Can someone explain bubble tea to me please?

[TangoFruit]

I am as intrigued as I am grossed out by the thought of trying bubble tea but it seems so popular.

What do you ask for and how do you drink them?
Do you crunch the bubbles?

Oh my gosh, I could absolutely live on Bubble Tea. I love getting it whenever I can, especially travelling as most big tourist places have it available, especially where there are chinatowns. You can have milky or fruity drink (taro milk is the best!). And the bubbles are yummy chewiness of tapioca (doesn't taste of much), but often can get fruity ones that 'burst'.

It's the best, really refereshing on a hot day. Oh I really want one now ...

It's disgusting. It's like biting into puss balls of sickly juice.

This. And
Like drinking frog spawn.

Yeah there's a place in the mall near me just opened. I don't get it but it seems to be a big fad at the moment. Just sweet sugary drinks I think!

Like drinking frog’s spawn. Vile. Don’t bother.

I had one in Thailand and really didn’t like it, it wasn’t fruity though it was done kind of pink milky tea. Not my thing the texture was too strange and the balls didn’t pop they were definitely chewy.

I've not tried one yet that I don't like.
My dc's decide what I'm having and I guts it down.

I'm really glad i noticed this thread, I saw a new place locally selling "Bubble Tea and Coffee" and had assumed the bubbles were something to do with a shisha pipe

bubblecitea.com/pages/bubble-tea-menu

This is the menu for a Bubble Ci tea outlet.

I've never ever heard of bubble tea, but based on this thread it sounds absolutely revolting!

It's from Taiwan originally and was popular on the west coast of the USA 20 years ago. Either fruit and/or tea, sweetened, then with tapioca pearls added (the bubbles). In the U.K. I find them too sweet

I like the traditional ones (boba/pearl) which, as pp have said, are dark, chewy tapioca balls. Not really flavoured, though, so I love jasmine green tea (made milky, HK style). I def recommend checking the menu online before you go get one, as there will be about a hundred combinations of teas/milks/sugar %/toppings... and at £4-£6 a drink ordering one you end up binning can hurt!

I don’t like the newer juice-filled bubbles - too sweet, and they’re not as satisfying as the tapioca ones.

@motogogo Have you tried the Taiwanese Gong Cha chain here? You can choose sweetness % down to zero! Even though we have lovely independents in my city they don’t offer that...

It's very nice. The bubbles are squishy and you chew them. They're basically tapioca balls which are flavoured and added to iced tea..

@00100001

I tried one...it was grim.

Too sweet.

Weird texture for the bubbles.

Ask for 10% sugar then. You can moderate sweetness

Oh agree with Pp though, I only ever get the milk teas with tapioca balls. First had it in HK and it was divine

I love bubble milk tea - yum!

I like the coffee version but can imagine the fruit ones are really sweet.

Thank you all, I may have to try one!

Oh I thought the bubbles were just fizzy like a carbonated drink. Dc like them.

I love it! I was handed one by a street vendor in a market in Taipei around 15 years ago. I was so overwhelmed by everything that I sipped away and experienced everything from mild horror at what was coming up the really wide straw, to acceptance of the gooey balls, to finally delight. I absolutely love it now. I always get a vanilla milk based tea, level 1 sugar, with tapioca ball. It's brilliant!

You learn so much on MN. My London teens are really into bubble tea and I’ve had fruity ones a couple of times but I never knew that “level X sweetness” was a thing. I’ll remember for next time.

I’m not keen at all! Me, DH and DD got a different one each. None of us liked any of them! I think maybe it’s a marmite thing!

We got some in Japan. The milk was way to sweet and the balls tasted like liquorice and were grim. Never again.

Yes, I googled as I didn’t have a clue, but I was intrigued as to find out as the queue outside the one in my city was huge, all young girls mainly so obviously a trend. Full of sugar and tapioca no thanks, horrendously expensive too.

Love bubble tea. Not as a drink though, it's definitely a dessert when I get it. My favourite is xin fu tang's brown sugar milk tea with tapioca pearls. It's a bit like a creme brulee.