Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, tapioca milk tea, boba tea, or boba; , ) is a tea-based drink most often containing chewy tapioca balls, milk, and flavoring. It originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and spread to other countries where there is a large East Asian diaspora population.
Bubble tea is most commonly made with tapioca pearls (also known as "boba" or "balls"), but it can be made with other toppings as well, such as grass jelly, aloe vera, red bean, and popping boba. It has many varieties and flavors, but the two most popular varieties are pearl black milk tea and pearl green milk tea ("pearl" for the tapioca balls at the bottom). Some of the largest global bubble tea chains include Chatime, CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice, Gong Cha, and Kung Fu Tea.
Two Taiwanese tea rooms, Chun Shui Tang in Taichung, and Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan, claim the invention of bubble tea in 1988 and 1986 respectively; litigation between them resulted in a 2019 ruling that bubble tea was non-patentable. Introduced to the United States in the 1990s, where it is more commonly called boba, the drink gained popularity in the 2010s and became a symbol of Asian American cultural identity, including the terms "boba life" and "boba liberal".
There are ongoing debates over the drink's impact on health. While the drink most often contains green or black tea, which offers many health benefits, it also has a high sugar and caloric content, which could exacerbate chronic diseases when consumed daily.
Description
Bubble teas fall under two categories: teas without milk and milk teas. Both varieties come with a choice of black, green, or oolong tea as the base. Milk teas usually include powdered or fresh milk, but may also use condensed milk, almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk.
The oldest known bubble tea drink consisted of a mixture of hot Taiwanese black tea, tapioca pearls (), condensed milk, and syrup () or honey. Bubble tea is most commonly served cold. The tapioca pearls that give bubble tea its name were originally made from the starch of the cassava. Larger pearls () quickly replaced these. The alternative name "boba" (), common in the United States but rare in Asia, originates from a nickname for Hong Kong actress Amy Yip.
There are select cafés that specialize in bubble tea production. Some of the largest global bubble tea chains include Chatime, CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice, Gong Cha, and Kung Fu Tea.
Variants
Drink Bubble tea comes in many variations, which usually consist of black tea, green tea, oolong tea, and sometimes white tea. Another variation, yuenyeung, (, named after the Mandarin duck) originated in Hong Kong and consists of black tea, coffee, and milk.
Other varieties of the drink include blended tea drinks. These variations are often either blended using ice cream or are smoothies that contain both tea and fruit.
There are many popular flavors of bubble tea, such as taro, mango, coffee, and coconut. Flavoring ingredients such as a syrup or powder determine the flavor and usually the color of the bubble tea, while other ingredients such as tea, milk, and boba are the basis. Milkless teas commonly use fruit as their base, with popular options including fruit teas made from fresh fruit, fruit syrup, or fruit powder, often combined with a tea. Common flavors include mango, lychee, winter melon, and lemon.
Toppings
Tapioca pearls (boba) are the most common ingredient, although there are other ways to make the chewy spheres found in bubble tea. The pearls vary in color according to the ingredients mixed in with the tapioca. Most pearls are black from brown sugar.
Jelly comes in different shapes: small cubes, stars, or rectangular strips, and flavors such as coconut jelly, konjac, lychee, grass jelly, mango, coffee, and green tea. Azuki bean or mung bean paste, typical toppings for Taiwanese shaved ice desserts, give bubble tea an added subtle flavor as well as texture. Aloe, egg pudding (custard), and sago also can be found in many bubble tea shops. Popping boba, or spheres that have fruit juices or syrups inside them, are another popular bubble tea topping. Flavors include mango, strawberry, coconut, kiwi, and honey melon.
Some shops offer milk or cheese foam on top of the drink, giving the drink a consistency similar to that of whipped cream and a saltier flavor profile. One shop described the effect of the cheese foam as "neutraliz[ing] the bitterness of the tea...and as you drink it you taste the returning sweetness of the tea."
Ice and sugar level
Bubble tea shops often give customers the option of choosing the amount of ice or sugar in their drink. Ice levels are usually specified (e.g., no ice, less ice, normal ice, more ice), and sugar levels in 25% increments (e.g., 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%), though these options vary by shop as there is no standardized recipe. Some shops also offer hot bubble tea as an alternative to the standard cold preparation.
"Boozy Boba" In recent years, alcoholic variations of bubble tea, sometimes referred to as “boozy boba,” have emerged in bars and specialty beverage shops. These drinks typically combine traditional bubble tea ingredients such as milk tea or fruit tea with alcoholic spirits, including vodka, rum, or soju. Boozy boba has gained popularity among adult consumers and reflects the ongoing adaptation of bubble tea within global beverage trends. There is even a sparkling vodka seltzer with four different fruit flavors called "Boozy Boba."
Packaging In Southeast Asia, bubble tea is usually packaged in a plastic takeaway cup, sealed with plastic or a rounded cap. New entrants into the market have attempted to distinguish their products by packaging it in bottles and other shapes. Some have used sealed plastic bags.
