CHOW! SUMMER 2005
V I TA L SU M M ER AC C E S S O R Y:
Tapioca “Pearls”
oba tea. No, it’s not Boba Fett’s
long lost cousin from the
Star Wars saga, it’s a drink
craze that’s gripping Eugene
in its sweet, fruity grasp. Also known as bub-
ble tea or pearl tea, the drink originated at a
tea stand in Taiwan 20 years ago. Vendors
sold children chilled, refreshing tea drinks
after school. One vendor added powdered
fruit flavors to the tea drinks, which the chil-
dren shook vigorously to blend, making the
drink bubbly. Another enterprising vendor
expanded the concept, adding tapioca
“pearls” which sunk to the bottom of a clear
plastic cup, making “bubbles” that lasted.
Bubble tea is huge in Asia and has been
slowly making inroads here in the States.
Now, a bubble tea drink shop is taking hold
at 841 E. 13th Street in Eugene. Boba
Bubble Tea Shop is the enterprise of two sets
of twins (from the same
parents!), 18-year-olds
Maiah and Sarah
Albi and 15-year-
olds Keegan and
Colin Albi. The
siblings
sold
bubble tea from a
food cart last summer
and at the February
2005 Asian Festival. The
campus store is already a
hit and keeps the focus on
drinks, with 65 flavors of
boba available along with
specialty coffees and Asian
popsicles.
Maiah Albi said the siblings
discovered the drink because
their father travels frequently to
Asia, where boba teashops sprout
faster than mushrooms in a wet field.
B Y V AN ES S A SA L VI A
“He knows [the drinks] are really popular in
bigger cities like Seattle and San Francisco
so basically he just decided to see if we
could get it started here,” said Maiah. “Last
summer we had a little cart, really small, just
testing it out, and we got a lot of positive
feedback.” Blended “fruit” bobas contain
green tea, are slushy and have lighter flavors
than the “milk” bobas, which are thicker and
smoothie-like. Boba Bubble sells 16 oz. of
both varieties for $2.75.
For the uninitiated, the drink can seem a
little intimidating, but deciding on a flavor
is really the hardest part. Bimb Kampanat
at Aiyara Thai Café says they sell up to 30
bobas a day, and their most popular flavors
are mango, purple yam, coconut and sour
raspberry. For my dol-
lar, traditional
strawberry is
hard
to
beat. Once
you’ve
got your
2 T. instant coffee
1 scoop non-dairy powder creamer
1 scoop bubble tea sugar syrup
3/4 C. water
1 C. ice
2 oz. cooked bubble tea tapioca pearls
Put coffee, creamer and sugar syrup in a shaker and
mix well. Add ice, cover and shake until frothy. Put
tapioca pearls into a cup and pour blended mixture over
the pearls. Add your fat bubble tea straw and enjoy!
AMERICANISTAN
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boba in hand, pierce the drink’s plastic
covering with an oversized straw and start
sucking! When the marble-sized tapioca
pearls come through the straw, chew them
up — the texture is like a soft gummy bear
in a fruity fluid. Most tapioca balls are
black and look like blueberries in the cup,
but they can also be white or transparent.
Rest assured, the fruit bobas are complete-
ly vegan. The drinks are low on sugar, but
still sweetly satisfying and definitely
healthier than a soda.
Maiah said the bobas are addictive.
“When I first had them I didn’t like them at
all but they grow on you. Now I have like
four a day!” she said.
Bubble Tea Iced Coffee
Iraila NOW DOES catering!
Join us for the music of
(Left to right)
Colin, Sarah,
Maiah, & Keegan
TODD COOPER
B
Bubble tea’s sphere of influence
expands in Eugene.
Bubble Tea Supply has a website
(www.bubbleteasupply.com) with
lots of information and history of
bubble tea. They also post numer-
ous recipes and sell boba “kits”
including the tapioca pearls and fla-
vor powders for those who want to
make authentic boba teas at home.
The tapioca pearls must be boiled
and steeped for an hour to make
them chewy, so it’s much easier to
visit the boba tea shop!
Bubble Tea Sugar Syrup
1 C. white sugar
1 C. brown sugar
2 C. water
Mix sugar and water in large pot. Cook on medium
to high, removing from heat as soon as mixture
boils. Cool and refrigerate any excess. Makes
approximately 32-35 16 oz. bobas.
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CHOW! JULY 21, 2005 3