I love bubble tea. It was something I was introduced to at a young age and since then, I've never looked back. For those who don't know what bubble tea is, it's a drink--typically either milk tea, iced tea (black, green, white, Oolong, you name it), slushies, or even coffee--with tapioca pearls added into it. You sip both the drink and the tapioca pearls through a big straw, so it's kind of like a snack with your drink! Many bubble tea shops serve other add-on options to your drinks, such as different flavored gelatin and pudding.
Not many people know about bubble tea, though, and it's admittedly something that people have to get used to. Here are a few fun facts about bubble tea that maybe even "seasoned" bubble tea drinkers may not know:
1. Bubble tea originated in Taiwan
The drink is said to have been created in 1988 when Lin Hsiu Hui, an employee at Chun Shui Tang teahouse in Taiwan, decided to pour her tapioca dessert into her tea during a staff meeting out of boredom. It was so good that the teahouse decided to put it on their menu and from there it took off!
2. The name "bubble tea" does not refer to the tapioca pearls
On the contrary, the "bubble" is named after the bubbles that form at the top of the drink after the mixer shakes it after being sealed. The drink was named this way before tapioca pearls were even added, as mixers prepared the drink with ice, milk, tea and sugar and shook it together, creating a foam at the top. The same method is still used today, only now with the pearls added.
3. Bubble tea has many different "names"
Milk tea, pearl tea, tapioca tea, boba tea, boba nai cha, foam milk tea, momi milk tea, Q (which actually translates to mean "chewy" in Chinese)...it's known by many names! However, be cautious when calling it "boba." In Hong Kong, it means "big pearls," but in Taiwan (the drink's origin), it's a slang for big breasts!
4. Tapioca pearls can be white-ish in color or dark brown
The pearls are made with cassava root. The whiter pearls are purely the root, while the darker pearls are combined with brown sugar to give them that distinctive appearance.
5. Adults like it too!
The drink--in the beginning, of course--became popular through school children due to the sugary content of the drinks as well as the entertainment of eating while drinking. However, it quickly gained traction among the adults as well! In fact in 2008, Bar Q, a now-closed New York bar, even served vodka-spiked bubble tea!
If you've never tried bubble tea before, I highly recommend it. I'd call it a guilty pleasure, but in all honesty, I'm never guilty about it. Go get some!
