Originally posted June 23, 2021
Boba, Bubble Tea, Pearl Tea, Yummy.
Since it’s creation in the 80s, the popularity of boba has grown by the decade. Today, there are all kinds of spinoff desserts. Learn the origins and boba history and how it all started.
Boba History: Its Inspiration & Origins
What is Boba?
Boba, also known as bubble tea or pearl tea, is a popular milk tea drink that all started in Taiwan. “Boba” is local slang referring to the breast as the tapioca balls are round-shaped.
The black tapioca balls are made with tapioca starch, sometimes cassava root, and dark brown sugar that colors the pearls.
Inspiration for the Creation of Boba
The custom of milk tea had already existed for centuries. In fact, the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD) in China served black tea with butter, milk, or cream. And, Europeans reportedly drank milk tea when they arrived in the 17th century.
Some food historians believe that the Dutch introduced the blend of milk and sugar to tea in Taiwan during their colonization years from 1624 to 1662.
Later in 1949, Chang Fun Shu, a former mixologist, opened his own team shop and sold hand-shaken tea made with cocktail shakers. It was called foam tea as the result was a rich, silky iced tea with fine air bubbles. This was the start of bubble tea.
Origin Claim #1
Like many widely popular foods, boba does not have one exact origin story – it has multiple claims to fame.
One popular claim points to Tainan in southern Taiwan to the Hanlin Tea House in 1986. The owner was inspired by fenyuan, a dessert snack made with tapioca balls and cut-up fruit. He then added white tapioca balls to his green tea and called it pearl green tea, as the white tapioca looks like pearls.
Later he added black tapioca made with brown sugar to his milk tea for a richer taste and chewier texture.
Today Hanlin Tea House can be found all around the world.
Origin Claim #2
A second popular claim comes from another teahouse that also has multiple branches around the world.
In 1983, Liu Han-Chieh of Chun Shui Tang Teahouse served iced milk tea after seeing the process of iced coffee on a trip to Japan. The drink was shaken to create bubble foam on top – hence bubble tea.
A few years later in 1988, an employee who was inspired by fenyuan added tapioca balls into her glass of iced milk Assam tea. In a staff meeting, the employees tried it, loved it, and added it to the menu.
Bubble tea now had foam bubbles on top and bubble pearls on the bottom of the clear plastic cup.
Global Popularity
The obsession with boba spread across the country in the late 80s, around East Asia in the early 90s, and over to the US in the late 90s. Essentially, wherever Taiwanese migrated, they took boba with them and eventually opened dedicated tea shops.
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