Bubble Tea
“It’s chewy and odd,” says the food critic Marina O’Loughlin. “It’s slippery and strange, but weirdly more-ish. I love the way it comes with a flat straw so I can scoop out the balls and they plop into my mouth.”
O’Loughlin is talking about Bubble Tea, one of the fastest growing drink trends around at the moment.
The origin of this ‘slightly squishy’ tea is 1980s Taiwan. It began as an evolution from the traditional drinks that street vendors sold and after some experimentation they came up with Bubble Tea.
Depending on whom you believe the tapioca, a key component of the drink, became a staple after a Lin Hsiu Hui poured tapioca into her iced tea and discovered that the resulting drink was divine.
Here’s a fantastic recipe for Bubble Tea that’s easy to make, and it features some classic Twinings Tea !
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 32g of dried tapioca pearls
- 2 Twinings Earl Grey tea bags
- Water! (obviously)
- 150g Sugar
- Milk (or almond or condensed milk)
Method
- Boil 500ml over a high heat. Once bubbling, add the tapioca and stir gently until they float.
- Turn the temperature down and cook for 15 minutes.
- Whilst the tapioca is cooking, make a simply sugar syrup. Boil 120ml of water and then stir in the sugar, set aside to cool.
- By now, everything should be coming together. Drain the tapioca and leave to cool in the sugary syrup for 15 minutes, in which you can…
- Make a brew! Make a couple of cuppas but leave the tea to mash for a good 15 minutes. It has to be nice and strong.
- Now it is time to make the Bubble Tea. Pour to prepared brews into some long glasses and then add the tapioca, syrup to taste and any water or milk to top it up
photo: Toby Oxborrow, used under CC