August 08, 2005

• There's a Vietnamese place down the street that features this stuff, but I've never tried it. What's the rush for you?
• Oooh I haven't had this stuff for a couple years... The sushi place I used to eat lunch at had this, but called it Boba tea. I drank it without pearls for a long time but eventually had to try em. Blech. Too big and weird, and not a bit of taste. I wish I had a place in this town that had it. The closest I can get is Thai tea, but it's too strong and just not quite it. fatoudust, it's just really tasty, slightly spiced(?) tea with something milky in it. Cool, satisfying, and usually served by cute asians. :)
• Bubble tea started out in Taiwan, and was sometimes called Boba because the term "Bo Ba" is used to describe actresses who have very big breasts ("Bo" literally means "ball"). The most famous of the "Bo Ba" actresses during the time the bubble tea craze started in Taiwan was Amy Yip. It is called Pearl Tea is Singapore currently. It caught on in Singapore and other parts of Asia about, oh, six or seven years back, and got so prolific we literally had one shop in every street corner. It's a bit less popular now, as new types of drinks enter the market (like the pseudo-health drink Roibos). Most of the time I think bubble tea tastes vile, because the people making it have oversteeped the tea, undercooked the "pearls", and overdone the syrup. Done right, it's a really great drink for a hot day. I used to make bubble tea myself, when temping at the teahouse. Get some nice dark jasmine tea (if you fancy the green variety), or some fragrant black tea (for the red ones), and make some tea. It can be a little thicker than if you drank it hot, but not so much that the tea tastes acidic. Let it cool. Get sago pearls (I think you can buy them online, or in Asian supermarkets. They may also be called tapioca pearls), cook them in boiling water. I used a rice cooker, but you can use a pot on an open fire, if you have plenty of water. The sago pearls start out looking a bit like clay, so cook them till they are transclucent all the way through. Pour into a collander and rinse in cold water (use ice if you have to) until they have chilled. Put in a bowl, and mix with syrup or honey+water (that stops them sticking together I believe, and givesthem some taste). Use a cocktail shaker. Get some flavoured syrups you like, put in about a tablespoon's worth into your tea (or to taste), a big dollop of some pure syrup or honey (honey works best for me), shake (not too long! You'll get gas if you do, and the tea will taste like spit), and pour into a cup where you've already put some pearls, and you have bubble tea :)
• We've had some really hot weather lately, and mango bubble tea is the bestest thirst quencher ever; actually broke my Coca Cola habit.
• What the fuck is this? A new pleasure?
• I was a slow convert. The closest place, though, decided that they'd rather rip us off for $.50 than have us as returning customers (after we politely brought up the error), so we have boycotted the place ever since (the missus a little less enthusiastically than I). These days I'm all about the Durian sherbet with tap. Oh, and it may have come from SEA, but out there it gets weird. Those jellies (and beans!) are not for the faint of heart. Or palate.
• I'm not a boba expert, but have tried it a few times and enjoy it best in a slushy type of drink mixture during the summer. Lollicup's mocha green tea slush w/boba is a personal favorite, though friends have told me that the best local boba drinks are at Tapioca Express, and sometimes at Vietnamese baguette sandwich places. Sometimes I find the act of piercing the plastic seal covers on the drinks with the fat straws (designed to allow one to suck up the large tapioca pearls) more satisfying than the drink itself. on preview: Durian sherbet?! Cool.
• Thanks for the recipe, Alnedra! And amazingly simple to boot. You have saved me a 2 hour trip to my old college town.
• No prob, trig. I forgot a very important bit. Fill the cocktail shaker with ice before putting in the syrups and tea.
• Tapioca was a preferred method of torture back in the days of my youth. And now it's a fadtrend?
• I would like to drink bubble tea without the tapioca pearls. The tea itself is very refreshing, but the tapioca is too starchy for a hot day.
• It's much harder to get good bubble tea in London than it is in Washington DC (where I'm from.) I'm looking forward to some iced sesame milk bubble action when I get back there!
• Hi moneyjane!
• We have a bubble tea joint up the street, but I've never ventured in...there've been some reports of violence there, which freaks me out since it's in a relatively quiet part of town. It's supposed to be hot today though, so maybe I'll stop by and give it a try.
• It's well worth it! One flavour i would recommend that wouldn't at first sound tempting is Taro. Quite a distinctive taste. The place I go to also has something called "brick toast". It's literally a small brick of bread that's toasted with a nice filling inside. Great during cold winters.
