Bubble tea is a drink that a lot of people don't know about. It's very Asian and it is making its way to the United States. It's popular in Hawaii and it's creeping in to the West Coast. I saw it was available in Seattle and Portland and my wife, who's Japanese, flipped. It's Chinese (maybe from Taiwan?) and she still thinks it is more than acceptable as a drink.

If you don't know, it's a tea, usually Ochoa or green tea, mixed with milk and fruit. Then they stick little fruit balls or tapioca in the thing and you drink it cold. Some people like it warm and that's fine too.

It's a fun drink that doesn't take itself seriously and it's like an Asian version of a milkshake. It's very popular and there are as many different flavors as there are ice cream.

I think it's okay. It's a little heavy for me with the milk and all. I prefer strong black coffee. Call me over-Americanized.

I haven't had bubble tea in a long time... the place I used to get it closed and I haven't found (or really looked for ) a new place to get some.
I prefer mine cold, mildly sweet, with tapioca pearls, and flavor depends on what is available. My usual is green tea, but if there are some other interesting sounding flavors, I might give them a try.

Yay! Finally a bubble tea lover.

The ones that I typically order from bubble tea places are Taro Milk Tea with bubbles or pudding with some ice, Thai Milk Tea, Rose Milk tea with bubbles, Passion Fruit Green Tea with green tea or rainbow jelly, or Mango Green Tea.

I don't like my bubble tea drinks to be too sweet (50% sweetness is my max) or have too much ice (it becomes too watery). I love the tea taste mixed with milk. I mainly drink these cold.

I love how bubble tea have 2 main choices which are milk or fruit bases to choose from then you get to choose more flavors along with it.

I love bubble tea! I've only had lavender and melon flavored before. It had tapioca pearls. I really liked it! I would really like to try some rose or matcha bubble tea some day. Although all of those in the picture you posted look amazing!

This is actually the first I've ever heard of it, which isn't really a big surprise coming from rural Tennessee. Sounds just a little too exotic for my tastes, but I may consider trying it if I ever get the chance.

I've never really heard of this before let alone seen it. I don't think its most likely I would try it since it looks a little weird. Glad to know some people like it though. I'm not too sure, but I MIGHT try it one day considering my mother said don't knock things until you have tried them. XD

I often get scared because when I try new things I vomit. Which isn't a good thing....

I knew all about Bubble Tea for many years before I actually got the courage to try it and I really liked it, but mainly basic flavors. I had it maybe 4 times so far and it's soooo good.

Ghostbear1111 :

Wow! It sounds like you know quite a lot about bubble tea! XD Yes, I think bubble tea might be Asian. lol Now that I think about it, pretty much every China Town I've visited before seems to have bubble tea (some of the Japanese restaurants I've been to also serve it), so I guess bubble tea has been making its way over to the U.S. for a while. (I know I saw bubble tea being sold at least 8 years ago on the West Coast. At the time, I wasn't really sure what it was, so I didn't really think about trying it. ^^0;; ) As for what it's made of, I've actually seen people make bubble tea using all kinds of tea and not just green tea. There was this one store which, in addition to the usual black tea and green tea, also offered fruit teas, coffee mixed with tea, ginger tea (this was one I really don't see all that often) and flower teas (like jasmine). As you mentioned, there are numerous different flavors, and people often create new ones just for fun, much like how they create new ice cream flavors, except there are probably even more variations for bubble tea than ice cream because one can also choose to have the tea be served hot, warm or cold, and ice cream tends to be cold more often than not. lol

Now that you mention it, I agree that bubble tea is comparable to a milkshake. I've actually never thought about it that way before because the first bubble teas I tried didn't have the consistency of a milkshake (none of that foam and froth), but I guess some bubble teas can resemble milkshakes if one adds more milk and cold tea and leaves out the pearls (fruit balls or tapioca balls).