While some cafés may serve bubble tea in a glass, most Taiwanese bubble tea shops serve the drink in a plastic cup and use a machine to seal the top of the cup with heated plastic cellophane. The method allows the tea to be shaken in the serving cup and makes it spill-free until a person is ready to drink it. The cellophane is then pierced with an oversized straw, referred to as a boba straw, which is larger than a typical drinking straw to allow the toppings to pass through.
Preparation Method The tea can be made in batches during the day or the night before. Brewing different types of teas takes different amounts of time and temperature. For instance, green tea requires brewing at a lower temperature, typically between with a brewing time of 8–10 minutes to extract its optimal flavour. In contrast, black tea needs to be made with hotter water, usually around with a brewing of around 15–20 minutes to bring out its sweetness. A tea warmer dispenser allows the tea to remain heated for up to eight hours.
Pearls (boba) are made from tapioca starch. Most bubble tea stores buy packaged tapioca pearls in an uncooked state. When the boba is uncooked and in the package, it is uncolored and hard. The boba does not turn chewy and dark until they are cooked and sugar is added to bring out its taste. Uncooked tapioca pearls in their package can be stored for around 9 to 12 months. Once cooked, they can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Despite this, most bubble tea stores will not sell their boba after 24 hours because it will start to harden and lose its chewiness.
The traditional preparation method is to mix the ingredients (sugar, powders, and other flavourings) together using a bubble tea shaker cup, by hand. However, many present-day bubble tea shops use a bubble tea shaker machine. This eliminates the need for humans to shake the bubble tea by hand. It also reduces staffing needs as multiple cups of bubble tea may be prepared by a single barista.
Related Products
Due to its popularity, bubble tea has inspired a variety of flavored snacks, such as Boba ice cream bars, bubble tea candy, popcorn, cookies, and jelly beans. The market size of bubble tea was valued at in 2022 and is projected to reach by the end of 2027.
History Milk and sugar have been added to tea in Taiwan since the Dutch colonization of Taiwan from 1624 to 1662, although it was not a common practice.
Before the invention of bubble tea, a similar tea beverage was created in Taiwan called bubble foam tea (). This drink was made by mixing tea with fructose syrup and then shaking it with ice cubes in a shaker. The vigorous shaking created a fine foam, giving the drink its signature texture. Unlike modern pearl milk tea, bubble foam tea did not initially contain tapioca balls.
There are two competing stories for the discovery of bubble tea. One is associated with the Chun Shui Tang tea room in Taichung. Its founder, Liu Han-Chieh, began serving Chinese tea cold after he observed coffee was served cold in Japan while on a visit in the 1980s. The new style of serving tea propelled his business, and multiple chains serving this tea were established. The company's product development manager, Lin Hsiu Hui, said she created the first bubble tea in 1988 when she poured tapioca balls into her tea during a staff meeting and encouraged others to drink it. The beverage was well-received at the meeting, leading to its inclusion on the menu. It ultimately became the franchise's top-selling product.
Another claim for the invention of bubble tea comes from the Hanlin Tea Room () in Tainan. It claims that bubble tea was invented in 1986 when teahouse owner Tu Tsong-he was inspired by white tapioca balls he saw in the local market of Yā-mǔ-liáo (). He later made tea using these traditional Taiwanese snacks. This resulted in what is known as "pearl tea".
In 2009, the two teahouses began legal proceedings against each other, each seeking recognition as the original creator of the drink. After roughly a decade of litigation, a Taiwanese court ruled in 2019 that bubble tea was not patentable subject matter, on the basis that it is a general food product that anyone may prepare. The ruling did not assign credit for the invention to either party.
Popularity In the 1990s, bubble tea spread across East and Southeast Asia with ever-growing popularity. In regions like Hong Kong, China, Japan, Vietnam, and Singapore, the bubble tea trend has expanded rapidly among young people. In some popular shops, people would line up for more than thirty minutes to get a drink. In recent years, the popularity of bubble tea has gone beyond the beverage itself, with boba lovers inventing various bubble tea flavored-foods, including ice cream, pizza, toast, sushi, and ramen.
Taiwan In Taiwan, bubble tea has become not just a beverage, but an enduring icon of the culture and food history for the nation. In 2020, the date 30 April was officially declared as National Bubble Tea Day in Taiwan. That same year, the image of bubble tea was proposed as an alternative cover design for Taiwan's passport. According to Al Jazeera, bubble tea has become synonymous with Taiwan and is an important symbol of Taiwanese identity both domestically and internationally. Bubble tea is used to represent Taiwan in the context of the Milk Tea Alliance. 50 Lan is a bubble tea chain founded in Tainan.
Hong Kong Hong Kong is famous for its traditional Hong Kong–style milk tea, which is made with brewed black tea and evaporated milk. While milk tea has long become integrated into people's daily lives, the expansion of Taiwanese bubble tea chains, including Tiger Sugar, Youiccha, and Xing Fu Tang, into Hong Kong created a new wave for "boba tea."
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