Thoughts on Bubble Tea?

LOL Darby I had the same issue in the beginning! The texture, the look, everything about it was YUCK! Eventually I got over it and began to enjoy it. What pushed me over the edge was when my daughter told me that a good boba should taste like gummy bears! That helped me make a new association to the boba other than fish eggs! :)

There is no place around here that makes it and I haven’t decided to make it at home yet but I probably will one day tho cuz I’ve thought about doing so many times. I think I’d have to go with an unflavored milk bubble tea.

Michelle -
I’m in the Boston area, too, but have only tried a few around here and none in chinatown. The one I had from the Boston Tea Stop place in Harvard Square was pretty bad, and the ones at the Lollicup inside the Hong Kong supermarket food court in Allston were not great either. The Tealuxe on Newbury made good Matcha and Thai bubble teas, but that place is gone (though the other branch in Cambridge is still there, never been there).

I’m pretty sure bubble “tea” is only tea if you get the flavors made with tea (regular milk tea, matcha tea, etc). And most of the places just use powder. I once had a “mango” bubble tea that tasted like metal. Now I never get the ones made with fruit powders. Red bean or taro can be ok. If you find one made with real fruit, though, it’s good and basically like a smoothie or fruit ice with bubbles in it. Not a tea.

I have also made my own using matcha powder and bubbles from the asian grocery. Very good!

Bubble tea should have tea in it but some places make it with just the powder.
I go to a place called TenRens, they have super high quality Japanese teas and happen to make bubbltea on the side. It’s amazing! Their Osmanthus Oolong is to die for. Best of both worlds!! except they add way too much sugar in my opinion. I always ask for less.
and I concur, if made badly, the tapioca balls can be terrible! bleh

My experience with bubble tea is very limited. There’s a stand in the mall near my parents’ house that I used to love when I was younger, but now when I visit it, I can’t enjoy it because the overwhelming sweetness makes me sick. Funny how my tolerance for sweetness has dropped so drastically in just a few years.

There’s lots of places to get bubble tea here, but most of them double as hookah lounges, and I can’t go into those without horrible coughing fits. So far everywhere I’ve had it, it’s still too sweet. So now I don’t know if all bubble tea is going to be too sweet for me, and I just have to have a funeral for my sweet tooth and forsake my quest, or if I just haven’t found the right stuff yet. Maybe I should just try making it at home.

I do like those little tapioca pearls though, when they’re made right.

I agree that you shouldn’t look for a traditional tea flavor experience in bubble tea but it’s a great beverage in itself. I personally enjoy the milk teas, strawberry, taro or any other flavor. I love chewing on the tapioca but they have substitutes such as jelly and other additions if its not to your liking. It is definitely sweeter and more about the fruit flavors than anything else but I think bubble teas are great, not to take away from regular tea which I love as well. There are a lot of great places to get bubble tea in flushing or other areas in New York where I live. I agree that TenRen is a great place to get bubble tea and I believe there is one in Flushing, NY on Roosevelt Avenue near Main Street. They offer a lot great teas as well as bubble teas. Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood!

I love boba tea, but I don’t drink it because I want tea, I drink it because I want boba tea. I call it boba tea instead of bubble tea, bubble tea sounds odd to me since I was introduced to it as boba.

There are a few places around me that sell it and only two of them do I really enjoy. One has a wonderful mint green tea and a nice jasmine green tea. The other place has the most delicious Taro flavored boba.

I love the tapioca pearls, chewing on them. I love having boba tea when I’m slightly hungry since it fills me up pretty easily and it tastes wonderful. I have found that because of it sweetness that it hits the spot for me if I’m having a sugar or sweet cravings too.

I absolutely love bubble tea. It’s a very rare treat. Typically I introduce people to it by having them try a half-sweet taro bubble tea with pearls and coconut jellies. The coconut jellies are essential as it is easy to tire of the texture of pearls.. but the coconut jellies are just right and make it so delicious. And I do understand that my bubble tea preference is not really ‘tea’ at all.. but the reason I would drink it would be because I want bubble tea, not because I want to drink tea. Personally.. I can’t imagine drinking bubble tea warm – always in a taro slush =)
I hope you find some you like!

The pearls are tapioca and have a lot of calories! I used to eat fresh taro like potatoes while liviing in Puerto Rico and know people eat taro to calm an upset stomach but the flavor is mild, extra starchy with a flavor close to potato.

I’d have to unabashedly proclaim that bubble tea is pretty awesome when the weather is hot. Especially in a tropical place like Taiwan. We used to drink it, and still do, all the time there.