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March 8, 2014 |
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Bubble tea, pearl milk tea (Chinese language|Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎich??), or boba milk tea (波霸奶茶; bōb?? nǎich??) is a tea beverage mixture with milk. Originating in Taiwan, it is especially popular in Taiwan, China, Korea, the Philippines, and among overseas Asians, especially overseas Chinese. It is also known as black pearl tea or tapioca tea. It is said to have originated in Taichung, Taiwan in 1983, by a Taiwanese teashop owner named Liu Han-Chieh (劉漢介), who experimented with cold milk tea by adding fruit, syrup, candied yams and, finally, tapioca balls. Although the drink was not so popular at first, publicity from a Japanese television show made businessmen take notice and it quickly became well known throughout Asia in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, bubble tea began to become popular in the United States and Canada, spreading to ethnic Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese-speaking immigrant communities and even outside the overseas Asian community. This unique beverage has also received some attention in the mainstream media, including Morning Edition on National Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times. Bubble tea can also refer to hot Hong Kong style milk tea (港式奶茶 -- Cantonese (linguistics)|Cantonese: gong2 sik1 naai5 caa4) with tapioca balls. Boba, a Cantonese slang, literally means the "dominatrix of breasts", connoting the image of a busty woman. "Bō" (波) is a slang for the breast which refers to the milk. In the name "pearl milk tea," the "pearls" refers to the black gummy balls made of tapioca which sit in the mixture of sweetened ice tea and milk and possibly other flavorings. The balls are generally about 1 cm in diameter and are sucked through a wide straw along with the drink, providing something to chew on between sips. In many cases, when ordering at the counter or a sit-down restaurant, customers are given the option whether they want "boba" or "pearl" in their beverages. Both terms refer to the tapioca balls. The recipes for boba tea vary and so does the taste, but usually flavouring is added to hot black or green tea which is then shaken in a martini shaker with ice until chilled. Aficionados shop around for their favorite vendors. Tapioca pearls are primarily made from tapioca starch which can be found from manioc. The pearls are then heated with caramel into a thick mixture paste. The paste is then passed through a wet sieve to create different pearl sizes. Instead of eating the chewy balls, some adolescents like to blow them out from the straw to shoot at targets or at each other, to the annoyance of adults and bystanders. The tea often accompanies fried chicken steak (雞排), also a popular snack in Taiwan. Pearl milk tea usually uses large pearls of the size 7 millimeters or above, since smaller pearls are not as good for chewing. In southern Taiwan, most pearl milk teas are known as "boba milk tea", and the name "pearl milk tea" is used mostly for small sized pearls(smaller than 1cm in diameter). Bubble tea has now spread internationally, mainly through Chinatown|overseas Chinese communities. It is also known under a number of other names, including:
The tea, regardless of name, is available at small dedicated boba cafes, and at some Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine restaurants. Some Chinese restaurants and take-out delis may advertise a "boba special" promotion - for example, one cup of boba tea might cost only 99 cents with a purchase of a meal. In North America, major chains offering pearl milk tea include Lollicup (also called TeaZone), Tapioca Express http://www.tapiocaexpress.com, Ten Ren http://www.tenren.com, and Teastation. It is also sold at Quickly outlets, which is a Taiwanese-based chain with many locations worldwide (http://www.quicklyusa.com for information). Another chain offering "pearls" is Cha for Tea; it operates stores in California (United States), Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan, and Australia. The California-based Vietnanese American banh mi fast food chain Lee's Sandwiches also offers, at the option of customers, the balls in its beverages. There are also many small family-owned boba outlets. The skill in preperation, and quality of the resulting product varies widely. The boba beverage has moved beyond an ethnic specialty and now appeals to the mainstream. Like Starbucks, boba tea is generally popular among college students. Boba shops are often found nearby or on some university campuses, such as University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA and University of California, Irvine|UCI. Most of these chains serve a variety of drinks, including coffee, juices, and frozen juice drinks. These can include flavors which are less familiar to non-Asians, such as taro, honeydew, or lychee--as well as the familiar chocolate, Ovaltine, or strawberry--and may be available with or without tapioca pearls. These boba establishments are typically modern, trendy and sleek in design; often, they are combined with Internet cafe|Internet caf?s in order to attract a young customer base. In September 2004, defending a US$18 billion weapon purchase plan, the ROC Ministry of National Defense used bubble tea as an example of the overall cost of the proposed purchase. The Ministry stated that the total cost of the weapons systems would be equivalent to the money saved if all Taiwanese drank one less pearl milk tea per week for a period of twenty years.
Category:Taiwanese cuisine Category:Tea ja:タピオカティー zh:珍珠奶茶 This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bubble tea".
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