Bubble Tea Bubble Tea Tube
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
FOODOGRAPHER cha” (pearl green tea). Further Get ready to celebrate! ow huge is bubble tea? According to CNN Travel, experimentation with black tapioca Bubbles & Boba National Bubble Tea three years ago sales balls produced a tea with an even Day is April 30! You Hincreased by 3,000% in Southeast richer taste and chewier texture. Asia. Worldwide they are expected to He worked with a manufacturer say you’ve been in a increase by $2 billion over the next to produce straws large enough to Covid bubble for the five years (sales estimates now stand imbibe the tapioca balls. His Hanlin last 12 months and have at $4.3 billion). McDonald’s German teahouses and tea rooms can now be restaurants have added bubble tea found across the globe. lost track of the latest Yet another person was claiming BubbleBubble to their menus. In 2020, bubble tea trends, including bubble became an official emoji. Bubble tea credit for the development of what became known as bubble tea. Lin tea? As the uninitiated pizza is now a thing. In Singapore, fans of bubble tea swarmed shops Hsiu Hui, the product manager TeaTea for Chun Shui Tang (now an will discover, bubble ahead of their Covid-related tea is easy to love – the shutdowns last spring. international chain of teahouses), proclaimed that she developed milky-sweet and colorful The roots of bubble tea can FullFull be traced to the late ‘40s, when a bubble tea in 1988 during a staff tea is similar to a latte. mixologist named Chang Fan Shu meeting when, out of boredom, opened a shop in Taiwan, where he she mixed some tapioca balls into used cocktail shakers to create a her tea. Meeting attendees who rich and silky tea topped by fine air sampled the concoction loved it and bubbles. The drink was remarkable – further experimentation led to the even revolutionary – for two reasons: development of a bubble tea that served cold, it was intended to be quickly outsold the company’s lineup enjoyed at one’s leisure. of ice teas. CircleCircle Fast forward 40 years to THE COMPETITION over the TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JORDAN BUSH 1986, when a struggling artist/ bubble tea market grew fierce and by entrepreneur named Tu Tsong-He 2009 the two factions were in court jumped on the cold-beverage trend in an effort to determine who could and added tapioca balls (fenyuan) rightfully be declared the inventor to tea. (The tapioca balls had been of bubble tea. Ten years later, a a favorite childhood treat.) The verdict was issued. The Taiwanese resulting visual made him think of court determined that since the tea his mother’s pearl necklace, hence industry is one of friendship, the he called his drink “zhen zhu lu matter of who “invented” bubble tea is a moot point. According to scholars and food historians (again via CNN Travel), bubble tea gained international attention in 2004, when the Taiwanese government was negotiating an arms deal. Citizens balked at its cost and the government proposed that if every citizen would skip one serving of bubble tea per week for the following 15 years, the arms deal could easily be afforded. The Left to right: Taiwanese people were so “up in Strawberry arms” over the proposal that it green tea became international news. with lychee, milk black Meanwhile, the bubble tea tea with boba phenomenon caught the attention and pineapple of former investment banker, Assad green tea with lychee. The Khan, who tasted the drink in New drinks are from York and set his sights on launching Bleu Bubble Tea & Bakery, his own venture. Bubbleology which is located became the toast of London and inside the Khan is now researching the premise Asian Center Supermarket in of developing a line of “skinny teas” Lancaster. that will appeal to health and weight- conscious bubble tea fans. 46 LANCASTER COUNTY | APRIL 2021 LANCASTER COUNTY | APRIL 2021 47 tea and the tapioca pudding of your The first time I sampled bubble of ice you want, if any, as well as drink childhood do share tapioca starch as a Key ingredients in preparing bubble tea include tea was during Apple training in size, are specified. (clockwise from bottom left): tapioca flour, common ingredient. dark brown sugar, milk, looseleaf green tea and California, and I was instantly hooked. homemade boba (or tapioca pearls). Compared to a latte, the intense shades of red, orange, yellow and Bleu even green stand out. Bubble tea Types of requires an oversized straw so large in diameter it could be described as a Bubble Tea Bubble Tea tube. At the bottom of the drink, and Replace