Bubble Tea

Two years of existence in Flushing (pseudo chinatown), and I heard about, tasted the 'Bubble Tea' for the firt time yesterday. Was walking through a street fair in mid-town Manhattan and saw a smoothie stall. The fresh-cut mangoes were just too tempting and that too after eating a bhutta I was desperate for a refreshing drink. My friend suggested I try 'Bubble Tea', sounded weird to I went for a mango smoothie. Tried a sip from her drink and wow! so this is bubble tea.... the most refreshing and original drink I ever tasted.

From then on I became a fan of the bubble tea. Today I went inside a chinese pastry shop and saw bubble tea on thier menu. Could not stop myself from trying out one full glass, yesterday's few sips were just not enough. Bubble Tea got its name from the black gummy trapioca 'bobba' or balls which are the characteristic feature of this tea. These balls are made from from trapioca which is the root of Cassava plant. They are jelly like balls cooked and cooled for half an hr each. and are sipped along with the beverage through a thick straw.

Bubble tea comes in various flavours. There are fruit flavours and milk flavours. The one I tried was Taro. Taro is a corn like typically chinese flavour used commonly in many Chinese cuisine. And bubble tea ofcourse typically tastes like a tea. I have only tried the cold version of it but I am waiting to try the hot one, once winter sets in. If you are a starbucks regular and die-hard coffee drinker like me, you may not find bubble tea easily and may have to wait for 2 years for your first sip like me. So look for a chinese cafe and try it out as soon as you can