Boba shortage: the U.S. may soon have no bubbles for tea(sfchronicle.com)
sfchronicle.com
Boba shortage: the U.S. may soon have no bubbles for tea
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/Boba-shortage-Bay-Area-and-the-rest-of-the-U-S-16097585.php
5 comments
Sounds like there is an underlying tapioca problem too:
That’s because the shipping containers from Thailand, the main producer of the world’s tapioca starch, are also stuck in the water. It’s impossible to make boba without tapioca.
That’s because the shipping containers from Thailand, the main producer of the world’s tapioca starch, are also stuck in the water. It’s impossible to make boba without tapioca.
Geez, I somehow missed that entire paragraph in the article.
Anecdotally, I'm one of them. If I have a mint chocolate chip craving, nothing else you give me will work out for us. It doesn't even have to be good, just the right stuff.
I've heard from an ice-cream shop owner that mint-chip eaters are this way. Anyone else will substitute another flavor if the one they're looking for isn't there, but an ice-cream shop has to have mint-chip on hand because people looking for that flavor won't substitute.
Anyway: I had no idea we imported finished tapioca pearls. They seem really easy to make:
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-make-Tapioca-Pearls-fro...
(I appreciate there's a big difference between making enough for one drink and needing to have enough on hand for a week's business, but still, if it's that or losing customers, time to get cooking.)