Bubble tea or boba tea is the next best thing that happened to tea since, well, iced tea!
As mentioned on the previous page, this beverage has soared in Taiwan, Japan, and South East Asia in the late 1990's, and since then has made an impression in the western world as well.
But what exactly is this beverage?
There are two main types of boba tea which are milk and fruit teas.
The milk teas may either use dairy or non-dairy creamers, depending on the parlor, that may be mixed with Chinese black tea, honey, sugar, ice, and tapioca pearls.
The fruit teas may either have fruit flavor, or real fruit inside, and is mixed with either black or green tea and ice. Some fruit varieties usually offered are strawberry, passion fruit, raspberry, and blueberry.
Other common flavors are banana, chocolate, and coconut.
Now although this beverage is sweet and contains sugar, it has less sugar then a soft drink and may one day change the way you look at an espresso or cappuccino!
The Tapioca Balls.
What makes bubble tea so special, and what earns it its name, are the marble-sized tapioca pearls that sit at the bottom of the cup giving the last few sips an extra bit of sweetness.
The pearls found in boba tea are made from the cassava root. They are prepared by boiling for 25 minutes until they are cooked thoroughly, but still have a consistent pliancy. After they are cooked, they are let to cool for another 25 minutes and are dipped in either a sugar or honey solution for added flavor.
These chewy balls can be consumed with the drink and are sucked through a large extra wide straw.
Another form of bubble tea is its slushy cousin "snow bubble". This is the same as the fruit flavored pearl teas, but instead of small thin iced cubes, a more slushy-frothy body is created.
