Koreyinz food truck serves low-sugar tea drinks in Oakland

A food truck in Pittsburgh is serving tea drinks with 80% less sugar than traditional boba. The vehicle, called Koreyinz, operates from Forbes Avenue and South Bouquet Street in Oakland. Owners Zak Szulc and Vicky Zheng established this regular location in October. They aim to expand local preferences for tea-based beverages.

The truck serves what the owners call modern boba. These drinks are milk-infused but contain no chewy tapioca pearls. The tea is the primary flavor component, drawing on traditions from Taiwan and China. Szulc described the result as a drink customers can sip throughout the day. It contains fewer calories than traditional boba but still provides enough caffeine for an energy boost.

Prices for the modern teas start at $6.39. The menu includes black milk tea, peach oolong, and Da Hong Pao. Da Hong Pao is a dark, heavily roasted oolong from China’s Wuyi Mountains. Each iced drink comes topped with milk foam. The truck also offers classic boba with cold foam and nondairy milk for the same price. Thai iced boba tea is another bestseller.

The couple began selling at the University of Pitt Public Market in 2023. They prepared tapioca pearls at a commissary kitchen in Manchester before carting them to campus. Szulc recalled that the team would often sell out by 1 p.m. after opening at noon. Students frequently asked when they would open a permanent spot on campus. The couple bought a secondhand food truck two years ago to handle larger crowds.

Zheng, who immigrated to the U.S. from China at age 10, worked at a boba shop in the San Francisco Bay Area after graduating from Pitt. She saw a wider variety of tea drinks there than in Pittsburgh. She decided to create something different upon returning home. The couple also added functional teas containing lion’s mane and reishi mushrooms. These items are marketed as daily boosts rather than occasional treats.

The truck is equipped with a 30-kilowatt generator. It powers a refrigerator, two freezers, and a countertop full of tea kettles. Boiling water alone takes about an hour, and different teas require specific steeping times. The location is possible due to updated city rules that allow mobile vendors to stay in one spot for more than four hours.

The grand opening in October sold out the menu two hours before closing time. The couple is currently wiring a neon sign for the top of the truck. The vehicle is open afternoons from Thursday to Saturday at 188 S. Bouquet St.