Bubble tea most commonly consists of tea accompanied by chewy tapioca balls "boba" or "pearls" , but it can be made with other toppings as well, such as grass jelly , aloe vera , red bean , and popping boba. It has many varieties and flavors, but the two most popular varieties are pearl black milk tea and pearl green milk tea "pearl" for the tapioca balls at the bottom.
Bubble teas fall under two categories: teas without milk and milk teas. Both varieties come with a choice of black , green , or oolong tea as the base. Due to its popularity, bubble tea has inspired a variety of bubble tea flavored snacks, such as bubble tea ice cream and bubble tea candy. Bubble tea comes in many variations which usually consist of black tea , green tea , oolong tea , and sometimes white tea. Other varieties of the drink include blended tea drinks.
These variations are often either blended using ice cream, or are smoothies that contain both tea and fruit. There are many popular flavours of bubble tea, such as taro , [ 16 ] mango , [ 17 ] coffee , and coconut. Tapioca pearls boba are the most common ingredient, although there are other ways to make the chewy spheres found in bubble tea.
Most pearls are black from brown sugar. Jelly comes in different shapes: small cubes, stars, or rectangular strips, and flavors such as coconut jelly , konjac , lychee , grass jelly , mango , coffee and green tea. Azuki bean or mung bean paste, typical toppings for Taiwanese shaved ice desserts, give bubble tea an added subtle flavor as well as texture. Aloe , egg pudding custard , and sago also can be found in many bubble tea shops. Some shops offer milk or cheese foam on top of the drink, giving the drink a consistency similar to that of whipped cream, and a saltier flavor profile.
Bubble tea shops often give customers the option of choosing the amount of ice or sugar in their drink. In Southeast Asia, bubble tea is usually packaged in a plastic takeaway cup, sealed with plastic or a rounded cap. New entrants into the market have attempted to distinguish their products by packaging it in bottles [ 28 ] and other shapes.
