Chronicles of a Bubble Tea Addict(newyorker.com)
newyorker.com
Chronicles of a Bubble Tea Addict
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/chronicles-of-a-bubble-tea-addict
107 comments
As a New Yorker near some of her favorite places, who also picks up litter every day, I see the plastic these places generate, as will people 500 years from now. I wish they would find an addiction that doesn't pollute so much. Not that they're any different from Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and peers, but they certainly contribute their share.
I know SF was made fun of for this, but the ban on plastic drinking straws made sense. Now all the boba shops use compostable straws and they’re fine.
Feel bad about this too. Blue Bottle uses compostable cups which sets an example
Smoking and socializing seem to go together, though. At least, that's how it appeared to me at a distance from observing other high-schoolers.
Bumming a cigarette is how my mom met my dad.
I also used to smoke, and it really was, on the one hand, a great way to meet people, and on the other, to maintain casual friendships w/ the people who happened to be around you (e.g., people working in the building next door).
Still, not worth it on balance. But I miss it.
I also used to smoke, and it really was, on the one hand, a great way to meet people, and on the other, to maintain casual friendships w/ the people who happened to be around you (e.g., people working in the building next door).
Still, not worth it on balance. But I miss it.
If you go to conventions to network, the smoking section is the best place to meet people.
Perhaps those who suffer from isolation find solace in both cigarettes and the socializing that occurs with their use?
It also makes someone look 63% cooler.
I was thinking the same about this whole post. At the end of the day it sounds like it is more aligned with addiction based on the sugar side of the drink. Big Gulp probably have the same ravaging followers too it's just not as on-trend though.
Interesting to see sport on the list, I never thought about it this way. If anyone else is interested: https://aeon.co/ideas/how-people-with-sports-addiction-are-l...
Makes sense, back a few years ago I was so into weightlifting that I would spend around two hours at the gym. And whenever I had to skip or move my workout from my schedule because of an early meeting or an errand I would be very irritable for the rest of the day.
I get powerlessness and stress, but how does isolation come into it?
I didn’t care how lonely I felt if I had heroin, and being involved in that “scene” meant meeting and interacting with people who were in similar (crap) situations to myself, which we bonded over.
The Rat Park experiments showed us that well-socialized rats were less likely to develop addiction to cocaine than socially deprived rats.
"Researchers had already proved that when rats were placed in a cage, all alone, with no other community of rats, and offered two water bottles-one filled with water and the other with heroin or cocaine-the rats would repetitively drink from the drug-laced bottles until they all overdosed and died. Like pigeons pressing a pleasure lever, they were relentless, until their bodies and brains were overcome, and they died.
But Alexander wondered: is this about the drug or might it be related to the setting they were in? To test his hypothesis, he put rats in “rat parks,” where they were among others and free to roam and play, to socialize and to have sex. And they were given the same access to the same two types of drug laced bottles. When inhabiting a “rat park,” they remarkably preferred the plain water. Even when they did imbibe from the drug-filled bottle, they did so intermittently, not obsessively, and never overdosed. A social community beat the power of drugs."
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-tea...
"Researchers had already proved that when rats were placed in a cage, all alone, with no other community of rats, and offered two water bottles-one filled with water and the other with heroin or cocaine-the rats would repetitively drink from the drug-laced bottles until they all overdosed and died. Like pigeons pressing a pleasure lever, they were relentless, until their bodies and brains were overcome, and they died.
But Alexander wondered: is this about the drug or might it be related to the setting they were in? To test his hypothesis, he put rats in “rat parks,” where they were among others and free to roam and play, to socialize and to have sex. And they were given the same access to the same two types of drug laced bottles. When inhabiting a “rat park,” they remarkably preferred the plain water. Even when they did imbibe from the drug-filled bottle, they did so intermittently, not obsessively, and never overdosed. A social community beat the power of drugs."
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-tea...
This is very much debunked, but keeps getting propagated because people like the results. It's never been able to be re-produced.
