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Original poster

Bubble tea....what actually is it and why is it so popular?

86 replies

Yankydoodledandy · 19/02/2023 19:05

Have just past a bubble tea shop and people are literally queuing outside. Ive googled it but just dont get it 😝

OP posts:
LuckyDipForTheEuro · 19/02/2023 19:07

My youngest was obsessed with the idea so I got him one in London last year on a day trip. No one could finish it. Sweet milky something with tapioca/fat grain balls in. I mean just why?

kitcat15 · 19/02/2023 19:07

Its vile

mamabear715 · 19/02/2023 19:09

My eldest DD loves it. I don't get it either..

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General food
fairgame84 · 19/02/2023 19:09

Are the bubbles meant to pop in the drink or do you chew them?

iloveredwine · 19/02/2023 19:09

My daughter doesn't like the milk tea, just the green tea or fruit tea with the fruit balls. Not as sickly sweet

D20 · 19/02/2023 19:09

It’s fun. I don’t drink coffee so wonder why Starbucks et al are so popular but I have bought a bubble tea to try something different. There’s a huge range though. Some are just syrup and pop a balls, some are iced tea with cream and tapioca.

Partyandbullshit · 19/02/2023 19:11

It’s different things, loosely based on the concept of tea.

You can have a milk base or a water base. To either is added flavourings (coffee, tea, strawberry, mango etc), sugar syrup and ice. And, tapioca. Tapioca is a starch which comes in powdered form. You add water and make a dough. From the dough you make either tiny balls, or you roll it out flat and cut tiny cubes. They’re boiled in water for a couple of minutes and become transparent.

I’ve made bubble tea (also called boba) at home. It’s a bit of a faff. Easier to buy it in a bubble tea shop. You can ask for as much or little sugar as you want.

My kids love it, and the tapioca fills them up. It’s pretty much a meal if you go for the milky variety: carbs, protein, fat.

Tarkan · 19/02/2023 19:12

My eldest is obsessed with it. She buys fruity ones so it's not even like a milky drink. The pearls in hers are similar to those ones you get to add to gin or Prosecco with a burst of juice inside. She had to visit a bubble tea place when we were in Glasgow but I didn't get anything as they seem to use sweeteners in all the fruity ones which I can't have.

I bought her a more traditional bubble tea making set at Christmas and she doesn't like it. It's more like a hot tea with spongey tapioca balls instead of the ones that burst.

Partyandbullshit · 19/02/2023 19:13

Partyandbullshit · 19/02/2023 19:11

It’s different things, loosely based on the concept of tea.

You can have a milk base or a water base. To either is added flavourings (coffee, tea, strawberry, mango etc), sugar syrup and ice. And, tapioca. Tapioca is a starch which comes in powdered form. You add water and make a dough. From the dough you make either tiny balls, or you roll it out flat and cut tiny cubes. They’re boiled in water for a couple of minutes and become transparent.

I’ve made bubble tea (also called boba) at home. It’s a bit of a faff. Easier to buy it in a bubble tea shop. You can ask for as much or little sugar as you want.

My kids love it, and the tapioca fills them up. It’s pretty much a meal if you go for the milky variety: carbs, protein, fat.

This makes it sound like I approve of bubble tea. I don’t, and never have it myself! I was just curious about, and it was a fun lockdown activity

Yarrawonga · 19/02/2023 19:14

How about cheese tea?

Bubble tea....what actually is it and why is it so popular?
Mamalamadrama · 19/02/2023 19:15

fairgame84 · 19/02/2023 19:09

Are the bubbles meant to pop in the drink or do you chew them?

You can get popping boba that has like a skin and then is filled or you can get the chewy normal balls which I prefer.

Greensleevevssnotnose · 19/02/2023 19:16

They have that in Singapore

Bippetyboppityboob · 19/02/2023 19:17

I expect there's a queue because some are curious about it, others want to post on their social media (its quite instagrammable), there aren't that many places really that sell it, and some like it! I am not a huge fan personally but there are a tonne of different combos to try and I guess if not used to it its a novelty

katseyes7 · 19/02/2023 19:17

My ex went to the eldest's for dinner a couple of years ago.
He said the food was fantastic (eldest's wife is Japanese, and the food was authentically Japanese) but they gave him 'something with fucking frogspawn in the bottom of it' after.
Eldest was highly amused at his dad's reaction. It didn't go down well.

DangerNoodles · 19/02/2023 19:17

There is a bubble tea shop a few shops down from the shop I work in. We find lots of full or half full cups of bubble tea hidden on our shelves or left in corners, so I'm guessing they are shit.

drpet49 · 19/02/2023 19:18

There’s an outlet where I live, I’ve never seen anyone in there. I just assumed it was on par with those American candy shops.

tealandteal · 19/02/2023 19:18

I have to say I love it. I’m not sure why. You can have either fruity ‘popping balls’ which are juice encapsulated in a little skin. I’m not a massive fan of these as they are too artificially sweet. I prefer the boba made from tapioca starch with a brown sugar syrup and then what is essentially very milky tea.

TobermorysMusicMachine · 19/02/2023 19:18

Thank you OP for this thread! I have long been wondering this. There are several outlets in town!

DangerNoodles · 19/02/2023 19:19

As to it's popularity I think it's just for show, you see lots of teens and pre teens holding a cup but rarely taking a good sip of the stuff.

MrsMariaReynolds · 19/02/2023 19:19

I thought it was all just colour and sugar and meh--and then I discovered brown sugar milk tea. I've been hooked ever since!

BirlinBrain · 19/02/2023 19:20

Sounds like the tapioca pudding we got at school decades ago, commonly referred to as "frogspawn"

OhNoNotThatAgain · 19/02/2023 19:29

Considers the prospect momentarily...
<heaves>
It's a no from me.

zen1 · 19/02/2023 19:31

A bubble tea shop opened near us a few weeks ago. There were loads of people queuing to try it on opening day. I’ve walked past a fair few times since then and no queues to be seen! It’s not something I’m desperate to try, given the descriptions on here!

aibutohavethisusername · 19/02/2023 19:31

I love bubble tea 🧋

JaneyHenderson · 19/02/2023 19:31

It's repulsive.
DD12 was obsessed with it, finally bought her one for bastarding £4.50 and she hated it. Never mentioned it again 😂