Have never tried Bubble Tea yet, so does it make me being left behind?

Salam,

I might not be adventurous enough when it comes to tasting new food or drink. I tend to be more careful and most of the time, I would decline to try something new. Lately, my elder SIS and her hubby are so into Bubble Tea. This famous drink is originally from Taiwan and they went to Taiwan last month to seek some advice on their elder daughter's health treatment. They tried the authentic Bubble Tea and after they came back, they have become addicted to that drink. Right now, it's a must for them to drink Bubble Tea 2 times per week.

I'm sure most of you have tried Bubble Tea before right? I can see every weekend when we go out to buy our weekly groceries, there are many people who stop to buy some Bubble Tea drinks at the small outlet in Giant, KJ. When I check out the price, the drink is not that cheap. But it seems that those who have tried it once, will be addicted to it. They can't get enough of it. Thus, it worries me to try this drink.

I have found this LINK about Bubble Tea. Let's see the history of it and maybe you want to be more adventurous than me by trying this drink when you have the chance.

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The history on Bubble Tea

If you visit Taiwan or Hong Kong you can't help but notice the unique bubble teashops on every corner. Bubble Tea to Taiwan is what coffee or soda is to the U.S. One would think Bubble Tea is the national drink by its popularity.

Just like in Taiwan, Bubble Tea shops are popping up all over the world. One Taiwan based company has over 450 locations while in the Philippines another person owns over 100 within 1.5 years.

The U.S. is also now feeling the growth. Hundreds of locations serve Bubble Tea in California alone. You may be wondering, "What is Bubble Tea and how did this all begin"?

Bubble Tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980's at a small tea stand.

Elementary school children would look forward to buying a cup of refreshing tea after a long, hard day of work and play. Tea stands were set up in front of the schools and would compete for business with the best selling tea. One concession owner became popular with her tea when she started adding different fruit flavoring to her tea. Because of the sweet and cool taste, children loved the taste. Soon, other concessions heard about the "unique" and popular tea, so they started to add flavoring to their teas. When adding flavor, the tea and flavoring needed to be shaken well for a good all around taste. This formed bubbles in the drink, which came to be known as "Bubble Tea."
In 1983 Liu Han-Chieh introduced Taiwan to tapioca pearls. The new fad was to add tapioca pearls into a favorite drink. Most of the time tapioca pearls were served in cold infused tea. After the tea and flavor were shaken well, it topped tapioca pearls that were sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. The tapioca pearls also looked like bubbles, thus also became to known as "Bubble Tea." Bubbles floated on the top your drink and bottom of your drink.

Bubble tea is also known as boba drink, pearl tea drink, boba ice tea, boba, boba nai cha, zhen zhou nai cha, pearl milk tea, pearl ice tea, black pearl tea, tapioca ball drink, BBT, PT, pearl shake, QQ (which means chewy in Chinese) and possible many others.

Bubble drinks are usually cool, refreshing, and a sweet drink with tapioca pearls sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. Sometimes the drink is made with fresh fruits, milk, and crushed ice to create a healthy milk shake. You can also find drinks that are made of powdered flavoring, creamer, water, and crushed ice. And if you like it like the Asians do, the cool drink usually includes a healthy tea, infused by a flavoring.

Tapioca pearls are black, but can sometimes be found to be white or transparent. Depending on the ingredients of the pearl, the color varies. I've been told that the white and translucent pearls are made of caramel, starch and chamomile root extract. The black pearl includes sweet potato, cassava root and brown sugar, which add the black color.
The consistency of tapioca pearls are somewhere between jell-o and chewing gum. They are the size of a marble. They are also known as the "boba" drink in Western China because it is described as to having the same texture as the female breasts.

A clear cup with black balls on the bottom can easily identify bubble Tea drinks. Another obvious trait is a huge fat straw. The fat straw is needed so that the tapioca pearls can be sucked up with the drink and eaten. Bubble Tea's appearance definitely makes it unique. One thing is for certain. Bubble Tea is not a fad. It's a trend. This drink is addictive. If you've had a good one before then you know what we're talking about.

P/S: If you've tried this drink before, would you be kind enough to share with me how does it taste?