Sunday, June 18, 2006

Drink Up To Something Different: Boba Tea

Have you heard about the latest sensation in the world of beverages? Its a new asian tea drink that started in Taiwan some 20 years ago and made it to California in the 90's. Its called Bubble tea or boba tea. If you haven't had one yet, you need to try one. You'll either like it or not, but I guaranty that your first experience will have you surprised, bewildered, and maybe shocked beyond words. This is not your grandma's dainty cup of camomile tea.

To describe it is a little difficult, but here it goes; Boba tea is any number of cool and refreshing combinations of flavors of teas, milk and sugar. The tea is likely to be in pastel colors of yellow, pink, or green and its not overwhelmingly sweet. Mixed in with the drink is small dark, pea-sized balls made from Tapioca. These Tapioca balls are usually several layers deep sitting at the bottom of the clear plastic cup in which the tea is served. You're given a special super wide straw to suck up these bobas as as you enjoy the tea. At first it may seem weird to suddenly have plump balls of tapioca in your mouth as you're sipping up the cool tea, but both the tea and the chewy tapioca make for a surprisingly good match.

I had my first boba tea 6 years ago at a Vietnamese restaurant in Mira Mesa San Diego. Since then, it seems that you can find Boba tea all over San Diego and one place I've been going to is called Tea Station located on Mira Mesa blvd. You can find Boba tea now in most larger cities in the US. Give Boba tea a try and see if you like it. This may be the start of the next big counterpunch to Starbucks.

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