Pearl milk tea
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Pearl milk tea as take out

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Bubble tea, also known as boba, is a tea beverage that originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and migrated to Canada before spreading to trendy spots throughout the West Coast^[1]. The literal translation from Chinese would be pearl milk tea (traditional Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; Hanyu Pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎichá; Tongyong Pinyin: jhenjhu nǎichá). The word bubble refers to "bubbling", the process by which certain types of bubble tea are made, and not the actual tapioca balls). The balls are often called "pearls." Drinks with large pearls are consumed along with the beverage through wide straws; while drinks with small pearls are consumed through normal straws. Bubble tea is especially popular in many East Asian and Southeast Asian regions such as China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Brunei, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and more recently popularized in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Description

Bubble tea is a mixture of iced or hot sweetened tea, milk, and often other flavorings. The distinctive characteristics of bubble tea are the black gummy balls made of tapioca (or, more commonly in East Asia, yam starch^{citation needed}), called "pearls" or "balls" that sit at the bottom of the cup. The pearls are larger than those found in tapioca pudding, with a diameter of at least 6 millimeters, but smaller ones are occasionally used. They are generally translucent brown with a darker brown center, although pearls of other colors or 'jelly cubes' have also recently become available.

The original bubble tea consisted of a hot Taiwanese black tea, tapioca pearls, condensed milk, and honey. As this drink became more popular, variations were created. Initially iced versions with a hint of peach or plum flavoring began to appear, then more fruit flavors were added until, in some variations, the tea was removed entirely in favor of real fruits. Today you can find shops entirely devoted to bubble tea, similar to juice bars of the early 1990s. They usually contain colored pearls that are chosen to match whatever fruit juice is used, in addition to brightly colored oversize straws for sucking up the pearls.

Bubble teas are generally split into two types: fruit-flavored teas, and milk teas. However, in some shops the line is blurred and one can get a "fruit milk tea" if one desires. Milk teas may use dairy or non-dairy creamers.

The mixtures that make up bubble tea vary. Several examples of flavors are strawberry, passion fruit, mango, chocolate, and coconut, and may be added in the form of powder, fruit juice, pulp, or syrup to hot black or green tea, which is shaken in a cocktail shaker or mixed in a blender with ice until chilled. The mixture is usually combined with milk and cooked tapioca pearls.

Bubble tea bars often serve bubble tea using a machine to seal the top of the cup with plastic cellophane. This allows the tea to be shaken in the serving cup. The cellophane is then pierced with a straw. Other cafés use plastic dome-shaped lids. Even fruit slushes and smoothies can have pearls added to the drinks.

The pearls are made mostly of tapioca starch, which comes from the tapioca, or bitter-cassava plant. In other parts of the world, the bitter-cassava plant may be called manioca or yuca. Cassava is native to South America, and was introduced to Asia in the 1800s. The balls are prepared by boiling for 25 minutes, until they are cooked thoroughly but have not lost pliancy, then cooled for 25 minutes. After cooking they last about 7 hours. The pearls have little taste, and are usually soaked in sugar or honey solutions.

Variants

An alternative to the traditional tapioca balls are green pearls. Green pearls, as their name implies, are green tapioca balls. They have a small hint of green tea flavor, and are chewier than the traditional tapioca balls. Alternatives to tapioca balls in general are egg pudding, pieces of aloe, coconut jelly or konjac jelly. The jelly is served in small cubes or rectangular strips, and has a pliant, chewy consistency. They may be ordered 'half and half,' in a drink with half pearls and half jelly. There are also other jellies such as lychee jelly, coffee jelly, and rainbow jelly, a fruit mixture sometimes known as composite jelly.

Culture

When ordering, customers may be asked whether they want "pearls" or "boba" in their drinks; both terms refer to the tapioca balls. The tapioca pearls require an hour for preparation, and they expand considerably when cooked. After they are cooked through but before they become too soft, the pearls are drained and poured into a sugar-water solution, and are ready for use.

Drinking the pearls through a straw is common, usually a large diameter straw is provided to accommodate the particular size of the pearls. A common error for the inexperienced consumer of the beverage is to empty the container of fluid before all of the pearls are consumed, thus making it difficult or impossible to collect the pearls with sufficient vacuum using a straw.

Some cafes use a non-dairy milk substitute instead of milk because many East Asians are lactose intolerant. Soy milk options are widely available for those who avoid dairy products for various reasons. ^[2] This adds a distinct flavor and consistency to the drink.

Newer variations on drinks include the Snow Bubble. This drink is a slushie-like drink made with fruit flavors and mixed with shaved ice to make a smooth, refreshing drink. Assorted types of boba balls may be added to the Snow Bubble: colored, lychee bubbles, rainbow boba, and black boba (which are the original). One drawback to Snow Bubble Tea is that the coldness of the iced drink may cause the tapioca balls to harden, making them difficult to suck up through a straw and chew. To prevent this from happening, Snow Bubble tea must be consumed faster than regular bubble tea.

Availability

Bubble tea is available at small dedicated cafes and some restaurants. Bubble tea kits for making bubble tea at home can be purchased from online shops. Most bubble tea shops serve a variety of drinks, including coffee, juices, fruit smoothies, and fruit freezes, which are sometimes also called bubble tea, though they do not contain any tea ingredients. These drinks can include flavors less familiar to non-Asians, such as taro or lychee, as well as the more familiar chocolate, Ovaltine, Milo (in Australia), Horlicks (in England), or strawberry. Hot milk tea with pearls is also common, though coconut or konjac jelly are usually not added to hot drinks.

