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by Restaurants Expert
- August 10, 2024
Introduction
Bubble tea is a type of iced tea that originates from Taiwan and contains chewy tapioca balls at the bottom. Composed of tea base, milk, fruit, syrups, & tapioca pearls, bubble tea is quite a tasty and enjoyable beverage.
Although some tea shops opt for the familiar plastic dome-shaped lids found on Slurpee’s, many bubble tea bars now serve their drinks in cups that are completely sealed.
A machine covers the cup’s top with plastic cellophane, enabling the tea to be shaken vigorously in the cup for spill-free storage until you are ready to drink it. Simply use your straw to puncture the cellophane seal. But this is the stuff that you know, right?
So, why don’t we talk about something you don’t know? Like…
1: It Has More than One Name
Your drink may have a different name depending on the store and location you purchase it from. In its birthplace of Taiwan, this beverage was lovingly called boba tea.
According to a bubble tea supplier, in various locations, it is referred to by different names like tapioca tea, pearl tea, zhen zhou nai cha, pearl shake, black pearl tea, momi milk tea, & others.
2: The Newest Tea Trend is Quite Old
Although boba tea is a recent addition in the US, it has been popular in Taiwan since the 1980s. It was in his teahouse that Chun Shi Tang created the beverage.
Together, he and his product manager, Lin Hsui Hui, chose to include sweetened tapioca in the iced tea. After watching the Japanese add milk to their coffee, they decided to do the same. This is a brief history of the birth of boba tea.
3: Boba Should be Boiled in Warm Water
Cooking boba in boiling water seems like an easy job. However, if done incorrectly, you might easily spoil the drink. You can determine it’s not cooked enough by its firmness.
If it becomes overly soft, you cooked it too much. On the other hand, if it’s the identical texture of a gummy bear, then that is the ideal boba.
4: The Black Balls are Actually Tapioca Pearls
Tapioca pearls are the dark spheres found at the beverage’s base. Tapioca is a type of starch derived from the cassava plant. We shape it into a ball and prepare it from scratch here – it needs to be boiled and cooked and can be sweetened with any type of sugar or syrup you prefer.
We add brown sugar for extra taste here.
It has a slightly sweet and slightly chewy taste, with a texture that is highly addictive. It is known as ‘kue kue’ texture – there are many foods with this chewy texture, such as mochi.
5: It Was on McDonald’s Menu
The large fast-food company acknowledged the huge demand for the drink and chose to add it to the menu in over 800 locations in Germany in 2012. Let’s see if McDonald’s in America gives it a shot. Or maybe they would try to come up with something of their own?
6: It’s Been Trendy for a While
If you’re not completely isolated from society, you’re most likely aware that milk tea has become the preferred drink for most people.
Alright, that might be an overstatement, but you understand the idea.
After becoming very popular in Taiwan, the beverage made its way to Southeast and East Asia. Lately, it has extended to the United States and Canada.
7: With Sugar, Boba Tea Becomes Something Else
Do you want to know why people got crazy when Taiwan’s Tiger Sugar chain arrived in the US? Their distinct tea has ‘tiger stripes’ on the cup edges due to the caramelized brown sugar added to it. The beverage is popular on Instagram and tastes as delicious as it appears.