Bubble Tea

It means boba: a sweet treat, a craving or a plan to get one. On most phones the picture is a plastic cup of milk tea with dark tapioca pearls settled at the bottom and a wide straw that can suck them up. Many people send it the way they would send a photo of the cup: “got boba,” “need boba,” “boba later?”

On its own the cup is mood, not instruction. It says comfort, a small reward, an afternoon pick-me-up. Next to a time, a place or a friend’s name it becomes an invitation, and a “yes” is sometimes just the same cup sent back. For many younger people it also marks a vibe: cosy cafés, study breaks, a sweet tooth, and in Taiwan it is simply an everyday drink.

What is bubble tea, and why the wide straw?

The classic one is sweet milk tea over chewy tapioca balls. It is usually served cold, though hot versions exist. The “bubbles” are not air: the name originally referred to the froth from shaking the tea, and now mostly to the pearls. The pearls are made mainly from cassava starch, cooked until soft and springy, and often kept in sugar syrup. Fruit teas, taro, matcha and brown sugar versions are common, and many shops let you pick the sweetness and the amount of ice.

The straw is wide so the pearls come up with each sip, which is why half the pleasure is chewing. From Taiwan the drink spread across East and Southeast Asia, then, carried partly by Taiwanese and other Asian diaspora communities, to shopping streets around the world. “Boba” is the usual word in American English; “bubble tea” and “pearl milk tea” mean the same thing.