Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:57 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Bubble

Bubble tea started out in Taiwan, and was sometimes called Boba because the term “Bo Ba” (波霸) is used to describe actresses who have very big breasts ("波" literally means “ball"). One of the most famous of the “Bo Ba” actresses during the time the bubble tea craze started in Taiwan was Amy Yip. It is also called Pearl Tea in Singapore.

It caught on in Singapore and other parts of Asia more than ten years ago, and became so prolific there was one stall at almost each street corner in Singapore. The popularity has faded somewhat, as new types of drinks have entered the market, such as the South African pseudo-tea drink Rooibos.

Most of the time I think bubble tea tastes vile, because the people making it have oversteeped the tea, undercooked the “pearls”, and overdone the syrup - some stalls even skip the green tea, and use artificial green tea syrup instead, resulting in a drink that smells and taste like toilet deodarant. Done right, Bubble Tea can be a really great drink for a hot day.

I used to make bubble tea myself, when temping at the teahouse; here are some quick and dirty instructions.

What you will need:

Green jasmine tea or black tea
Tapioca or sago pearls
Honey or plain sugar syrup
Flavoured syrups (optional)
Lots of ice
Rice cooker or deep pot for boiling water
Collander

Get some nice green jasmine tea (if you fancy the green variety), or some fragrant black tea (for the red ones), and make some tea. It can be a little thicker than if you drank it hot, but not so much that the tea tastes acidic. Let it cool.

Get sago or tapioca pearls (you can find them online or in Asian supermarkets) and cook them in boiling water. I used a rice cooker, but you can use a pot on an open fire, if you have plenty of water, at least four to five times the volume of the pearls you want to cook.

The sago pearls start out looking a bit like clay, so cook them till they are transclucent all the way through. Pour them into a collander and rinse in cold water or ice until they have chilled. If you are using ice, scoop in about the same volume as the cooked pearls, shake until most of it is melted, and then continue to put in a few handfuls until the pearls are cool. This way you won’t get lots of ice stuck in with your pearls.

Put in a bowl, and mix with a couple of tablespoons of syrup or slightly watered down honey (that stops them sticking or melting together, and gives them some taste).

Use a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. If you have any flavoured syrups you like (mango, strawberry or orange, for instance), pour about 2 tablespoons’ worth into the shaker, followed by a dollop of honey or syrup (I much prefer honey, which isn’t so sickly sweet and imparts a lovely fragrance to the tea), and then pour tea over the ice until the shaker is almost full.

Now shake. Nnot too long! You’ll get gas if you do, and the tea will taste like spit. Pour into a cup where you’ve already put some pearls, and you have bubble tea. Don’t forget the extra wide straws!

PS: If you want to be professional about it,you can buy green and black tea that are specially made for bubble teas. The biggest difference is that the leaves are in bits, and for black tea practically powder, but they are incredibly fragrant, and the tea produced is thicker and stronger. They are very low grade teas, so are very cheap and usually will not yield more than 2 steepings even with alot of tea leaves.

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