This material is exclusively prepared for Ringle Customers Ringle material written by Tutor Angela Kim Boba Tea: Blending Drinks and Cultures [source: http://theboola.com/a-comprehensive-non-scientific-ranking-of-boba-tea-at-yale/] 0 본 자료는 저작권 법에 의해 보호되는 저작물로, Ringle 사에 저작권이 존재합니다. 해당 자료에 대한 무단 복제/배포를 금하며, 해당 자료로 수익을 얻거나 이에 상응하는 혜택을 누릴 시 Ringle 과 사전 협의가 없는 경우 고소/고발 조치 될 수 있습니다. This material is exclusively prepared for Ringle Customers [Summary in English] I. Origins Within the past decade, boba tea, also known as “bubble tea,” has gained enormous popularity around the world. • Boba tea was created in Taiwan in the 1980s. Although the exact origin story is unknown, most people believe it was developed by Lin Hsiu Hui who added some tapioca pudding to her drink at a teahouse in Taichung, Taiwan. It became immediately popular and many street vendors began to serve boba at night markets. • The word “boba” can refer to both the broad category of drinks with chunky toppings or the black tapioca pearls themselves. • Boba pearls are made from tapioca that comes from the cassava root. The cassava plant is native to South America but came to Taiwan from Brazil during Japanese rule between 1895 to 1945. While “bubble tea” refers to the milk froth from shaking the cup, “boba” refers to the Taiwanese tapioca pearls. Often, the drink is called “bubble tea” on the East Coast while it is called “boba” on the West Coast more often. • In its most basic form, the drink includes black tea, milk, ice, and tapioca pearls. It is shaken and served with a fat straw. • Many people describe the chewy texture like gumdrops. Sometimes toppings include aloe, fruit jelly, herbal grass jelly, egg custard, puddings, or popping boba. There are many different flavors of teas and toppings for endless combinations. • Boba has achieved cultural significance in Asia and in North America, especially for East Asian diaspora populations. The popularity and influence of boba is definitely something to [1] chew on. II. Customization Many people enjoy personalizing their drinks. • The most basic black milk tea with pearls has evolved to many different variations of drinks. These days, toppings, sugar, and ice levels are customizable. • People can order whole, skim, or non-dairy milk including almond, coconut, and even oat milk. Sometimes the drink does not even include milk, especially with fruit drinks. • The pearls themselves can range from pea to marble size and can even be square, red, or clear. 1 본 자료는 저작권 법에 의해 보호되는 저작물로, Ringle 사에 저작권이 존재합니다. 해당 자료에 대한 무단 복제/배포를 금하며, 해당 자료로 수익을 얻거나 이에 상응하는 혜택을 누릴 시 Ringle 과 사전 협의가 없는 경우 고소/고발 조치 될 수 있습니다. This material is exclusively prepared for Ringle Customers • Taro milk tea is very popular. Some use the real root vegetable puree in drinks while other shops only use purple powder. • Fruit-based boba has gained popularity as well. Popular flavors include mango, lychee, winter melon, lemon, and passionfruit, and grapefruit. • Experts cite the success of bubble tea shops around the world to its assembly line production. A customer enters the store and orders with the barista with clear options of sugar and ice levels. The barista prints a label and sticks it on a plastic cup and another barista prepares the drink. III. Stores There are many bubble tea shops from major franchises to specialty cafes. Some shops use powders while others use premium loose-leaf teas. • There are many Taiwanese chains that include Chatime, Coco, Quickly, ShareTea, and CuoppoTea. There are more than 21,000 boba shops in Taiwan alone. US brands include Kung Fu, Vivi, and Boba Guys. There are many craft boba shops in major US cities as well. • Gong Cha is one of the world’s most popular boba franchises. “Gong cha” in Chinese means to offer the most premium tea to the Emperor and represents high quality and expectation. The company was founded in Taiwan in 2006 and is currently in 20 countries with over 1500 stories worldwide. • ShareTea was founded in 1992 in Taipei, Taiwan. The brand has a mission to share the world and share happiness. It sees boba has a healthy trend and aims to introduce authentic Taiwanese tea to the world. CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice was founded in 1997. It aims to serve creative drinks including fresh tea, milk tea, fruit tea, yogurt drinks, coffee, and other beverages. • KungFu Tea was founded in Flushing, Queens in 2009. The founders were disappointed that the quality of boba tea did not match the standards in Taiwan. Kung Fu Tea is a popular franchise in the US and they have locations across the country, from East Coast to West Coast and Mid-West. • Boba Guys was founded by Bin Chen and Andrew Chau with the mission to bridge cultures through boba tea. They say that milk tea is European while tapioca is Asian. Boba Guys is known for using high quality ingredients including premium tea, house made syrup, and organic milk. One of their goals is to make boba more accessible and 2 본 자료는 저작권 법에 의해 보호되는 저작물로, Ringle 사에 저작권이 존재합니다. 