History

There are two shops that claim to be the first creator of bubble tea. One is Liu Han Chie who worked in Chun Shui Tang teahouse (春水堂)Taichung City, Taiwan in the early 1980s, and experimented with cold milk tea by adding fruit, syrup, candied yams, and tapioca balls. Although the drink was not popular at first, a Japanese television show generated interest among businessmen. The drink became well-known in most parts of East and Southeast Asia during the 1990s.

An alternative origin is the Hanlin (翰林)Teahouse in Tainan City, Taiwan, owned by Tu Tsong He Hanlin. Bubble tea is made by adding traditional white fenyuan which have an appearance of pearls, supposedly resulting in the so-called "pearl tea." Shortly after, Hanlin changed the white fenyuan (粉圓) to the black, as it is today.

In the late 1990s, bubble tea began to gain popularity in the major North American cities with large Asian populations, especially those on the West Coast and East Coast and in Texas. The trend in the United States was started by Lollicup in the city of San Gabriel, California and quickly spread throughout Southern California.^{citation needed} The beverage has received much attention from mainstream American media, including covers on National Public Radio show Morning Edition and the Los Angeles Times. Bubble tea has spread internationally through Chinatowns and other overseas Asian communities.

Los Angeles and Orange County currently has one of the highest concentration of "boba" bars in the US, due to the regions large number of Asian residents.

In the U.S., major chains such as Boba Bee in Chicago are expanding into suburban areas, particularly those with large Asian populations. Boba Tea Company is another chain located in Albuquerque, New Mexico which is favorable to the general population (not just Asian communities). It offers a unique modern look not found anywhere else. Bubble tea can also be found in major European cities such as London and Paris. Bubble tea is also gaining in popularity in Canada, particularly in and around the cities of Vancouver, British Columbia, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Toronto, Ontario; Edmonton, Alberta; and Montreal, Quebec where there are large Asian-Canadian communities. It is also gaining popularity in Australia, especially in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne where there are also high concentrations of Asian immigrants and descendants.

Names

The Chinese term for this drink would be literally translated "pearl milk tea" (traditional Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; Hanyu Pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎichá; Tongyong Pinyin: jhenjhu nǎichá). "Bubbling tea" in Chinese actually refers to a modern method of beverage preparation: to efficiently and homogenously mix various ingredients in these drinks (e.g., sugar, powdered milk, tea, and ice), drink makers often shake the tea up as bartenders do with cocktails. Thusly prepared, a layer of foam forms on the surface, and any tea so prepared can be called bubble tea. "Foam black tea" (traditional Chinese: 泡沫紅茶; simplified Chinese: 泡沫红茶; pinyin: pàomò hóngchá; literally "bubble black tea") and "foam green tea" (traditional Chinese: 泡沫綠茶; simplified Chinese: 泡沫绿茶; Hanyu Pinyin: pàomò lǜchá; Tongyong Pinyin: pàomò lyùchá;literally "bubble green tea") are also common drinks made by shaking sweetened tea. After bubble tea was brought to non-Asian countries, it was given the name "bubble tea." Since the most notable difference between bubble tea and other tea is the tapioca at the bottom of the drink, some assumed that the "bubble" in "bubble tea" referred to these pearls, though the frothy layer created from shaking the drink is what gives "foam (or bubble) tea" its name. The pearls in "pearl milk tea," however, do refer to the tapioca "pearls."

The term "Boba" is a Taiwanese slang word for "large breasts"' or "large breasted woman." Possibly, the round shape of the pearls lead to the adoption of this term as a name for the tea. ^[3]

Bubble tea has many other names, including:

Chinese

• 泡沫紅茶 (pinyin: pàomò hóngchá): "bubble black tea", used mainly in Taiwan
• 泡沫奶茶 (pinyin: pàomò nǎichá): "bubble milk tea", used mainly in Taiwan
• 珍珠奶茶 or 珍奶) (Hanyu Pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎichá; Tongyong Pinyin: jhenjhu nǎichá): "pearl milk tea", in Taiwanese (Min Nan) and Chinese usage
• 波霸奶茶 (Hanyu Pinyin: bōbà nǎichá; Tongyong Pinyin: bobà nǎichá): "large pearls milk tea", used mainly in southern Taiwan for the large-pearl kind; tea with smaller pearls is called "pearl milk tea"
• 黑珍珠奶茶 (Hanyu Pinyin: hēi zhēnzhū nǎichá; Tongyong Pinyin: hei jhenjhu nǎichá): "black pearl milk tea" (less common)
• (奶)茶珍珠 (Hanyu Pinyin: (nǎi) chá zhēnzhū; Tongyong Pinyin: (nǎi) chá jhenjhu): "(milk) tea pearl" (less common)

English

• pearl (milk) tea or drink
• tapioca milk tea drink
• milk pearl tea or drink
• black pearl (milk) tea or drink
• (milk) tea pearl
• boba (milk) tea or drink
• tapioca (milk) tea or drink
• bubble tea
• bubble milk
• bubble cup

Others

• Trà sữa trân châu (Vietnamese): literally "pearl milk tea"
• 보바 드링크, 보바 티, 버블티 (Korean): literally "Boba drink/tea", "bubble tea"
• タピオカティー (Japanese): tapiokatii transliterated "tapioca tea"
• ชาไข่มุก, ชามุก (Thai): literally "pearl tea"
• SAGO (Tagalog): literally "tapioca pearls" (Sago at Gulaman "Tapioca Pearls & Agar-Agar Jelly" are the popular version of pearl milk tea in the Philippines)

References

See also

General info

• Taiwanese tea culture
• Cuisine of Taiwan