Bubble Tea

A few years ago, walking through China Town on a very hot summer day, I encountered bubble tea for the first time.  I'd never heard of it before and I'm not really a tea drinker so I was hesitant to give it a try.  Fortunately for me, it was cold and I was parched, so I decided to be a little bit brave and ordered a small vanilla bubble tea.  What was I tasting?  Delicious! Heaven! Nectar of the gods!!  I'm not ashamed to admit that I sent Brian back to buy us a second cup a few minutes later.  It's just that good.

Here is a portion of the Wikipedia entry concerning Bubble Tea:

"Bubble tea, also called "Boba" tea, is a tea beverage containing gelatinous tapioca pearls. It originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, spread to nearby East Asian countries, and migrated to Canada before spreading to Chinatown in New York, then to various spots throughout the West Coast of the United States. The literal translation from Chinese is pearl milk tea (traditional Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; Tongyong Pinyin: jhenjhu nǎichá; Hanyu Pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎichá). The word "bubble" refers to "bubbling", the process by which certain types of bubble tea are made, and not the actual tapioca balls. The balls are often called "pearls." Drinks with large pearls are consumed along with the beverage through wide straws; while drinks with small pearls are consumed through normal straws. Bubble tea is especially popular in many East Asian and Southeast Asian regions such as Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Brunei, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam."

I was recently delighted to learn that Bubble Tea has a huge following in Thailand!  There are great Bubble Tea shops and street carts (like the one shown above) popping up all over Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and other cities.  In the final concession of wild popularity, it even has it's own piece of "flair" under the Thailand section on Facebook.   :-)

But here's the really great news: If you don't live in the sort of place where you can just pop over to your local China Town or your neighborhood tea shop then you can order bubble tea supplies online and make it yourself!  Check out bubbleteasupply or any other online provider. We are definitely investing in one of these setups right away because #1 - I crave it constantly and #2 - We are moving away from NYC and I doubt they have any bubble tea carts where we're going.

I would highly recommend giving it a chance though. It's a great sweet treat. Kids can easily help make it.  It comes in a variety of flavors (chocolate and coconut are my favorites) so there is something for everyone. Most importantly, it's a fun way to connect with the "modern and everyday Thai culture" and not just that important ancient heritage we've all worked so hard to learn about.

 - Rosemary