The "Follow up experiments" section of the Wikipedia article somewhat contradicts you:
> Studies that followed up on the contribution of environmental enrichment to addiction produced mixed results. A replication study found that both caged and "park" rats showed a decreased preference for morphine compared to Alexander's original study; the author suggested a genetic reason for the difference Alexander initially observed.[9] Another study found that while social isolation can influence levels of heroin self-administration, isolation is not a necessary condition for heroin or cocaine injections to be reinforcing.[10]
> Other studies have reinforced the effect of environmental enrichment on self-administration, such as one that showed it reduced re-instatement of cocaine seeking behavior in mice through cues (though not if that re-instatement was induced by cocaine itself)[11] and another that showed it can eliminate previously established addiction-related behaviors.[12] Furthermore, removing mice from enriched environments has been shown to increase vulnerability to cocaine addiction[13] and exposure to complex environments during early stages of life produced dramatic changes in the reward system of the brain that resulted in reduced effects of cocaine.[14]
> Broadly speaking, there is mounting evidence that the impoverished small cage environments that are standard for the housing of laboratory animals have undue influence on lab animal behavior and biology.[15] These conditions can jeopardize both a basic premise of biomedical research—that healthy control animals are healthy—and the relevance of these kinds of animal studies to human conditions.[16]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park#Follow_up_experiments
> Studies that followed up on the contribution of environmental enrichment to addiction produced mixed results. A replication study found that both caged and "park" rats showed a decreased preference for morphine compared to Alexander's original study; the author suggested a genetic reason for the difference Alexander initially observed.[9] Another study found that while social isolation can influence levels of heroin self-administration, isolation is not a necessary condition for heroin or cocaine injections to be reinforcing.[10]
> Other studies have reinforced the effect of environmental enrichment on self-administration, such as one that showed it reduced re-instatement of cocaine seeking behavior in mice through cues (though not if that re-instatement was induced by cocaine itself)[11] and another that showed it can eliminate previously established addiction-related behaviors.[12] Furthermore, removing mice from enriched environments has been shown to increase vulnerability to cocaine addiction[13] and exposure to complex environments during early stages of life produced dramatic changes in the reward system of the brain that resulted in reduced effects of cocaine.[14]
> Broadly speaking, there is mounting evidence that the impoverished small cage environments that are standard for the housing of laboratory animals have undue influence on lab animal behavior and biology.[15] These conditions can jeopardize both a basic premise of biomedical research—that healthy control animals are healthy—and the relevance of these kinds of animal studies to human conditions.[16]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park#Follow_up_experiments
The Rat Park experiments were debunked
How?
There have been some failures to reproduce the results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park#Follow_up_experiments
My guess (haven't read the book): humans are social creatures, and too much company with just our own thoughts is not healthy in the long run. It might not cause addiction by itself, but it's definitely a disrupting factor for mental health. Interaction with other humans can help to interrupt unhealthy thought loops and help people to reflect on their state of mind.
For many people, isolation is a stressor.
Well, isolation commonly causes loneliness, depression, boredom, etc. Primary causes of doing things that can be addictive to relieve them.
maybe lack of calibration?
That really hit close to home, thanks.
I learned this ages ago as HALT: hungry, angry, lonely, tired.
I once went to a Bubble Tea place, and not knowing how the process worked, I said no to all of the additions, and ended up with nothing but chocolate milk and a big straw.
On the flip side, my buddy and I got hooked on bubble tea in school. A year after graduation, we rented a house along with my buddy's brother and my buddy's elementary school buddy. We were always drinking bubble tea from a kiosk in a mall within walking distance, so the brother one day decides to see what the fuss is about. He mentioned "Hey, I tried that bubble tea you guys are always drinking. It's pretty good, except for the chunks."
Could that have been taro? They leave in the taro at some places like Chatime. Aka Taiwanese style.
Also, op you could have use the normal straw :P
Also, op you could have use the normal straw :P
There's nothing better after a 14 hour flight to Incheon than to finish going past security, up the escalator, and immediately into the Gong Cha on the left. Well, going outside into Seoul instead of just transiting there would probably be better.
I like how the author used bubble tea as a backdrop to bring up a bunch of different topics. I find representation to be interesting (well, when they mentioned Crazy Rich Asians), because while I do care about having a proportionate amount of people from central and south america* in decision making roles, I've never cared about it in Hollywood. Maybe this means that it's already been achieved here.
<tangent>Maybe equal representation in Hollywood can be spun as a conspiracy to create complacency, because it distracts people from how most genetic studies that use public dollars disproportionately use white participants which does not proportionately benefit the participants of the countries that are funding it. </tangent>
On the other hand, when I was studying abroad in East Asia I loved seeing a foreigner having a speaking role in a movie. Had I previously been decensitized to representation? Was I taking representation for granted?
*and from other backgrounds of course
I like how the author used bubble tea as a backdrop to bring up a bunch of different topics. I find representation to be interesting (well, when they mentioned Crazy Rich Asians), because while I do care about having a proportionate amount of people from central and south america* in decision making roles, I've never cared about it in Hollywood. Maybe this means that it's already been achieved here.
<tangent>Maybe equal representation in Hollywood can be spun as a conspiracy to create complacency, because it distracts people from how most genetic studies that use public dollars disproportionately use white participants which does not proportionately benefit the participants of the countries that are funding it. </tangent>
On the other hand, when I was studying abroad in East Asia I loved seeing a foreigner having a speaking role in a movie. Had I previously been decensitized to representation? Was I taking representation for granted?
