Bubble tea, also known as Boba, originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. This fashionable drink has been around for nearly 50 years, what makes it so popular and relevant today?
2 claims have been made about how it was invented.
The first is associated with the Chun Shui Tang tea room in Taichung. Its founder, Liu Han-Chieh, began serving chinese tea cold after he saw coffee being served the same. This propelled his business and multiple chains serving this tea were established.
One day, Lin Hsiu Hui said she created the first bubble tea in 1988 when she poured tapioca balls into her tea and then encouraged others to drink it. Ultimately it became the franchise's top selling product.
The other claim is that teahouse owner Tu Tsong-he was inspired by white tapioca balls he saw in the local market of Ah-Bó-liâu. He later made the tea using traditional Taiwanese snacks and this resulted in what is known as “pearl tea”.
Regardless of how it was made, Boba has become widely popular. In the U.K. near the local area Kingston and even London you can find many Bubble tea shops that sell only this delicious drink.
It’s become so culturally popular that the Unicode Consortium released the Bubble tea emoji as part of its version 13.0 update in 2020. Even in 2023, Google celebrated the drink with a doodle.
This drink is almost found everywhere, from shopping centres to down the street; the world has been taken by storm.
What makes Bubble tea so popular?
Well it’s a combination of choice, taste and gimmick.
Boba has a variety of flavours and a wide choice of tapioca (the edible translucent balls that are found in the bubble tea). This choice truly means everytime you order your bubble tea it is really your own creation.
Honestly, most people would agree that Bubble tea really just tastes really good. The standard flavour: Black milk, also known as Hong Kong milk tea, is a classic and still holds up today. Anyone from any age can enjoy this multigenerational drink!
Finally, the gimmick of the tapioca balls. No other drink on the market really gives the same X factor except maybe for Mogu Mogu. However what sets it apart from that is the culture and fan base surrounding the drink.
Bubble tea has almost been around for 5 decades and sees no sign of stopping. It’s popularity seems to be never ending. So if you haven't tried this amazing drink, now is the time!
