It’s all the rage at my local shopping centre. Recently they removed all the take away food stalls in the centre and replaced 4 of them with Bubble Tea cafes. I had seen hundreds of them in Taiwan and all around Hong Kong and now it seems the love of Bubble Tea has become universal and in every shopping centre.
I have indulged in Bubble tea a couple of times. I must say I am rather partial to the little bubbles of tapioca but if you’ve never had this drink before, you will need to prepare yourself for the little jelly like beads. Some people have said they are not pleasant but I say they are just unexpected!
I also rather like the Bubble teas without the tapioca. There are hundreds of flavour combinations and many of them are VERY sweet! Are they really tea based? Convince me! I am not convinced of any health benefits of this drink, for me it would seem that the bubble tea is just sheer pleasure!
Bubble tea is a sweetly flavored tea beverage invented in Taiwan. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit (or fruit syrup) and/or milk. Ice blended versions of the drink are also available, usually in fruit flavors. Bubble teas may contain small tapioca balls or pearls called "boba". Pearls made of jelly are also available in many places. These teas are shaken to mix the ingredients, creating a foam on the top of some varieties, hence the name.
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, first spread to nearby East Asian countries, migrated to Canada before spreading to Chinatowns throughout the United States, and then to various trendy college towns along the West Coast.
There are many variants of the drink, depending on types of tea used and ingredients added. The most popular kinds are "bubble black tea" (traditional Chinese: 泡沫紅茶; pinyin: pào mò hóng chá; literally "froth red tea"), "bubble green tea" (traditional Chinese: 泡沫綠茶; pinyin: pào mò lǜ chá), and "pearl milk tea" (traditional Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; pinyin: zhen zhu nǎi chá).
A common misconception in its English usage, the name "bubble tea" is often associated with pearl milk tea. However, "bubble tea" simply refers to the shaken or whipped drink base. "Bubble tea with pearls" is a more accurate description of the Taiwanese shaken/stirred/whipped tea containing tapioca pearls. Pearl milk tea (of which "bubble tea with pearls" is a subset), also known as "boba milk tea", can refer to any milk tea commonly used, such as Hong Kong-style milk tea, combined with tapioca balls/pearls.
If you visit Taiwan or Hong Kong you can't help but notice the unique bubble teashops on every corner. Bubble Tea to Taiwan is what coffee or soda is to the U.S. One would think Bubble Tea is the national drink by its popularity.
Just like in Taiwan, Bubble Tea shops are popping up all over the world. One Taiwan based company has over 450 locations while in the Philippines another person owns over 100 within 1.5 years.
The U.S. is also now feeling the growth. Hundreds of locations serve Bubble Tea in California alone. You may be wondering, "What is Bubble Tea and how did this all begin"?
Bubble Tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980's at a small tea stand.
Elementary school children would look forward to buying a cup of refreshing tea after a long, hard day of work and play. Tea stands were set up in front of the schools and would compete for business with the best selling tea. One concession owner became popular with her tea when she started adding different fruit flavouring to her tea. Because of the sweet and cool taste, children loved the taste. Soon, other concessions heard about the "unique" and popular tea, so they started to add flavouring to their teas. When adding flavour, the tea and flavouring needed to be shaken well for a good all around taste. This formed bubbles in the drink, which came to be known as "Bubble Tea."
In 1983 Liu Han-Chieh introduced Taiwan to tapioca pearls. The new fad was to add tapioca pearls into a favourite drink. Most of the time tapioca pearls were served in cold infused tea. After the tea and flavour were shaken well, it topped tapioca pearls that were sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. The tapioca pearls also looked like bubbles, thus also became to known as "Bubble Tea." Bubbles floated on the top your drink and bottom of your drink.
Bubble tea is also known as boba drink, pearl tea drink, boba ice tea, boba, boba nai cha, zhen zhou nai cha, pearl milk tea, pearl ice tea, black pearl tea, tapioca ball drink, BBT, PT, pearl shake, QQ (which means chewy in Chinese) and possible many others.
Bubble drinks are usually cool, refreshing, and a sweet drink with tapioca pearls sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. Sometimes the drink is made with fresh fruits, milk, and crushed ice to create a healthy milk shake. You can also find drinks that are made of powdered flavouring, creamer, water, and crushed ice. And if you like it like the Asians do, the cool drink usually includes a healthy tea, infused by flavouring.
Tapioca pearls are black, but can sometimes be found to be white or transparent. Depending on the ingredients of the pearl, the colour varies. I've been told that the white and translucent pearls are made of caramel, starch and chamomile root extract. The black pearl includes sweet potato, cassava root and brown sugar, which add the black colour.
The consistency of tapioca pearls are somewhere between jell-o and chewing gum. They are the size of a marble. They are also known as the "boba" drink in Western China because it is described as to having the same texture as the female breasts.
A clear cup with black balls on the bottom can easily identify bubble Tea drinks. Another obvious trait is a huge fat straw. The fat straw is needed so that the tapioca pearls can be sucked up with the drink and eaten. Bubble Tea's appearance definitely makes it unique.
The Four Components of Bubble Tea
1. Liquid Component: The base or medium of bubble tea can be black or green tea, water, and milk and/or fruit juices.
2. Flavour Component: Can be a wide range of flavoured powders or syrups.
3. Sweetener Component: Binds all the different ingredients of bubble tea together, bringing out the drink's flavour, and can be sugar syrup, honey, and/or fructose.
4. Texture Component: Gives bubble tea its "bubble," and can be tapioca pearls, coconut jelly, and/or flavoured puddings.
Bubble tea can be a tricky drink to make at home, because you need special ingredients and tapioca pearls.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 min
Here's How:
1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the following:
2. 1 scoop flavour powder
3. 1 scoop powdered dairy creamer
4. 1 scoop sugar syrup
5. 3/4 cup tea, cold
6. 1 cup ice
7. Shake everything up until the powders are dissolved and well blended.
8. Pour in a glass over the cooked tapioca pearls.
Tips:
1. You can adjust the amounts to suit your own tastes.
2. Can also be made hot, without the ice.
No comments:
Post a Comment