*and from other backgrounds of course
Spotted a typo:
does not proportionately benefit the *people* of the countries that are funding it
does not proportionately benefit the *people* of the countries that are funding it
I find it kind of funny that milk tea is tied to Asian identity. afaik for traditional Chinese adding milk to tea is a faux pas kind of like adding Coke to wine. I think the modern practice of adding milk to tea started with the British, who imported it via Hong Kong. The Taiwanese then added tapioca + sugar which became bubble tea.
There are traditional milk teas in other countries though, like India and Mongolia. The Mongolian version is salty instead of sweet.
There are traditional milk teas in other countries though, like India and Mongolia. The Mongolian version is salty instead of sweet.
I don’t know why you see Indians drinking tea with milk more traditional than British doing that, considering that British brought tea to India.
That tea is - for the most part - known as "chai" in India suggests a different origin (the world's languages are largely divided on the first sound in the word for tea: either Te or Ch).
It is true that the British brought large scale tea production to India, but the plant is endemic to India and its local consumption long predates the British (though the exact origins are somewhat obscure).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_tea_culture
It is true that the British brought large scale tea production to India, but the plant is endemic to India and its local consumption long predates the British (though the exact origins are somewhat obscure).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_tea_culture
It seems that words for tea that derived from "cha" spread across land, while the ones originating from "tea" developed over sea routes.
https://qz.com/1176962/map-how-the-word-tea-spread-over-land...
https://qz.com/1176962/map-how-the-word-tea-spread-over-land...
Same reason Italians love tomatoes and Thais love chili peppers I guess. Non-native ingredients seem to sometimes have a much greater influence in the new place than it’s original one
Historically, yes. But masala chai is distinctly Indian, and one of the more notable examples of a tea where milk is a core ingredient instead of an optional addition.
A guy I know in India once remarked that, say what you will about the British but one good thing they brought was milk in tea.
I don't know about wine and coke being a faux pa. Kalimotxo is a fantastic addition to a drinking game.
Just...don't use the good stuff.
Just...don't use the good stuff.
I’m a big fan of bubble tea and I have noticed that across many bubble tea shops in the western US, while a fairly large 16oz serving has been standardized, there’s little standardization on sugar content. A lot of places ask if I want it half or 25% as sweet, but that’s not a great indication of sugar level or flavor unless I’ve already had tea from that place before.
Given that I think most folks can expect a cup of black tea to contain 0g sugar, I think expressing sweetness in terms of grams of added sugar is a pretty fair way of describing this stuff.
Given that I think most folks can expect a cup of black tea to contain 0g sugar, I think expressing sweetness in terms of grams of added sugar is a pretty fair way of describing this stuff.
But then people will be more conscious of how much sugar they are adding. Percentage is some arbitrary and relative term. 50g of sugar will make people realize how much sugar is being added and might realize their drink isn't too great without copious amounts of sugar.
Yes. 50% sounds like a healthy amount (only half as much!), even if it's still way too much.
I also wish the US used grams, that'd be pretty fair.
I'm from North Carolina, and even though sweet (iced) tea is the norm here (literally every restaurant serves it) - I've never seen any kind of standardization attempted for that either, and it does vary wildly. When I'm at at a fast-food restaurant, I can usually pour myself a little to try first, and then mix in some unsweet tea if it's overly sweet. If it's undersweetened, then I usually just toss it and get a soda. It really would be nice if you could do something similar with boba tea, but I understand that the way it's made doesn't facilitate that.
You can go no sugar on the drink and there will still be sweetness from the milk and the pearls, I think it actually tastes better that way, the added sugar isn’t needed.
There's little to no standardization in East Asia either...
Gong Cha lets you can specify the sugar amount from 0-100.
Of course, even with 0 sugar, the tapioca balls are simple carbs that break down to sugar readily in your body.
Of course, even with 0 sugar, the tapioca balls are simple carbs that break down to sugar readily in your body.
I've been hooked since I tried a wonderful frozen cup(blended ice) of chai flavor back in college. I sought it out in many cities I've traveled to, to recreate the experience, but either I am unlucky or it is a rarer flavor and many places use ice cubes and not blended ice.
It is amazing that the industry has grown to the point where most medium sized cities now have a place where you can purchase boba tea.
But for those still lacking, I highly recommend you try making it yourself. You can find the ingredients in just about any Asian market or order the flavor and pearls online. If you go this route, try to get the extra wide straws as well.
