Bubble Tea

Invented by street vendors in Taiwan in the early 1980s, bubble tea was originally a mix of tea, milk, and ice shaken to produce frothy bubbles. It became popular with children, and fruit flavors and purees were added to the mix. Finally, vendors included marble-sized dark tapioca pearls, which are now considered characteristic of true bubble tea. Bubble tea, also called boba drink, is usually served in a clear cup, showing off the dark tapioca bubbles, with a fat straw wide enough to suck up the chewy tapioca. Flavors range from the original tea with milk to mango, coconut, peach, peppermint, red bean, papaya, watermelon, and every common or exotic flavor sellers can devise. Bubble tea has spawned variants such as Thai bubble tea, made with sweetened condensed milk, and bubble coffee. Bubble tea first appeared in the United States in California in the mid-1980s, and by 2010 bubble tea shops had become a common sight across the country.