Bubble Tea

Bubble tea, with its distinctive black peals immersed in a colorful drink, has become popular all over Asia since it was introduced in Taiwan in the 1980s. It start when a tea stall owner decided to zest up her tea by adding sweeteners, milk and different fruit flavoring - a blend of traditional oriental tea with western flavorings.

To mix up all these flavors, the drink had to be shaken, which caused bubbles to form, and hence the drink was called bubble tea.

In 1983, tapioca pearls were added into the bubble tea. The drink is popularly called pearl milk tea in Chinese. The black tapioca pearls are bubble tea's distinguishing trademark, but the drink comes in many forms and flavors.

The original bubble tea is cold infused oriental tea with flavoring and tapioca pearls. Then came milk tea with tapioca pearls. Two other popular forms of bubble tea that have taken off are ice-blended bubble tea and snow-blended bubble tea. "The difference between ice-blended and snow-blended bubble tea is that the latter uses creamer. Both come in many different flavors.

There is a huge variety of bubble tea flavoring available in the market, ranging from the more common lemon and strawberry to the more unusual red date and blue rose. Concoctions vary according to one's imagination. Apart from tea and fruity flavorings, there are also stalls serving up chocolate and Horlicks bubble tea.

Bubble tea stalls have become a national institution in Taiwan where it originated. The drink has also garnered huge followings in other Asian countries, such as in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia which is known mostly to the Chinese.

Fortunately, bubble tea is an easy drink to make at home. The main ingredient is the tapioca pearl, which is available in specialty baking shops.

Just boil the tapioca pearls in water, at a ratio of 1:7. Pour in the pearls when the water is boiling. stir well until the pearls float up, then reduce the flame but keep the water simmering. Boil the pearls for another 35 minutes and then turn off the fire. Cover the pot for15 minutes before rinsing the pearls with cold running water. Sieve dry and sprinkle some sugar to prevent the pearls from sticking together. Do not over-boil the pearls or they will be too soft. Do not pressure-cook the pearls either as they will dissolve into paste. Other bubble tea ingredients needed to concoct your own creation are flavorings, bubble tea syrup, green tea powder and bubble tea creamer. Colorful huge fat straws to suck up the tapioca pearls.

Collections of Bubble Tea Recipes:

1. Snow-Blended Bubble Tea

2. Tea-Based Bubble Tea

3. Ice-Blended Bubble Tea