It is amazing that the industry has grown to the point where most medium sized cities now have a place where you can purchase boba tea.
But for those still lacking, I highly recommend you try making it yourself. You can find the ingredients in just about any Asian market or order the flavor and pearls online. If you go this route, try to get the extra wide straws as well.
I don’t understand where “boba” comes from. Because I live in Singapore, my wife is Taiwanese, so I travel to Taiwan a lot, no one calls it boba... I keep seeing American or European articles say boba. Even in this article it says boba known in Chinese... but I’ve never heard anyone in Asia call it boba... in English it’s always called “bubble milk tea” or “brown/black sugar bubble milk tea”, depending on what you want. Or if it’s added, it’s referred to as pearls.
Every time this came up, I always insisted that it should be called booby tea. Because that's exact what Boba means, large breasts. That's a slang term meaning king of wave, because large breasts move in wave motion.
The pearl tea name came later, due to the vulgarness of it's predecessor I guess.
Now, you can enjoy more next time you suck on those sweet bouncy topioca.
The pearl tea name came later, due to the vulgarness of it's predecessor I guess.
Now, you can enjoy more next time you suck on those sweet bouncy topioca.
One of the origin story of the term links to a once-popular Hong Kong actress Amy Yip[1], who was known for her cup size and sexy appearances in movies. The "nickname" 波霸, roughly translated to "Boobs overlord" in English, or transliterated to "Boba" (sounds similar in both Cantonese and Mandarin), was given to her by the media.
It was said that one bubble tea maker in Taiwan made large tapioca bubbles to put in milk tea, when tiny bubbles were used in milk tea at the time, and he named it "Boba tea", associating the relatively huge size of his bubbles with the actress well-known body feature.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Yip
It was said that one bubble tea maker in Taiwan made large tapioca bubbles to put in milk tea, when tiny bubbles were used in milk tea at the time, and he named it "Boba tea", associating the relatively huge size of his bubbles with the actress well-known body feature.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Yip
Had a Taiwanese friend who ran a bubble tea store and also always referred to the bubbles added as pearls. He only changed it when he realised that his predominantly non-Asian market didn't know what "adding pearls to your tea" meant.
I've also seen bubbles and pearls here in AU, but never boba. e.g. https://sharetea.com.au/bubble-tea-menu/
Perhaps it came out of the Chinatown SF area. I recall Asian Americans calling it ‘boba’ 20 years ago in the Bay Area.
I always assumed it was a corruption from someone saying "bubble" with an exaggerated Chinese accent.
Granted, I now know this is wrong, since it's apparently a straight-up mashing together of the words for "big" and "bubble". So, funny how languages work.
Granted, I now know this is wrong, since it's apparently a straight-up mashing together of the words for "big" and "bubble". So, funny how languages work.
In my mind it has always been named simply 'milk tea'.
As opposed to 'Thai tea', which is a milk tea too, just the flavor and color are kinda specific. Besides, Thai tea in most places is really a 'Thai iced tea', I gave up on asking if it could be served hot (which it could, and tastes good too).
Meanwhile, the milk tea in most shops I've been can be served hot or iced on demand. Moreover, the kind of tea used can also be selected.
As opposed to 'Thai tea', which is a milk tea too, just the flavor and color are kinda specific. Besides, Thai tea in most places is really a 'Thai iced tea', I gave up on asking if it could be served hot (which it could, and tastes good too).
Meanwhile, the milk tea in most shops I've been can be served hot or iced on demand. Moreover, the kind of tea used can also be selected.
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There are atleast 10+ bubble tea shops in and around my university campus: https://www.google.ca/maps/search/bubble+tea/@43.4741683,-80...
I don't really understand how they sustain themselves, but going out with friends to get bubble tea was one of my favorite covid activities
I don't really understand how they sustain themselves, but going out with friends to get bubble tea was one of my favorite covid activities
How did "boba" become the de facto term for the drink? I remember calling it "pearl milk tea" in middle school, somehow switching over to "bubble tea" in late high school to college, and now calling it "boba". And I don't think I heard of the slang meaning until much later.
Aside from that, as I am a first generation (native-born) Chinese-American, this article discusses my identity scarily well from an angle that I never really thought about. Despite Subtle Asian Traits becoming popular around the time that I was cutting my Facebook usage after I graduated and started work and "boba liberalism" being a term I learned today, I'm not really that many steps removed from this all. Why is it that I subconsciously tried hard to prove myself to classmates that I'm an American, but on the other hand, I tried to be as "Asian" as my Asian-American classmates? This article hit a cultural identity nerve in me and I haven't really formed a coherent set of thoughts on it.
