In many consumers' hands across the world, you might find a milk tea-based drink with tapioca pearls, known as “boba tea,” “bubble tea,” or “pearl milk tea.” Most commonly, on the East Coast of the US, you’ll hear “bubble tea,” on the West, you’ll hear “boba.” While the word “boba” can refer to both the broad category of drinks that contain tapioca pearls or the pearls themselves, “bubbles” or “pearls” refer exclusively to tapioca balls or pearls.
In its basic (or original) form, this drink consists of black tea, mixed with powdered milk and sugar. The drink is iced down by a mixer and then served with tapioca pearls, which can then be consumed through a “fat” (thicker) straw.
Invented in Taiwan in the 1980s, the origin story of this drink is disputed. Some say the famous drink started in Taichung, Taiwan, after Lin Hsiu Hui, a product manager at an iced tea firm, was bored during a staff meeting and poured the remainder of her tapioca pearls (from another dessert) directly into her tea. Although a strange idea, it became immensely popular and quickly spread across the island.
Tapioca pearls are made from tapioca flour derived [1] from cassava root. Though the cassava plant is native to South America, it came to Taiwan from Brazil during Japanese rule (between 1895 to 1945). The texture of the tapioca is rather one of a kind, and some people liken it to gumdrops. Uniquely chewy, the pearls provide a sweet, chewy satisfaction.
Other toppings that have become popular in tea include aloe, fruit jelly, herbal grass jelly, egg custards, puddings, and even popping boba (a unique form of boba that is not chewy, but filled with liquid flavors, like mango, lychee, or strawberry.) The combinations of drinks and toppings are endless; indeed, things like the level of sugar, ice, toppings, and even the kinds of milk used are all customizable at your favorite drink store.
Mechanism of Success
Bubble tea, having quickly achieved cultural significance in East Asia, has managed to do similarly in parts of North America. Experts attribute the success of bubble tea shops around the world to its assembly line production. A customer enters the store and orders with a barista, who then sticks their order label onto a plastic cup. Another barista then goes on to prepare the drink.
Boba 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 in lines of sometimes several hours to get a drink.
One of the most recent trends is that of “brown sugar pearl milk,” a simple drink with fresh milk, brown sugar syrup, and tapioca. Its fame came from Tiger Sugar in Taichung, Taiwan in 2017, with flavors meant to evoke nostalgia for traditional Taiwanese desserts. At the grand opening of Tiger Sugar, lines were sometimes up to three hours long. The branch opened its first store in Hongdae, South Korea in March of 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 of China.
In addition to the above, some stores sell boozy boba (boba with alcohol). Other shops sell boba in cups that look like lightbulbs or baby bottles. Some stores even differentiate themselves by making boba fresh, in-house.
The Bubble Tea Market
The bubble tea market was valued at $415 million in 2016 and is expected to reach $4 billion by 2027. This, however, is a humble [2] figure in comparison to the coffee market, which is valued at around $45 billion in the US alone.
The market can be further segmented into flavor, creamer, sweetener, liquid, tapioca pearls, and more. The liquid dominates the bubble tea market, of which the three primary teas are black, green, and oolong tea. The North American bubble tea market accounted for more than 57% of the global market in 2016. The US alone comprised 97% of the North American market. In 2016, North America and Asia-Pacific accounted for more than 83% of the global bubble tea market in terms of value. The European market is expected to grow considerably.
Take into consideration that many markets where bubble tea is growing rapidly, like Thailand and Vietnam, have lower prices for their drinks.
In the US, the average bubble tea drink costs around $4-8. In Korea, the average bubble tea drink costs $2-5. Though a beverage costs only about $0.75 to make, there are often significant markups.
From its mechanism of success to the many trends that have followed its growth, bubble tea represents an exciting form of cultural dispersion [3]. As its popularity continues to grow, only time will tell how this story will unfold.