As a person born and raised in the Midwest, you might be wondering "what the heck is that stupid named drink you just wrote on this here blog?!". Let me tell you, it's different, and different is good.
Brief history: Boba tea originated in Taiwan in the mid 1980's. Liu Han-Chieh visited Japan and found Japanese selling cold coffee in cafes; he returned to Taiwan and wondered if this method could apply to tea. He and Lin Hsiu Hui developed milk tea and along with it, boba (cooked, semi-sweet tapioca cut into pearl-like shapes).
I came to STL Bubble Tea for the first time in high school. I had a personal grudge against them and it had nothing to do with who they were, they took over a childhood memory (it was where our neighborhood Dunkin Donuts was located when I was a toddler). My friend explained to me what "boba" is, the semi-sweet, cooked tapioca cut into small pearl shapes that you can suck up with a fat straw. "Gross" is what came to my mind, ending with me getting Chinese food there for the next two years.
I came around to trying it, a Boba Milk Tea (essentially a black tea with milk and boba) to be exact, and loved it. They have a humongous menu; milk teas, slushies, smoothies, and flavored teas where you can put the boba into anything. It is a family-owned business and they are great people. The Delmar Loop location even stays open until midnight on weekends.
As a person who loves the West Coast and visits it frequently, I am glad we can have a quality piece of it residing within my city for nostalgia's sake.
St. Louis Bubble Tea website: N/A
No comments:
Post a Comment