Hm... hearing you mention that the milk is a bit heavy for you makes me wonder if going to a store where they would allow you to customize your order a bit would work out better for you. In some places, they would even allow you to get non-dairy milk, almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or creamer instead of the customary whole milk, and if you wanted your bubble tea to have less milk in it, they would actually make it according to your specifications. It seems that some of those places have become increasingly popular over the years because people have tried to write off bubble tea as not being very healthy due to the amount of sugar and milk that it's often made with, so some people started coming up with healthier alternatives/variations, which not only allow for a wider range of bubble tea choices but also allows people to with certain health conditions to still enjoy milk tea without worrying so much about the milk and sugar contents.

Also... I'll say I'm probably over-Asianized or over-Asianfied (yeah, I made up those words rofl) if you want to call yourself over-Americanized. lol Thanks to the people around me, I've been trying out more random stuff from various Asian cultures although I still enjoy strong black coffee, too. =P

Vanelan : Aww... Well, maybe you'll be able to find another place with bubble tea at some point. But yeah, some of those places seem to close down without any warnings, sometimes to move to better locations. lol Where I reside, most of the stores that have moved recently have relocated to plazas and shopping areas near college campuses (they're probably trying to attract the college students). =P As for the flavors you chose, they're awesome and it seems like you used to go to a store where they customized the amount of sugar.

ghostfishy : Yay! That's what I wanted to say, just from looking at your descriptions of the bubble teas you enjoy. XD It's been difficult for me to find someone else that also enjoys taro milk tea, so this is certainly a pleasant surprise! Oh my... all of the bubble teas you described sound super yummy! O . O Passion fruit? Mango? Even rainbow jelly! XD Let's go get some bubble tea together sometime! XD You totally understand my reasoning for not adding too much ice, too. rofl

A user of this : Wow! You've only had lavender and melon before? Did you choose the flavors or did someone hand that to you? Most people tend to try green tea, chocolate, or at least flavors along those lines, so it's awesome that you've already tried something else. lol

m0ssb3rg935 : Ah, I guess it really is more difficult to find bubble tea stores in rural areas. ^^0;; I hope you get to try it at least once someday, if only to see whether or not you enjoy bubble tea at all. lol Just out of curiosity, if you ever get the chance to try one that others have mentioned in this thread, what flavors might you be somewhat interested in trying?

Eniitan : Oh... Yeah, the color of the pearls (tapioca balls) sometimes ends up scaring people off. lol I guess you'd have to see them up close to decide whether or not you think they're scary. =P They do sometimes have pearls in other colors and flavors though. I've seen yellow pearls, but only once and it wasn't in the U.S. XD For you, if you ever get the chance to try bubble tea, I guess you could just try the tea without the pearls (for the pictures I posted above, imagine them without the black/brown dots in the drinks). Without the pearls, it would more or less still be milk tea, since it's been said that the original form of this drink actually didn't contain pearls. lol Another way to simulate bubble tea would probably be to get some hot Earl Grey Tea, pour some milk into it (you can even add pudding to it if you want), and then add some sugar (start off with a little bit if you're afraid of it being too sweet). I once made that just for giggles and it actually turned out pretty good in terms of flavor (although yeah, it made my friend laugh, but they still counted it as milk tea =P ). Of course, milk tea and bubble tea you get from the stores I mentioned will still taste quite different, but at least you'll know if your stomach can handle the combination of tea and milk.

zanderlex : Yes, bubble tea is awesome!  XD I hope you get to try more than just the basic flavors at some point! Were you also afraid of the pearls at first? lol

EDIT - Sorry for the failed summons. oO;;

Yuna1000 : Meh, I like the bubble things, I'm more afraid of the tea than I am of the bubbles lol.

Yuna1000 : Thanks! Not to worry I will be sure to post in the thread if one day I actually try to do it. And thanks for this other suggestion that I can try to do. Yeah I agree it looks weird, but I guess it has me curious to try the drink out.