what is bubble tea?

Good for you.

It's a sweet iced drink made with tapioca pearls (the "bubbles") and,

*usually* some tea in the mix along with who knows what else. There are a million variations, but you're unlikely to have an intense tea experience this way.

/Lew

If you want a bubble tea you are better off just blowing some bubbles into your tea with a straw :) At least there will be some tea beneath bubbles.

Sasha.

Lewis snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com1/4/05 12: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com

Lew forgot to mention that bubble tea is nearly always served with an extra wide straw, wide enough to suck up the occasional "bubble" right into your lungs if you're not careful. These straws however do work great as spit ball shooters, and the tapioca pearls, once thus launched, stick nicely to walls and clothing. Actually drinking the brew is ill advised.

Michael

I wonder if they were talking about the Japanese thing where they foam their tea? I'm actually a little less knowledgeable about that, can you elucidate on it?

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

No.

I don't think you'll find people on this newsgroup who spend a lot of time with bubble tea. It's extremely popular, though, and seems to be a big hit on Google. There's even this:

/Lew

oh.

eww. I've drank a few different varieties of that before, but mostly when they add juices or chocolate milk to it. I had one that was supposed to be 'green tea' but it was really sweet. TenRen does it in their shop in Toronto.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

No, the Vietnamese in the US appear to have invented it. Think of it as a play drink -- slurping up the pearls of tapioca through the wide-bore straw.

It's not tea as we know it, but it's got its own charms in a food-as-toy way. The tea part tends to be sweet and spiced. Good for lunches with people who might be a trifle self-important as you can listen to them while silently slurping up semi-solid goo.

I am diabetic. I must pass on bubble tea.

snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com/5/05

12: snipped-for-privacy@askme.now

TenRen will do anything. Seriously, they opened a new branch a month ago in New York City on Lafayette Street between Howard and Canal Streets. Walked in their yesterday with two work companions. The shop, managed by a couple from Hong Kong -- I think they're a couple -- was almost empty. The woman invited us to sit and have gung-fu tea, so we did. Went happily through seven steeps of a costly Taiwanese Dong Ding, which was good quality, but to my taste generic. She answered questions and talked through the process. My companions were fascinated. It was a very pleasant experience. Afterward she said she would wave the $30. fee for the gung-fu if I bought something for over $30, which I thought was dirty pool since no mention was made of a fee before the fact. I did buy some winter oolong for $40, so we got away fair.

They're still used car salesmen, but if you know the deal, you can play.

Michael

Rebecca snipped-for-privacy@news.verizon.net1/5/05

15: snipped-for-privacy@NOHarvestverizon.net

Excellent point, Mydnight! Or noisily slurping...

what? wave the 30 dollar fee? no way, man, would I have bought anything from them nor would I ever return to that shop again. unless it was posted somewhere on the walll or mentioned beforehand, there should have been no fee to 'do' gongfu cha. what a bunch of bunk. the most vexing part is, "The woman invited us to sit and have gung-fu tea, so we did." It's not like you requested it. I mean to me, it's not the money involved whether it be 5 dollars or 30 dollars, it's the principle of the thing, you know?

I'd do the same thing that I'd do with a used car salesman. Any hint of dirty pool or cheating and I'm gone without a backward glance.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

Thanks, whoever you are pretending to be Michael Plant.

It's the same straw that causes Slurpee brain freezes.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

[Michael] [Mydnight] [Michael] [Mydnight] [Michael] I know, I know. Of course youi're right. But, I'm just such a gentle forgiving soul, I get easily hurt in this world of samsara.

Jim,

You're talking about that horrible feeling that the roof of your mouth is freezing to your brain, right? I know that one.

Michael

lol

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

That's interesting that the Vietnamese-American community claims it. In fact, I read somewhere that it was invented in Hong Kong and has been enjoyed there for over 10 years or so. I know I first encountered it in Shibuya, here in Tokyo, in about 1998 at a little food stand. After that it disappeared and came back in another couple of areas. It was just starting to catch on in Queensland when I moved there in 2002. It has surprisingly little popularity here in Japan, but come to think of it the only sweet things Japanese people are into are cakes for the most part - and traditional stuff like yokan, taiyaki or bean-made stuff. It does appear that the only people who make and sell it here and in Australia are Chinese, though. Maybe just coincidence. I personally enjoy it for its entertainment value.

Rufus T. Firefly Tokyo

ya, it was interesting to me to hear that Vietnamese-Americans claim it considering I know for a fact that I've heard on 2 seperate occasions the Chinese claim it and a few times that the Japanese claim it. heh. who knows, who knows.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

Your head becomes numb for a split second after sucking down a straw trough full of slurry ice lazed with syrup that is nothing more than liquid caffeine. I didn't make up 'Slurpee brain freeze'. It is well known to those who partake.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote: