Boston University seniors Shi Yan Liu and Uriel Choi took their online food series “Sip & Savor” from social media to reality, hosting a café pop-up in Student Village I March 22.
The event featured handcrafted matcha drinks and pastries, allowing dozens of students to sample creations seen on Liu and Choi’s Instagrams.
“We both have dreamt about starting a cafe one day,” Choi said. “This is making our dreams a reality.”
For over a month, Liu and Choi have collaborated on their Instagram series “Sip & Savor,” where they share cafe-style creations. Liu also runs “yumswithyan,” an account where she shares matcha-based drink recipes, while Choi showcases his cooking and baking under “filmedbyuriel.”
“We realized that we both created content, and I made a lot of matcha content, and he also started making content with cooking and baking,” Liu said. “We thought this would be a really cool collab.”
The pair offered five signature drinks and five baked goods, ranging from banana pudding matcha latte to yuzu cheesecake, at the event.
“Each time we post an episode, our friends ask if they could have some,” Liu said. “We wanted to do a pop-up where our friends actually get to try our drinks and our food.”
The inspiration for the event came from the rising popularity of at-home cafe pop-ups on TikTok and Instagram, Liu said.
“We’re college students. We live so close together,” she said. “This is the perfect time to post something like this.”
Planning for the pop-up ranged from developing a menu to sourcing ingredients and handling logistics.
“It’s been pretty hectic,” Choi said. “But overall, the feedback has been really great. We have amazing friends that are here to support us.”
Choi’s roommate, BU senior Alex Thornton, said he has been “along in the process with him.”
Recognizing Choi’s love of cooking and baking, Thornton added, “this is his big finale of where he wanted to bake a ton for other people.”
Despite the effort that went into the event, Choi said their goal was never about making a profit but rather gaining exposure and “spreading the word” about their platform.
“This was a really good opportunity, because it could also bring more exposure to our platform, our content creation,” Liu said. “Social media has really helped give us a platform to showcase the food that we make and the drinks that we make.”
The pop-up drew a steady stream of students throughout the afternoon, eager to sample the duo’s creations.
Genesis Muñoz, a senior at BU and follower of Liu’s Instagram, said she had been looking forward to the pop-up.
“All of her goodies and drinks are so good,” she said, referring to Liu. “I was so excited to finally try some of them, because they look so pretty.”
Nathalia Maldonado, a senior at Emerson College and a customer at the pop-up, said she had been following the “Sip & Savor” series before going to the pop-up.
“When they started the Instagram series to begin with, I thought it was super cool and creative,” Maldonado said. “Through college, you’re already so busy, so for them to put time into that just means it’s a true passion.”
Anusha Das, a BU senior, purchased the banana pudding matcha latte.
“It’s very creamy, very delicate and you can taste the banana. It’s not overpowering,” she said. “It’s perfect.”
Looking ahead, Liu and Choi hope to continue sharing their passion for food and drinks.
“This is super exciting, and we’re really happy that this got put together,” Liu said. “Content creation, that’s something that we’re both pretty interested in doing and maybe continuing post-grad.”
