It is a favorite drink among many. Bubble tea remains one of the most popular drinks not just in China, but in America as well. With its ever-growing popularity, it will surely leave many wondering, what is bubble tea?
Bubble tea is a milk-based Taiwanese tea with tapioca balls at the bottom. The first bubble tea shop opened on Taiwan in the 1980s. The first shop to begin selling them is called the Chun Shui Tang tea shop.
Bubble tea was originally named that not because of the tapioca balls inside but because the tea is shaken and it creates a bubbly float on top.
Some other names for bubble tea include “pearl tea,” “boba tea,” and “tapioca tea.” Bubble tea in Chinese is 珍珠奶茶 (Zhēnzhū nǎichá).
Bubble tea comes in a multitude of different flavors. You also have the option of adding other things besides tapioca pearls like aloe jelly, milk foam, coconut jelly, and grass jelly! Some of the most popular bubble tea flavors are taro, honeydew, mango, lychee, and green tea!
Keep in mind that bubble tea is made with tea, often times black tea so it does have caffeine!
If you’ve never tried bubble tea, I encourage you to! You will not regret it! Until next time, 再见！
Sources:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/types-of-bubble-tea-766451
https://www.google.com/amp/s/spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/what-is-bubble-tea/amp
Great article, Jason. I am personally a fan of 珍珠奶茶. I find the origin of its name to be quite interesting, and the other fun facts about bubble tea are very interesting as well. My favorite part of bubble tea is the bubbles, as I’m sure it is for many other people, and I would really like to try the other thing a you can put into the drink besides the bubbles. Something that I have always been fascinated by is the world famous sticker seal that covers every cup of bubble tea and that is something that I have always wanted to know more about. Why don’t they just use a regular top? Anyways, thanks so much for the article. Keep up the great work!
I absolutely love bubble tea. It has been one of my favorite drinks for a long time, and whenever I go to Flushing, I would beg my parents to get me one. I find it curious that the first bubble tea shop only opened less than 40 years ago! The tapioca balls are what makes the drink unique, but in fact, the drink is named after how the tea creates a bubbly float on top when shaken. I never knew it was originally Taiwanese! Thanks for sharing.
Bubble tea has become one of my favorite drinks, and I am lucky to live close by a bubble tea shop. I did not know about it until a field trip to a hot pot restaurant in 8th grade, and I am now grateful that it is ever-growing in popularity. However, there is clearly a lot I did not know about it. For example, the fact that it is not named for the tapioca balls at the bottom, but the bubbly float created on top. I also did not know that was originally a Taiwanese drink!
This is a great article! I have never had bubble tea before, but I may try it soon. However, many of my friends love drinking bubble tea. I noticed the balls at the bottom, but never knew what it was! After reading this, now I know that it is tapioca balls. I also never knew that when shaken it bubbles, hence the name. Thank you for sharing.
This was an amazing article Jason. I grew up with bubble tea, and I absolutely love it! Whenever I go to the city, I would always stop y and get one. I’m surprised the first bubble tea shop was in the 1980s, I thought it would be older. It’s also shocking that bubble tea wasn’t named after the tapioca bubbles! My personal favorite flavor is taro. This was a very entertaining article.
I really love bubble tea. Every time when I go to Flushing, I would buy one. It’s really good though! I did not know that was a Taiwanese drink! Actually bubble tea is really popular in China too!
I love bubble tea! I always get bubble tea from Flushing before, but now that there’s a bubble tea shop near where I live, I go there often to get bubble tea. They are so good! I love milk tea in general, but the tapioca balls at the bottom makes it even better! I thought bubble tea was named because of the tapioca balls, but now I learned that it’s actually named because of the bubbles that float on top. That’s really cool!
Personally, I prefer grass jelly over tapioca balls. I find the tapioca hard to chew. I’ve never tried any other flavors, but mango and green tea sound delicious. I was surprised to learn that the name comes from the bubbly float rather than the tapioca balls. Thanks for sharing!
This was an amazing article Jason. I grew up with bubble tea, and I absolutely love it! Whenever I go to the city, I would always stop y and get one. Personally, I prefer grass jelly over tapioca balls. I find the tapioca hard to chew. I’ve never tried any other flavors, but mango and green tea sound delicious. I was surprised to learn that the name comes from the bubbly float rather than the tapioca balls. Bubble tea has become one of my favorite drinks, and I am lucky to live close by a bubble tea shop. I did not know about it until a field trip to a hot pot restaurant in 8th grade, and I am now grateful that it is ever-growing in popularity. Thanks so much for sharing!
Great article!! I have had bubble tea many times and i enjoy drinking it very much! I am not aware of any locations selling bubble tea nearby, so when I find the chance to drink it, it’s very special! I think that it was a great idea to award the winners of the “Guess the Chinese idiom Game.” It was a great award because bubble tea is liked by so many people! I have never tried one of the flavors before but I will definitely try one the next time I get this! Nice job!
I remember the first time that I had bubble tea was on the hotpot trip. I had never tried it and was very reluctant, but very glad that I had tried it. I remember liking it so much that I got it too many times after that I was kinda turned off to it. I’ve had a bunch of really good bubble tea and a lot of bad bubble tea. It’s just nice once in a while to go out and enjoy some with friends.
Good article. I’ve seen bubble tea many times before but never tried it. My friends always want to get it too. Whether it’s at the mall or in flushing. But even then I still don’t really know what it is cause I’ve never tried it.
I used to like milk tea, but recently I just noticed that it’s so filling and always ruins my appetite for anything. I think I’m going to start moving towards lighter fruit teas as a result. I heard those were very good as well! They have so many flavors it’s difficult to pick one. Additionally, I never knew the history of this drink, so I’m surprised the bubbles were not used to refer to the tapioca balls. Thank you for sharing!
Great article Jason! I love bubble tea, and it is one of my favorite drinks. I know that bubble tea comes in different flavors and two of my favorite flavors are mango and taro. I never heard of lychee or honeydew though. Before reading this article, I had no idea that bubble tea comes from Taiwan, but now I do. Thanks for sharing!