(Maybe this also ties into why I'm such a boba purist in that I reject anything that isn't tapioca balls + whole milk + some sugar but not too much + good tea, though when I'm feeling less tolerant of lactose, oat milk surprisingly tastes almost no different from whole milk in a boba drink.)
Also, the boba metaphor for culture that the author presented also really works well in another way. A person born of parents from Shanghai and a person born of parents from Beijing can have very different cultural backgrounds, but that richness gets lost when they become Chinese-Americans. Similarly to how boba, a Taiwanese drink, has become a de facto symbol of Asian American cultural identity overall. Some might argue this is a "bad thing", but, well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm still coming up with a coherent set of thoughts around this.
Aside from that, as I am a first generation (native-born) Chinese-American, this article discusses my identity scarily well from an angle that I never really thought about. Despite Subtle Asian Traits becoming popular around the time that I was cutting my Facebook usage after I graduated and started work and "boba liberalism" being a term I learned today, I'm not really that many steps removed from this all. Why is it that I subconsciously tried hard to prove myself to classmates that I'm an American, but on the other hand, I tried to be as "Asian" as my Asian-American classmates? This article hit a cultural identity nerve in me and I haven't really formed a coherent set of thoughts on it.
(Maybe this also ties into why I'm such a boba purist in that I reject anything that isn't tapioca balls + whole milk + some sugar but not too much + good tea, though when I'm feeling less tolerant of lactose, oat milk surprisingly tastes almost no different from whole milk in a boba drink.)
Also, the boba metaphor for culture that the author presented also really works well in another way. A person born of parents from Shanghai and a person born of parents from Beijing can have very different cultural backgrounds, but that richness gets lost when they become Chinese-Americans. Similarly to how boba, a Taiwanese drink, has become a de facto symbol of Asian American cultural identity overall. Some might argue this is a "bad thing", but, well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm still coming up with a coherent set of thoughts around this.
The terminology difference just depends on who introduced the drink to the region and when. The east coast uses "bubble". West coast uses "boba". If your Chinese community was more Cantonese/HK than Mandarin/Taiwanese, you got "pearl" or "tapioca" instead (because HK also has a sago pearl drink and other tapioca based deserts).
Bubble is technically supposed to refer to the smaller tapioca balls (about the size of a normal straw), boba refers to the jumbo sized balls.
I think boba then became the dominant name because its the shortest and most distinctive.
Bubble is technically supposed to refer to the smaller tapioca balls (about the size of a normal straw), boba refers to the jumbo sized balls.
I think boba then became the dominant name because its the shortest and most distinctive.
My Taiwanese friend insists that "boba" wordplay was popularized and faded along with the career of the Hong Kong actress 葉子楣 and her famously large pearls in the late 80s/early 90s. 珍珠奶茶 seems to more popular with younger people at least walking around Taipei, so it might be related to whether it was introduced via Hong Kong or Singapore versus Taiwan.
Japan is doing bizarre things like ramen and pizza with it now.
Japan is doing bizarre things like ramen and pizza with it now.
About cultural identity: It's not only a rich blend of cultures in China, I'm sure there are just as many mixes that we don't think about in the American part of Chinese-American that don't really fit you. After changing home location, there is always this feeling of where do I belong now? Am I a Swede or a German? Well neither, Germany has moved along since you emigrated, and you are now trying to catch up with Sweden.
Same thing with south and north Sweden, there are places I can't even understand what they are saying. This on a small place like Sweden, can't imagine the differences you have in America and China.
Same thing with south and north Sweden, there are places I can't even understand what they are saying. This on a small place like Sweden, can't imagine the differences you have in America and China.
I think there's some confusion in English between 泡沫紅茶 (literally bubble tea) and 珍珠奶茶 (pearl milk tea or boba), because the words bubble and boba sound quite similar, particularly for someone speaking English as a second language. The tapioca pearls even look a little like bubbles.
Often bubble and boba are used interchangeably now, but I think they originally referred to two different types of tea-based drink, as the Chinese-language names still do. The same shop often sells both types of drink, so this inevitably adds to the confusion.
Google image search 泡沫紅茶 and 珍珠奶茶 to see the difference
Often bubble and boba are used interchangeably now, but I think they originally referred to two different types of tea-based drink, as the Chinese-language names still do. The same shop often sells both types of drink, so this inevitably adds to the confusion.
