How did the world-famous Bubble Tea get its name? 

Bubble tea is creating quite a buzz among kids and teenagers across the world! Believe it or not, it has been around for four decades now! Bubble tea is also known by the names boba, boba tea and pearl tea. While the West knows bubble tea as an Asian beverage, not many know the interesting story behind its origin and naming. Let’s explore them together. 

A tea with bubbles inside! 
Bubble tea is a kind of sweetened black tea brewed with milk and sugar. After that, it is served with ice and tapioca pearls (a small edible ball made from a starch called tapioca). In addition, it often includes other ingredients such as fruit juice and syrup to play around with flavours. However, the popularity of bubble tea resulted from its versatility, as it can also be made using bases such as green tea and other loose-leaf teas. Even the pearls may be made from fruit jelly.  

History of Bubble Tea  
Interestingly, the origins of bubble tea can be traced back to 1940s and attributed to Mr. Chang Fan Shu who opened a tea shop in 1949 in Taiwan. His was a unique shop selling shou yao (hand-shaken tea) containing cocktail shakers. The rich and silky iced tea was topped with air bubbles (read foam tea). But it was not until 1986 that Bubble Tea as we know was invented by the Taiwanese entrepreneur Tu Tsong. He had started a new brand riding on the raging tea trend back then.  

He invented the present-day Bubble Tea by adding tapioca pearls to green tea and called it 'zhen zhu lu cha' (pearl green tea). He also experimented by adding bigger black, tapioca balls to milk for a chewy texture and richer taste. He opened his first bubble tea shop in 1986 by the name Hanlin. This is the classic Bubble Tea that we all love today. Travelling across continents, it has come a long way. Today, Hanlin has over 80 branches globally! In fact, Bubble Tea is so loved that it has been commemorated amongst the new official emojis of 2020!  

Naming of the tea 
Some believe that bubble tea derived its unique name from its main ingredient, the bubble-like tapioca pearls (known as ‘boba’ in Taiwanese) that fill the bottom of the cup. However, the more popular and convincing belief among Westerners is that the name bubble tea is justified considering the preparation is often full of bubbles, especially at the top of the cup. Bubble tea contains multiple ingredients, all of which are shaken vigorously either by hand or machine, leaving behind foamy bubbles. Moreover, it is customary to drink it using fat straws (boba straws), which not only makes a slurping sound but also forms more bouncy and springy bubbles. In fact, people have started to deem Bubble Tea as a beverage cum dessert as it has a creamy texture.