Bubble tea proliferation is a phenomenon all around the world. If there is a cult for bubble tea, I think the entire generation Z will be joining it. However, Japan was able to take this bubble tea obsession to another level.
My favorite memory of high school always involves Bubble Tea. It could be the day we skipped class to Dragon Ball in Vancouver for bubble tea. Or on Valentine’s day, my girl pals deliver bubble teas to my door. One time, it was after getting into a fight with my best friend, and she would apologize with a cup of bubble tea and a note in front of the door. What bubble tea represents to me is more than just a beverage.
However, when I visited Japan over the summer, I was shocked with the different forms of bubble tea they have. Maybe they do not make the best bubble tea but they sure have the best bubble tea flavored products.
My favourite of them all has to be the bubble tea flavored chocolate. The outer layer of the sweet is a milk-tea flavoured chocolate, the inner part is a tapioca. I was head over heels for that bag of goodness. I literally clear the shelf when I spotted them in Osaka.
My second favorite bubble tea product is the tapioca milk tea flavored lip balm. It smells like milk tea but it does the magic of lip balm. My friend and I have been searching for it for the entire night but we didn’t find it until she went to search for me afterwards. It could be weird that your lipstick smells like your favorite drink. Sometimes you have to do what you can do to enjoy bubble tea without the diabetes.
The close third will be the alcoholic bubble tea. It tastes like milk tea with bailey with pearls. However, the pearls were not chewy anymore because it has been soaked inside the bottle for the longest time. The flavor sure satisfy your bubble tea and alcohol cravings.
If there is one product that I have to criticize about the new bubble-tea flavoured products, it has to be the tapioca chewies. It looks like rabbit crap and it has the bitter taste of tea leafs. Maybe it will taste better if you put them in a drink but please don’t drink it by itself.
In one of the Eater articles, the writer wrote, “Bubble tea is more than just a drink; it’s also an identity. And that comes with its own complication.” The writer is describing the bubble tea life that the North Americans are also indulging. Another article from LA Weekly, the writer said, ”Boba became synonymous with Asian-American youth culture”. Don’t exclude the other young adults in North America. I don’t think bubble tea is a racial exclusive. My non-Asian friends in high school was so jealous when we brought 18 bubble teas to our graduation photos.
However, I would argue that Bubble Tea has been a collective Asian American symbol, when the Subtle Asian Traits – the Asian diaspora-centric Facebook group popularized the concept of bubble tea has an “Asian Trait”.
In my defense, my love for bubble tea happens before this Facebook page got popular but some of my Montreal friends told me that they were only start growing their obsessive interested with bubble tea after the page has been brainwashing everyone about the good of bubble tea.
There is no nutritious value in the bubble tea but what it can fix is something that vitamin C cannot – your broken heart and empty soul.
If you are Asian, are you obsessed with bubble tea?
