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We had already talked about it in our article on 2019 trends: together with Bulletproof coffee and Cold Brew, Bubble Tea is one of the most popular drinks, which has also recently arrived in Italy, after its success in the United States and in many other countries .
With 1,200,000 posts on Instagram (with hasthag #bubbletea), this iced tea seems to be the drink of the moment; but what are its ingredients and where does the original recipe come from?
In this article we will answer these questions and also give you a recipe to prepare it.
Bubble tea, a trendy drink
The translation of its name would be "tea with bubbles", but bubbles have nothing to do with it, or rather, they are not its main feature.
Bubble Tea is in fact a tea diluted with milk, which forms bubbles on the surface (since the drink is stirred to be served): nothing strange so far, right?
The tradition of tea with milk is long and consolidated.
But what makes Bubble tea really special are the edible Tapioca pearls, which vaguely resemble marshmallows in appearance and texture.
Tapioca is nothing more than a starch, extracted from the root of a plant, the cassava, very common in some tropical areas.
What Do Tapioca Pearls Look Like?
The pearls which enrich Bubble Tea can have a darker color, almost black, or transparent when raw.
To use them in this preparation, they are boiled until they become soft: in this way, they will absorb the various syrups in which they will be immersed, before ending up in the tea glass!
Tapioca pearls, in fact, do not have a particularly strong flavour, but need something that gives them a little taste and sweetness: food syrups, in fact, with the most disparate flavours, in which they are immersed until the Bubble tea is not brewed and served.
At this point, the pearls are placed on the bottom of the glass that will contain the tea. The function of pearls is not so much to flavor as to add texture to the drink and make its appearance unique.
Bubble tea: the recipe to prepare it at home
There are so many possible variations for this drink, because you can change the elements and create new mixes.
For example, you can choose green, black or white tea as a base, but nothing prevents you from using matcha tea, for example.
The beauty of Bubble Tea is the versatility of this preparation, which gives different and colorful (and instagrammable) results every time.
Today we offer you the recipe for Bubble Tea based on black tea and almond vegetable drink.
Ingredients
- 50 g of white tapioca pearls
- 1 l of cold water
- 1 bag of black tea
- 200 ml of vegetable almond drink (you can replace it with oatmeal)
- 2 ice cubes
- sugar (to taste)
Method
1. Soak the tapioca pearls in cold water for about an hour.
2. Rinse the pearls and cook them for 10 minutes in 500 ml of boiling water.
3. Let the pearls cool, then drain them and put them in the hot, sweetened tea.
4. Add the almond vegetable drink and enjoy your Bubble Tea.
5. For a more summery and refreshing Bubble Tea recipe, you can add ice or fruit centrifuges.
The origins of Bubble tea
To tell you the story of Bubble Tea we can start from its name: as we mentioned earlier, "Bubble" is a reference to the bubbles, but it also has a link with "Boba", the Taiwanese term for tapioca pearls.
It is precisely in Taiwan, in the 80s, that Bubble Tea sees its origins.
At the time it was a drink designed for after work, to refresh after a long day.
It also seems to have been invented almost by chance, by pouring a "fen yuan", a typical Taiwanese sweet made from tapioca, into iced tea.
Bubble tea: where to buy
Given the success of this drink, it is now possible to find it in many stores in Italy too, some specialized exclusively in bubble tea, especially in cities such as Rome and Milan.
Obviously, the customization level of this drink is maximum: mixes can be made with a large number of different ingredients, both as the base and as syrups.
Did you know Bubble Tea?
Have you ever tried it?