Google image search 泡沫紅茶 and 珍珠奶茶 to see the difference
> Why is it that I subconsciously tried hard to prove myself to classmates that I'm an American, but on the other hand, I tried to be as "Asian" as my Asian-American classmates?
shared identity is the strongest substrate of trust; we are constantly evaluating each other for aligned incentives. imo the more granular the better -- think about the joy of stumbling upon someone else who shares your hometown or some deep passion of yours, or a potential romantic partner with many shared interests. when we share a common foundation, we can more easily model each other and project likely behavior, which lends itself to cooperation, or at least a diminished risk of defection.
shared identity is the strongest substrate of trust; we are constantly evaluating each other for aligned incentives. imo the more granular the better -- think about the joy of stumbling upon someone else who shares your hometown or some deep passion of yours, or a potential romantic partner with many shared interests. when we share a common foundation, we can more easily model each other and project likely behavior, which lends itself to cooperation, or at least a diminished risk of defection.
You’ll probably like Paper Tiger by Wesley Yang, which is even more frighteningly acute.
https://nymag.com/news/features/asian-americans-2011-5/
In last year's politics and online social movements boba has been the mascot of "Milk Tea Alliance" between Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in support of democracy and combating Chinese nationalist bots/trolls online after a Thai actor called Hong Kong a 'country', ประเทศไต้หวัน, in a tweet.
Bubble tea is bizarre. I only recently stumbled upon it on a trip to Bankgkok after a local said "let's get something to drink". I fell in love with it immediately.
It's something that has not yet fully permeated Northern Europe, and Helsinki (where I live) has (or had..) one or two places to get it from (pre-pandemic).
It's something that has not yet fully permeated Northern Europe, and Helsinki (where I live) has (or had..) one or two places to get it from (pre-pandemic).
You should come to Melbourne CBD in Australia.
I can only assume they are being used as fronts to launder money or as a business investment to secure residency as there seems to be no possible way even a city of Melbourne's size could consume this much bubble tea. It's almost at the point where there are bubble tea sellers directly next to each other in the street. And I'm talking dozens, if not hundreds, of them.
I can only assume they are being used as fronts to launder money or as a business investment to secure residency as there seems to be no possible way even a city of Melbourne's size could consume this much bubble tea. It's almost at the point where there are bubble tea sellers directly next to each other in the street. And I'm talking dozens, if not hundreds, of them.
I can’t say for sure that they’re all not fronts. However, I know someone who owns one in the CBD and it is definitely legitimate - not to mention makes money hand over fist.
There are tens of thousands of mainland Chinese living in the CBD, and it’s basically a daily staple for a huge chunk of them.
Some of these places are charging $7-$8 for something that costs all of 20 cents to make. The margins are huge - the biggest difficulty is securing the right location with the right footfall.
There are tens of thousands of mainland Chinese living in the CBD, and it’s basically a daily staple for a huge chunk of them.
Some of these places are charging $7-$8 for something that costs all of 20 cents to make. The margins are huge - the biggest difficulty is securing the right location with the right footfall.
I can't speak for the rent but from what I was told the setup (machines) is very cheap, as are the ingredients like you say. I'll also go out on a small limb and say food businesses with predominantly foreign student workers tend to have a history of underpaid cash wages. My wife was offered $6 an hour cash in the early 2000s at one place in Sydney, I think she was 17 but still that's way too little.
It's almost at the point where there are bubble tea sellers directly next to each other in the street
That’s an example of Hotelling’s law [1]. Competing businesses are better off clustering together in high traffic areas rather than spreading out to cover the market in a way that serves customers more efficiently. It’s a weird phenomenon and a clear refutation of the invisible hand.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law
That’s an example of Hotelling’s law [1]. Competing businesses are better off clustering together in high traffic areas rather than spreading out to cover the market in a way that serves customers more efficiently. It’s a weird phenomenon and a clear refutation of the invisible hand.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law
> It’s a weird phenomenon and a clear refutation of the invisible hand.
Actually it's the opposite: more choice is brought by the invisible hand where people naturally go to, even if it puts businesses in direct competition and thus reduce prices
Actually it's the opposite: more choice is brought by the invisible hand where people naturally go to, even if it puts businesses in direct competition and thus reduce prices
Hah they’re here in Brisbane too. Not to the same extent, but give it time..,
Kind of interesting, I'm in the bay area and it's similar, but have you seen the pricing? And amongst young asian-americans its identical to Starbucks, just a place or thing to do.
Bubble tea shops have become pretty ubiquitous in London in recent years. There must be hundreds of them across the city! There's one ('CUPP') opened up around the corner from me recently and there always seems to be a long queue outside in the evening, both regular customers and deliveroo riders picking up orders...
I wish CUPP had been around when I lived in Whitechapel! I used to have to walk all the way up Mile End for the Yi Fang stand (and sip it in the park!), or go to the shops in Shoreditch during work
Some parts of Europe adopted it at different times, and curiously, it doesn't seem to be correlated with expat Asian population.