the milk with puréed fruit necessitating such a straw, are circular and you end up with a refreshing fruit & Bakery bubbles, or tapioca pearls known as tea. Both milk- and fruit-based bubble When Bleu Bubble Tea & Bakery boba. Think of it like finding the cherry teas can be made with green or black opened inside the Asian Center Supermarket (located off the Rohrerstown Road in Lancaster), it grabbed my attention. I had to check it out. The bubble tea is outstanding and begged the question: what would prompt someone to open a food- service business in the winter during a pandemic? Who would risk starting a new business now? It was there I met Cherie (Yi) Que and her husband, John (Jiang) Lu, part-owners of Bleu. Like many others, John was laid off from his job last year due to the pandemic. “A lot of people lost their jobs,” says Cherie. “We don’t want to depend or count on the government for something. We want to bring happiness to ourselves,” she explains. “We believe in our own hands.” “He brought me a special gift: a So, John decided he would start a wedding band,” she says. Cherie recalls business and drew inspiration from asking, “John, after so many years, Cherie’s love of bubble tea. why are you so sure it’s me? What if In September 2020, when Cherie I had become a really ugly monster?” Tapioca flour and dark brown sugar combine with water over medium heat to create homemade boba. Instant and John learned from the owner Nonetheless, her answer was, “Of black boba pearls are seen on the right. of the Asian Center Supermarket course, yes!” She adds, “That’s the that a spot was available for a small 2006, growing up together in Guangxi reason why we’re here!” varieties of each recipe,” says John, at the bottom of an ice cream sundae. tea, and all else equal, the flavor change business, she immediately called her Province in China, where the two were The pair married a year later who labored over quality ingredients The discovery is just as delightful. is astounding. I thought I preferred best friend, Erin (Yulan) Cui, whose high school sweethearts. While still and planned a new future together. to find the right textures, consistency What follows are some tips and bubble tea made with black tea until significant other, West (Xi) Chen, in school, John’s family moved to the Because Cherie had a government and combinations of flavors. “If tidbits to get you started on the path discovering a new favorite: honeydew was the general manager of a Korean United States. Being separated by such position working at a police I don’t like it, we won’t sell it to to becoming a fan of bubble tea. milk green tea with boba. While boba bakery and bubble tea shop. It was a great distance prompted John and department handling security data, customers,” says John. “We are proud is the best-known “topping” for bubble there that Erin and West first met. Cherie to end their relationship. “We John offered to move back to China; of our boba.” West, meanwhile, kept tea, lychee is a delicious, tropical fruit Every morning on her way to work, never forgot each other,” Cherie says. however, they decided she would join Erin in mind while creating lactose- native to China with a firm, gumdrop- Erin would stop at the bakery for “John called me every single year on him in the United States. Boba free recipes, knowing she could enjoy like texture. fresh bread and a lactose-free coffee, my birthday.” Boba, or tapioca pearls, add a them. As for the bakery component, specially made by West. On Cherie’s birthday in 2012, subtle sweetness to bubble tea. They equipment remained from a previous The pending partnership would her then-boyfriend missed the event, are all about texture, too. Boba should business and they wanted to make use Full Circle combine their talents. West had causing their relationship to end. be soft and chewy and not hard or Placing of it. To avoid any leftovers, one batch Cherie points out that the shape experience operating such a business However, the ever-faithful John called sticky. Ready-to-cook boba, which is of steamed buns is made each morning of boba in tea and the circle in Bleu’s and because Erin’s parents own a Cherie from the U.S. to wish her a made using tapioca starch (or tapioca around 10:30 a.m., including a personal logo, which she designed, have a Your Order nail salon, she was familiar with the happy birthday only to discover it was flour), brown sugar and water, is When ordering bubble tea, specify favorite, taro buns. deeper cultural meaning. The shape process of maintaining a business. not a joyful day. “He could tell I was quickly boiled and chilled.