The dessert-like beverage more commonly known as bubble tea that originated in Taiwan gained a huge following during the 2000s for its strange combinations of textures and flavors. Here are 5 Things You Should Know About Bubble Tea.
This drink is easily recognizable due to the tapioca pearls that it is served with. Generally, the milky nature of the beverage tends to divide the general opinion when you initially try the drink.
Whether you’re making your drink with the best bubble tea kits around or buying one from a local store, there are a couple of things you should know about bubble tea.
5 Things You Should Know About Bubble Tea
“Bubble” Refers to the Foam
Bubble tea is a drink that has been around for well over three decades. It is said to have been invented in Taiwan during the 1980s and, as legend has it, was the result of fen yuan being added to a sweet tapioca dessert.
It was traditionally consumed as a fresh-brewed tea with sugar and milk that has been mixed with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shaking the freshly brewed tea gives it a distinctive bubble froth on top.
This is where the “bubble” name comes in. Many people aren’t aware that the name of bubble tea refers to the froth rather than the drink itself, or the flavors that it offers!
There Are Many Types of Bubble Tea
Traditional bubble tea flavors are composed of milk, sugar, and tea, as stated above, and remain one of the most popular bubble tea flavors today. Traditional milk tea consists of these ingredients along with tapioca pearls.
However, since bubble tea’s huge gain in popularity, there are hundreds of incredible flavors and types of bubble tea such as herbal, oolong, green, fruit, and white teas.
Popular fruit tea flavors include strawberry, mango, and lychee, which may come in the form of real pieces of fruit, pureed fruit, flavored syrups, or popping bobs.
You Can Have Any Flavor Combination
You can add syrups, sweeteners, flavorings, or different toppings such as popping boba and jellies to add some additional flavor to your bubble tea drink.
Popular types of boba include the following:
- Honeydew milk tea
- Lychee jelly
- Green tea blueberry
- Taro
- Thai boba tea
- Strawberry green tea
If you’re new to drinking bubble tea, you may want to consider sticking to the traditional flavors of taro or milk tea - they are the classics for a reason.
However, if you’re more experienced with drinking bubble tea, you should try new flavors like matcha green tea, or perhaps a fruit base boba tea.
Bubble Tea Is Best Consumed Immediately
People tend to drink bubble tea a day after it was made, storing it in the refrigerator in the meantime. Although there are no rules against storing bubble tea in the fridge it is in your best interest to drink your bubble tea as quickly as you possibly can.
After all, nothing beats the flavor of freshly shaken bubble tea! Since milk is one of its main ingredients, your bubble tea drink might spoil before you have the opportunity to drink it in the first place.
Significantly, the tapioca pearls will begin to degrade as time passes. They will quickly become hard and stick to each other, even if placed in the fridge..
While the drink will not necessarily turn bad after this time, nobody wants to encounter hard tapioca pearls in their drink. You could heat old tapioca pearls in the microwave but you will never get back the original chewy texture of fresh boba pearls we all crave.
Follow these few tips to lengthen the lifespan of your bubble tea
- Opt for a vegan version of bubble tea (i.e. no dairy)
- Store it in the fridge
- Use a type of sugar syrup
- Use crystal boba or even popping boba (they are not made of starchy tapioca)
However, we recommend drinking bubble tea fresh!
It Has A Lot of Calories
Even without toppings, bubble tea drinks contain a lot of sugar and different artificial flavors. This means they are not the healthiest drinks to choose.
Unfortunately, every tapioca ball has anywhere between 5 and 14 calories, so adding ¼ cup of a topping can result in an extra 135 calories.
Because of its high-calorie content, bubble tea is a drink that should be consumed in moderation. Just because it doesn’t contain carcinogens, it doesn’t mean that you should drink this drink each day.
That being said, you should not be scared of drinking bubble tea. You need to treat yourself now and then!
You could make it a bit healthier by using crystal boba pearls instead of tapioca boba pearls. These are made from the konjac plant (from Southeast Asia) and contain significantly less calories than the tapioca ones.
5 Things You Should Know About Bubble Tea
That concludes this article containing everything you need to know about bubble tea for the tea lover!
Bubble tea is a delicious drink that can be consumed at any time of the year and for any occasion. The best part about it is that there are plenty of flavor combinations for you to enjoy, which means there’s something to match everyone’s preferences.
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