"What is that?"
"That's Bubble Tea."
"Bubble Tea is said to have originated in Taiwan in the early 80’s at a tea stand popular with kids getting off school. The proprietor experimented with adding fruit flavors to a standard tea-and-milk mix, and later came up with the idea of adding marble-sized balls of tapioca. As the tapioca pearls sat at the bottom of the glass, a wide straw was introduced to draw them up through the tea. Japanese media coverage led to a pan-Asian youth fad in the 1990s that is spreading to North America in communities like Chinatown New York City.
"Let's make one...."
"Start with non-dairy creamer" | 
"Add hot water" | 
"Stir" |
"Add sugar" | 
"Add ice" | 
"Oh yeah, don't forget the tea" |
"Shake it up"
| 
"Add the tapioca pearls" | 
"Pour" |
| | 
"Enjoy" | |
Where to get Bubble Tea
Many teahouses in Chinatown sell Bubble Tea. For a list of teahouses, click here.