I first tried 珍珠奶茶 at the top of Taipei 101 in 2009, and have always sought it out since. It was a thing in Daegu when I lived there in 2012. In Austria, I was surprised to see McDonalds having bubble tea in mid-2012! It was the popping-bubbles though, not tapioca. I discovered new flavours (e.g. Yakult) in Shenzhen in 2013, and drank it daily in Taiwan from 2014-2018. (not always milk, I'd mix it up with passion fruit, pineapple, grapefruit, whatever else). My favourite way to explore was to ask for "yi yang" - the same as the person before. My favourite was actually NuPasta, then Coco, then Xian Cha Dao, then 50 lan. There was one place where it only cost 30 NTD, but one time I got it without sugar and realised it tasted awful, so after that I realised I should pay 50-70 NTD for slightly better quality.
Unfortunately the Gong Cha and Chatime in Auckland don't accept my loyalty cards from Taiwan :-P
I first tried 珍珠奶茶 at the top of Taipei 101 in 2009, and have always sought it out since. It was a thing in Daegu when I lived there in 2012. In Austria, I was surprised to see McDonalds having bubble tea in mid-2012! It was the popping-bubbles though, not tapioca. I discovered new flavours (e.g. Yakult) in Shenzhen in 2013, and drank it daily in Taiwan from 2014-2018. (not always milk, I'd mix it up with passion fruit, pineapple, grapefruit, whatever else). My favourite way to explore was to ask for "yi yang" - the same as the person before. My favourite was actually NuPasta, then Coco, then Xian Cha Dao, then 50 lan. There was one place where it only cost 30 NTD, but one time I got it without sugar and realised it tasted awful, so after that I realised I should pay 50-70 NTD for slightly better quality.
Unfortunately the Gong Cha and Chatime in Auckland don't accept my loyalty cards from Taiwan :-P
The bubble tea in Bangkok is especially delicious, because it’s usually the bubble version of Thai tea (at least that’s what was most common when I lived there). Which is an especially delicious spiced black tea. The copious amounts of sugar it’s usually served with (or condensed milk) doesn’t hurt the flavor either.
Surprisingly Berlin has quite a lot Boba place. At least a dozen
I love boba and have since my Asian friends in high school introduced it to me years ago.
Granted, nowadays when I order "boba" (and say I'm ordering boba) I'm just referring to the tea by itself without the pearls/bubbles/boba. I mostly do this to cut down on sugar, since boba itself just has way too much. Though occasionally when I really am in the mood and I know the shop I'm at makes great boba, I do order it with the drink. It seems weird at first to call plain flavored tea boba if it doesn't contain them, but then a lot of my friends will also colloquially call the same thing "milk tea" even when they purposely get a milk-less tea at a shop ;).
I think these days I'm more of a "traditionalist" if there is such a thing, because my favorite shop is one mentioned in the article: Ten Ren. I believe there are two Bay Area locations and I tend to frequent the Cupertino one, though the Milpitas one is far more traditional since it's lined with canisters of teas of all kinds and the people who ring you up/make your drink are the older generation (unlike most modern boba shops that tend to have high school/college age employees). But anyway, in short Ten Ren, IMO, has some of the best-tasting and simple flavored teas compared to some of the weirdly, overly-complex ones at more hype shops.
Granted, nowadays when I order "boba" (and say I'm ordering boba) I'm just referring to the tea by itself without the pearls/bubbles/boba. I mostly do this to cut down on sugar, since boba itself just has way too much. Though occasionally when I really am in the mood and I know the shop I'm at makes great boba, I do order it with the drink. It seems weird at first to call plain flavored tea boba if it doesn't contain them, but then a lot of my friends will also colloquially call the same thing "milk tea" even when they purposely get a milk-less tea at a shop ;).
I think these days I'm more of a "traditionalist" if there is such a thing, because my favorite shop is one mentioned in the article: Ten Ren. I believe there are two Bay Area locations and I tend to frequent the Cupertino one, though the Milpitas one is far more traditional since it's lined with canisters of teas of all kinds and the people who ring you up/make your drink are the older generation (unlike most modern boba shops that tend to have high school/college age employees). But anyway, in short Ten Ren, IMO, has some of the best-tasting and simple flavored teas compared to some of the weirdly, overly-complex ones at more hype shops.
There looks to be one in San Francisco! I'll check it out, I used to live in Chinatown (where I see it on location). Been missing that area for a bit.
Ah man.
The Alishan high mountain oolong from Ten Ren is just about my favorite thing to drink. Little yixing teapot, really starts to shine on the third steeping.
Can't separate the nostalgia from visiting Alishan from the taste of the tea. But it's excellent tea.
