drive-thru,” Wade said.
Wade scoured the area for a while before finding the location at the end of Vandemark Plaza which has the potential for a drive-thru with a window already installed in the outer wall. This storefront used to house multiple businesses, like Ernst Sports, La Independencia Mexican Grocery Store, and Magic Wok. Dani’s will also offer a carry-out option.
The list of drinks that will be on the menu includes – but is not limited to – boba tea, plant-based Lotus Energy drinks, Lotus Energy whips, frappes, lattes, frozen lemonade, fruit fusion slushies, and seasonal frozen apple cider.
Wade mentioned that they are not a typical coffee shop when it comes to how their coffee is brewed because they use the pour-over method instead of espresso machines.
“Everything is really done by hand. We don’t have no fancy machines or anything like that,” Wade said. “Everything’s all cold brew, so it sits 12 hours in the fridge, and it brews. There’s nothing that’s hot; you don’t add shots to make the frappe. It’s a lot more work, more time-consuming, but the difference is good.”
The pour-over method is just as it sounds – pouring water over and through coffee grounds to produce a cup of coffee. But there is a science to the method that will make every cup different depending on different variables. AeroPress – a company that produces hand-held coffee makers and a tool that Wade said they use at Dani’s – has an article discussing the variables that could change the taste of the coffee produced from its devices, such as the texture of the coffee grinds, water temperature and brew time.
Besides just tea and coffee drinks, Dani’s will make Cincinnati-style spaghetti with garlic bread, which Wade’s daughter, Danielle, played a substantial role in implementing. Danielle is a Skyline Chili fan but is not a fan of the cinnamon in the chili, so she decided to make her own version. She took a cooking class at Sidney High School, and together with some friends, they came up with six different recipes and picked the best one to be served at Dani’s. The location in the mall served hot dogs, but they will not be served at the new location.
Dani’s Boba Tea & Coffee will be open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and closed Monday. For more information, visit the “Dani’s Boba Tea & Coffee – Sidney” Facebook page.
