Bubble tea...

[sarisataka]

What is it, is it different than normal tea, is it good?

There is a shop opening near me and as I like a good cup of tea am thinking of checking it out.

[barnabas63]

1. wow never heard of that before!

Hope someone enlightens us....

[Denninmi]

2. It has little gelatinous spheres in it.

I think they are pearls of tapioca soaked until they soften and swell.

I guess good or bad varies depending on the ingredients, etc.

[snacker]

6. My daughter loves it...

I'm not a big fan. You can get the "bubbles" in different flavors. I think I tried mocha bubbles in chai iced tea. I guess I don't like having to chew while I'm drinking my tea. The taste is okay, but it's different. You drink it through a wide straw, so you're sucking up "bubbles" and tea at the same time.

[HopeHoops]

3. Is this a fart joke?

[Chan790]

4. Iced super-sweetened flavored milk-tea with tapioca pearls.

I always recommend people try it, for the novelty of it. You drink it through a straw about 3/8" round. I wouldn't think of it as being tea any more than a Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino is tea...which is to say "barely"

[Arugula Latte]

5. The little bubble thingees are called "bobas."

I've never had them in the tea, but I have had them as a topping on frozen yogurt. I love them. Squishy little fruit-flavored suckers -- they have the irresistible texture of those bath beads that you just want to pop.

[Flaxbee]

9. here, it's tapioca. Not fruit flavored bath beads :)

Probably many variants on bubble tea, though, I'd think.

[haele]

7. They call it boba here on the left coast -

Pretty much all the asian markets and little neighborhood stores sell boba drinks; cold tea or fruit/syrup drinks that have little tapioca "bubbles" mixed in. The kidlet's favorite is lychee with either strawberry or orange flavored boba. (and the flavoring the boba has is very, very mild - almost non-existant)

How to make your own boba -
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-boba-and-bubble-tea-98067

Haele

[Flaxbee]

8. I love it ... it's not super sweet where I get it, and the 'bubbles' are tapioca. I get avocado

bubble tea - nice and creamy and very good.

Some people like the sweeter flavors - strawberry, mango, etc... I just am not a fan of super sweet things...

Worth a try, at the very least!

[sarisataka]

10. Thanks all

sucking gooey balls through a straw sounds disgusting, I'll have to try it
I think the daughter will like it- she has strange tastes. We'll have to go to the opening

[MiddleFingerMom]

11. Vietnamese restaurants have them, but...

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... they also usually have "slushes" and "snows", too -- which I much prefer.
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The flavors can be quite unusual and tasty.
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[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. It's great in the summer

One of the local Thai restaurants and a couple of the Vietnamese restaurants have it.

I like green tea or honeydew melon with tapioca pearls. When I first heard of it, I thought of carbonated tea, but in fact, it's a tea milkshake.

[geardaddy]

13. It started in Taiwan.

When I lived there in the late 80s to early 90s it was a big thing. The best ones were what they called "grass tea" where the "bubbles" were made of some herbal stuff added to the tapioca that tasted kind of minty.

It was served ice cold and was great on a hot Taipei day.