FAQs

Bubble Tea FAQs

Check out the answers to common questions about bubble tea below:

What Is Boba?

Boba is another name for bubble tea. Boba can refer to the beverage itself, to the bubbles made from mixing the drink, or to the black tapioca pearls inside the tea.

What Is Boba Made of?

Boba balls are soft, jelly-like spheres made primarily of tapioca, which derives from cassava roots. They are the bubbles in bubble tea and are also called tapioca balls, pearls, or boba. In addition to tapioca, they may also contain a sweetener, such as sugar or caramel, along with other ingredients for texture and preservation, like corn starch or potassium sorbate. Boba balls range in size from small (5 mm) to large (8.5 mm); the large pearls are commonly used in bubble tea.

What Is Popping Boba?

Popping boba is a small type of boba that contains fruit juice and "bursts" upon chewing. Popping boba is made through molecular gastronomy. A flavored liquid, such as fruit juice, is mixed with powdered sodium alginate (extracted from brown seaweed) and is then dripped into calcium chloride. Upon interacting, small spheres form and develop thin skins, yielding popping boba. Popping boba is used in bubble tea as well as frozen yogurt, snow ice, and other frozen treats.

How To Drink Bubble Tea?

The novelty of bubble tea is that everyone drinks it differently. Some drinkers ignore the tapioca pearls until they’ve finished the beverage, then eat the pearls last. Some drinkers eat the tapioca pearls first, then enjoy their tea. Others may prefer a happy medium, sipping their tea and chewing tapioca pearls along the way. There’s no right way to enjoy bubble tea, which makes it a fun interactive drink that’s entirely unique.

In addition to bubble tea flavors, you can also customize your bubble tea by choosing toppings, a different tea as the base, an alternative milk (or no milk), and a different sweetness level.