Bubble tea

Image:Pearl Milktea.jpg

Bubble tea, pearl milk tea (Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎichá), or boba milk tea (波霸奶茶; bōbà nǎichá) is a teabeveragemixture with milkwhich includes balls of tapioca. Originating in Taiwan, it is especially popular in Asia(Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines, and Singapore) as well as Europe, Canada, and the United States. It is also known as black pearl tea or tapiocatea.

Definition

Bubble tea consists of a mixture of sweetened tea, iced or hot, and milk and possibly other flavorings. The beverage is then shaken, producing the small bubbles characteristic of the name. Black gummy balls made of tapioca, called "pearls" and now commonly referred to also as the drink's characteristic "bubbles" or Boba, sit at the bottom of the cup. The pearls are much larger than those found in tapioca pudding, with a diameter of at least 6 millimeters (smaller balls are occasionally used). They are sucked through a wide straw along with the drink, providing something to chew on between sips.

When ordering, customers are often asked whether they want "boba" or "pearls" in their beverages. Both terms refer to the tapioca balls. In the preparation of the tapioca, the pearls expand considerably. The water to pearl ratio is significantly higher. It takes a total of 60 minutes to prepare the tapioca. After this period, the tapioca is drained from the water and pour into a sugar and water solution and are ready to use.

The recipes for bubble tea vary, but usually flavoring is added to hot black or green tea which is then shaken in a cocktail shakeror blender with ice until chilled. The mixture is then usually combined with milkand softened tapioca pearls. Most cafes that serve bubble tea also add a plastic seal by a machine to the top of the cup to be pierced by a straw by the drinker.

Some cafes use a non-dairy milk substitute instead of milk, which adds a distinct flavor and consistency to the final product. This may be because many Asiansare lactose-intolerant.

The flavorings added to bubble tea are usually fruity, and can be either powders, fruit juice/pulp, or syrups. Drinks made with fruit pulp and juice only with boba added are sometimes refered to as bubble tea, and are therefore distinguished by the seller as separate from green, black, or brown (milk) tea.

Another alternative to traditional bubble tea is to substitute tapioca pearls with coconut jelly, a lighter option. Coconut jelly is served in small Lego-like pieces and has a sweet, crunchy consistency. They add a new dimension to bubble tea and are often ordered "half and half," meaning half pearls and half coconut jelly.

Origin

Image:Annarbor bubble island.JPG Bubble tea is said to have originated in Taichung, Taiwanin the early 1980's by a Taiwanese tea shop named Chun Shui Tang ???, which experimented with cold milk tea by adding fruit, syrup, candied yams and, finally, tapioca balls. Although the drink was not popular at first, publicity from a Japanese television show made businessmen take notice, and it quickly became well known throughout Asia in the 1990s.

In the late 1990s, bubble tea began to become popular in the United Statesand Canada. This unique beverage has also received some attention in the American mainstream media, including Morning Editionon National Public Radioand the Los Angeles Times. Bubble tea can also be found in major Europeancities, such as: Londonand Paris.

Bubble tea can also refer to hot Hong Kong-style milk teawith tapioca balls.

Variations

• Slush: This variation contains flavored crushed ice instead of milk tea.
• Blizzard: This variation contains a milk shake-like mixture instead of milk tea.

Names

Bubble tea has now spread internationally, mainly through overseas Chinese communities. It is also known under a number of other names, including:

• pearl tea
• Bubble Milk tea
• milk pearl tea or pearl milk tea
• pearl ice tea
• black pearl ice tea
• QQ drinks — kiú is Taiwanese slang for chewy
• 奶茶 naicha — literally, "milk tea"
• 珍珠奶茶 zhēnzhū nǎichá (Putonghua, Taiwaneseand overseas Chinese usage) — literally, "pearl milk tea"
• 波霸奶茶 bōbà nǎichá — literally "large breast" milk tea.
• boba drink
• tapioca drink
• trà trân châu (equivalent to ???, literally "pearl tea") (Vietnamese)
• pearl sago [milk] tea — in English only; usually used for canned varieties where pearl sago (西米; xīmǐ; Cantonese: sai¹ mai⁵) is used instead of tapioca.
• ????????, ????? literally, pearl tea

In southern Taiwan, pearl milk tea with large pearls are usually called "boba milk tea", while those with small pearls are called "pearl milk tea".

Availability

The tea, regardless of name, is available at small dedicated boba cafes, and at some restaurants. Most bubble tea stores serve a variety of drinks, including coffee, juices, and fruit freezes, which are sometimes also called bubble tea, even without any tea ingredients. These can include flavors which are less familiar to non-Asians, such as taro, honeydew, or lychee—as well as the familiar chocolate, Ovaltine, or strawberry—and may be available with or without tapioca pearls. Nowdays, hot versions are also found, with tapioca pearls included as well.

Trivia

In September 2004, defending a US$18 billion weapon purchase plan, the ROCMinistry of National Defense used bubble tea as an example of the overall cost of the proposed purchase. The Ministry stated that the total cost of the weapons systems would be equivalent to the money saved if all Taiwanese drank one fewer pearl milk tea per week for a period of twenty years.

Related topic

• Taiwanese cuisine

Bubble tea vendors

• bubblefly.com(bubble tea)
• Lollicup
• Q-Cup
• Quickly
• Tapioca Express(Photo)
• Canada
• United States
• International

External links

• News article from CNN
• The Tale of "The Bubble Tea Origin"
• Picture of Bubble Tea
• US Bubble tea cafe locator
• MSNBC - Can drinking less tea defend a nation?
• NBC - Taiwanese urged to cut tea to pay for US armsid:Bubble tea

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bubble tea.