Try Bubble Tea

No, it’s not bubble gum! Rather, it is bubble tea. If this term sounds strange to you, let’s take a look at the origins of bubble tea and the place it holds in society today.

Are you wondering how bubble tea got its “bubbly” name? Well, this is because when it is shaken it produces a frothy, bubbly texture. Bubble tea is a combination of iced or hot black or green sweetened tea with either milk or fruit flavors added to it. Therefore, there are two types of bubble tea – fruit- flavored bubble tea and milk bubble tea.

The milky bubble teas can be enjoyed with dairy or non-dairy creamers. On the other hand, fruit bubble tea has a wide variety of flavoring that can be added to it – including the tastes of chocolate, coconut, passion fruit, and strawberry. These flavors can be added to the bubble tea as a powder-like substance, juice, syrup or pulp. After all of the extras are added to it, the tea is then shaken in a cocktail shaker or put in a blender.

Gum-like balls made of cooked tapioca (often referred to as yam starch in Asia) can be added to the bubble tea drink. These balls are sometimes also referred to as “pearls” or “Boba”. They sink to the bottom of the teacup, and are sipped through a wide straw along with the drink.

They have a diameter of about six millimeters or less, and are meant to give the drinker something to chew on between sips of tea. The tapioca pearls have little taste to them, but are typically soaked in sugar or honey after being boiled for a half of an hour. They are typically good to use for up to seven hours after they are prepared.

If you do not happen to be a fan of tapioca, you can use coconut jelly, coffee jelly, lychee jelly, rainbow jelly, or konjac jelly instead. These types of jellies can be made into small cubes for you to enjoy. Some tea enthusiasts actually order “half and half” bubble teas, with one half tapioca pearls and one half jelly cubes.

New types of bubble teas are constantly coming about. For example, a “Snow Bubble” is the slushy-like version of the bubble tea. It is made with shaved ice and fruit flavoring.

Bubble teas originated in Taiwan, and are highly popular in Asia, including places like China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. It is also gaining popularity in the United States, as well as Europe, Australia and Canada. Bubble tea is available in a variety of small cafes and restaurants around the globe.

These types of places typically serve coffee drinks as well as fruit smoothies and juice drinks. Cafes that sell bubble tea in these countries use plastic dome-shaped lids on their cups to keep the frothiness inside the cup.