해당 자료에 대한 무단 복제/배포를 금하며, 해당 자료로 수익을 얻거나 이에 상응하는 혜택을 누릴 시 Ringle 과 사전 협의가 없는 경우 고소/고발 조치 될 수 있습니다. This material is exclusively prepared for Ringle Customers relevant to a 60-year old from Georgia or tourist from Ukraine. They want to change the perception that people have of boba. • Boba Guys’ logo is actually an aardvark drinking boba. The brand and aesthetic lend itself much more to people who would frequent a third-wave coffee shop, like Blue Bottle, rather than a bustling Chinatown teahouse. • There are many indie boba tea shops like Tea&Milk in New York City and Asha Tea House in San Francisco. These are lesser known on a global scale but might be affectionately known as boba sommeliers to their loyal fanbases. Tea Bar in Portland, Oregon has Scandinavian design influences. • Although many Koreans still prefer coffee, bubble tea has also gained popularity in Korea. The global chain Gong Cha is popular along with many other shops as well. • Amasvin is a café franchise in South Korea with unique flavors of tea and experimental drinks. They have flavors including strawberry coconut, tiramisu, and roasted sweet potato bubble tea. Amasvin also serves baked goods and other drinks. • Cofioca is a bubble tea shop in Seoul known for attracting K-pop stars. There are many celebrity signatures on the walls and lists with K-pop idols’ favorite drinks. • The Alley is a premium bubble tea café originally from Hong Kong. They specialize in teas and also serve brown sugar pearl lattes called “Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk.” The Alley focuses on craft drinks with the finest presentation. IV. Trends From cheese foam to brown sugar boba, there are many trends in boba that arise and even compel people around the world to wait for more than two hours to order a drink. • Many chase boba trends because they find them aesthetically-pleasing and “Insta- worthy.” Often, boba drinks are colorful and the toppings make for perfect content for people’s social media feeds. Social media is also one of the primary ways that boba trends begin and become popular. • Brown sugar pearl milk latte is the latest trend in boba. It is a simple drink that only includes fresh milk, brown sugar syrup, and tapioca pearls. It originated from Tiger Sugar in Taichung, Taiwan in 2017. The flavors were meant to evoke [2] nostalgia for traditional Taiwanese desserts. The brown sugar syrup creates streaks that look like tiger stripes on the inside of the cup. Partially due to the popularity of Instagram and social media, the lines at Tiger Sugar are sometimes three hours long. The brown sugar caramel 3 본 자료는 저작권 법에 의해 보호되는 저작물로, Ringle 사에 저작권이 존재합니다. 해당 자료에 대한 무단 복제/배포를 금하며, 해당 자료로 수익을 얻거나 이에 상응하는 혜택을 누릴 시 Ringle 과 사전 협의가 없는 경우 고소/고발 조치 될 수 있습니다. This material is exclusively prepared for Ringle Customers syrup has a nutty taste that people can’t seem to get enough of. Tiger Sugar opened its first branch in Hongdae in March 2019. • Cheese tea, also known as “milk cap,” “cheese foam,” or “milk foam” is another craze in bubble tea that is more popular in Asia than the US. Cheese tea is a foamy layer of milk, cream cheese, and salt. It has a sweet and savory flavor. Cheese tea originated in night market stands in Taiwan around 2010 and began to become commercialized when HeyTea created a premium version using real cream cheese in the Guangdong province in China. • Banana milk is a popular South Korean drink manufactured by Binggrae. It has a banana, coconut and milk flavor. Recently, BuzzFeed collaborated with Boba Guys to create a Korean banana milk boba drink. They recreated the drink using real ingredients. Using influencer marketing, it created a buzz around Boba Guy’s shops in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. There was even a spike in Google searches for “Korean banana milk.” Over 1,000 banana milk boba drinks were sold in just four weekdays. • There are many more bubble tea trends. There are some shops that serve boozy boba, or boba with alcohol in it. Some shops serve boba in cups that look like light bulbs and others with cotton candy. Some shops even try to differentiate themselves by creating freshly made in-house boba.