The Alishan high mountain oolong from Ten Ren is just about my favorite thing to drink. Little yixing teapot, really starts to shine on the third steeping.
Can't separate the nostalgia from visiting Alishan from the taste of the tea. But it's excellent tea.
The boba phenomenon has always surprised me. I enjoy boba, but there are so many other cool slimy-solids-in-sweet-drink to be had at Ranch 99 market (the Chinese supermarkets in California): grass jelly, basil seed drink, nata de coco, and some I’m forgetting. It seems that most boba tea places only have the regular tapioca balls.
I was once in Chinatown in New York and found a sweet tea with small mushrooms floating in it (I think they were straw mushrooms) but I can’t find anything like it with Google. Then there is falooda from India with vermicelli, among others. But I think the next popular “drink/dessert” will be Filipino halo halo.
It’s a wide world out there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nata_de_coco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_jelly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falooda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo-halo
I was once in Chinatown in New York and found a sweet tea with small mushrooms floating in it (I think they were straw mushrooms) but I can’t find anything like it with Google. Then there is falooda from India with vermicelli, among others. But I think the next popular “drink/dessert” will be Filipino halo halo.
It’s a wide world out there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nata_de_coco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_jelly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falooda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo-halo
Something I see at a lot of Boba places that's also super good is the "Flurry" (it also gets called "snow" or something similar). It's basically a plate of shaved ice (usually you share with someone), but the texture is like... cotton candy. And then they put sweetened condensed milk on it and you can add boba, bursters, bits of fruit, syrups, etc. It's great; the texture is so unique.
This sounds like Bingsu.
Wikipedia has it as Patbingsu[1], but I've only seen it referred to as Bingsu on Korean food-y type Youtube, and I can find it here in Sydney as just 'Bingsu'. I've also only seen it as a shaved milk-ice, rather than water-ice.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patbingsu
Wikipedia has it as Patbingsu[1], but I've only seen it referred to as Bingsu on Korean food-y type Youtube, and I can find it here in Sydney as just 'Bingsu'. I've also only seen it as a shaved milk-ice, rather than water-ice.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patbingsu
growing up in the bay area you take it for granted when there are 5 different PMT shops every other block. I will also take calling it PMT (pearl milk tea) > boba to the grave
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Where i grew up the closest I'd come to an Asian community was the family run Chinese take away in my home town. Consequently I've completely missed bubble tea, and now I'm of the age where I couldn't really stomach that much sugar in one sitting.
You can ask for it with less or no sugar. Not all places do it, but many do.
Iced bubbled tea doesn't really work without any sugar at all tastewise. But they work with very small amounts of sugar.
Here in Singapore some places do hot bubble tea. That one's taste works well without any sugar at all.
Here in Singapore some places do hot bubble tea. That one's taste works well without any sugar at all.
We always ask for zero sugar zero ice, unless it's a very hot day. We'll often get lychee jelly or something as well as the pearls so it's sweet anyway.
You can also order it heated from some places instead of having ice, I had it in winter in China, it was nice but the bubbles get very gummy if you take too long.
You can also order it heated from some places instead of having ice, I had it in winter in China, it was nice but the bubbles get very gummy if you take too long.
They come in all kinds of fruity and milky tea flavours, not all of them are sweet. You can ask for half or 0% sugar on the ones that are. The tapioca “bubbles” are optional, too.
Definitely spoiled living in the bay area where there seems to be way too many bubble tea places. One of my favorites though (which I can never get unless I am in south bay) is roasted buckwheat at Rabbit Rabbit.
Not a single person on HN who has tried to make their own tapioca pearls?
This is what the page looks like when accessing it from Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/d0rpSz5.png
https://i.imgur.com/d0rpSz5.png
Try this: https://web.archive.org/web/20210131053009/https://www.newyo...
You can just throw "https://wayback.archive.org/" in front of an url and it will autoredirect to the latest archived copy if there is one.
You can just throw "https://wayback.archive.org/" in front of an url and it will autoredirect to the latest archived copy if there is one.
Gross. I had bubble tea exactly once while interviewing at FB. I had to choke it back and try not look like an idiot.
Pretty sure that is the one and only reason why I didn't get an offer - "this dude is clearly from the Midwest and has no place here." /s
Honestly that's how the first time experience is for most people, especially when they don't expect texture.
It's ok not to enjoy it but this kind of comment comes off as fairly antagonistic.
It's ok not to enjoy it but this kind of comment comes off as fairly antagonistic.
Jumping from "I didn't enjoy bubble tea" directly to "so they probably hate me because of their elitist socio-demographic biases" comes off as self-pitying, and pretty highly unrealistic.
My 50 cents here.