• (Welcome back, moneyjane! I was getting a little concerned we'd lost you...)
• I've had it as Alnedra's described, with syrup and tea and bubbles (although I think mine have had too much syrup- they tasted more like cheap juice). I've also had it with what I think was evaporated milk, like you get with thai tea. I liked that much better, although the little balls of owl semen get kind of old about half way through. I just like sweet milky tea.
• Hi Moneyjane! Tea with tapioca lumps doesn't really do it for me but I do loves me some iced tea, not too sweet, with lemon and maybe a little fresh mint.
• I just like sweet milky tea Someone call me??
• lol.
• This "fad" has kinda passed in Jakarta (although I myself am very fond of taro bubble tea). Some bubble tea kiosks, in the malls and such, employ "visual tactics" to lure the customer in. One place has this bizarre-looking bubble tea shaker: a purple-colored fuzzy "monkey" shakes the tea in a metal martini mixer before being deftly swooped into a plastic cup - - which is then sent through this hi-techish-looking conveyer belt assembly that seals the top of the cup. Aaah, it is quite refreshing to hear the *pop* when you pierce the cup with one of those overly-large straws they provide. YMMV with these beverages however, I've had some that were very bad - right along the lines of what Alnedra pointed out (undercooked pearls are quite revolting). Mmmm... taro!
• I'm not that fond of the sweet tea, but I love the pearls. Actually, I like chewy things in general so tapioca is always appealing. If they made a sweet bean flavor it would probably be my favorite treat. Instead I'll stick with mochi balls with mung bean paste. Mmmmm...
• I've never tried bubble tea, but there are a few places around here that have it. I will try one before the week is out. I love Thai iced tea, so I guess you could say I love sugarmilktea too! Mmmm, cool and refreshing!
• so I guess you could say I love sugarmilktea too! *blushes* awww shucks!
• Oh, no, another addiction to fight off... Gets the shakes just thinking about past coffee, chai tea, milky shakes and other binges and their after effects
• mochi balls with mung bean paste I'll take "Asian Delicacy or STD Symptom?" for $200 Alex.
• *tries to stick straw in sugarmilktea's head* It won't go!! *stab-stab-stab-stab-stab-stab*
• yeah they call it "Boba" in LA and it is everywhere. It's not bad but sometimes I feel like it's some bizzare form of torture- they put so many balls in there you cant possibly take a sip without inhaling one or more...
• These places abound in certain parts of NYC. And there is not a god in heaven who could convince me to try the stuff. I am from the South, where we like our tea with lemon, or maybe mint, and enough sugar to gag you. No weird alien pods.
• ¡OUCH! *recognizes Koko's sadistic way of showing love* Hmm, so did sexyrobot ever pay you for services rendered via BB shot? I think you like delivering pain don't ya!!?
• You kidding? I should be paying him!
• Wot Skrik said. Abysmal in skool puddings or anywhere else.
• Alnedra = Teabashi all rise!
• *rises, salutes Teabashi, throws sago pearls like confetti*
• I am drinking one right now...strawberry...mmmm... lumpy! Bubble tea's been around here downtown for 5 or 6 years, but I imagine there's probably been some in Richmond for a few years more than that. There's one place down the road that makes 40 or so variations on the Lumpsonic Drink of Champions. It boggleth the mind. They have red bean flavour...think I saw a bean shout-out up yonder?
• 'Nedra sez: sometimes called Boba because the term "Bo Ba" is used to describe actresses who have very big breasts Puts Boba Fett into a completely different light, dunnit? Hi Moneyjane!
• Hi everybody...I was away doing loads of stuff but I missed you guys and your hot monkey love :)
• Nobody has mentioned my fave kind. I'd had it several times with the tapioca pearls, which I just couldn't get a taste for - they're too bitter. Finally tried strawberry coconut jelly in strawberry tea a few months ago. BUBBLE TEA NIRVANA! (Although, technically, the jelly is cut up in little squares, not pearls.) The place I go to puts real, fresh-tasting strawberry bits into the jelly, and offers a bunch of flavors of both jelly and tea. The tea tasted like it was flavored with juice rather than syrup. There are a lot of Asian (student visa) and Asian-American people in the quadrant of the city where I live; my neighborhood is heavily Korean, and my boyfriend's neighborhood has a noticeable Chinese presence, so there are like 3 bubble tea places within a ten minute drive of either of our houses. I haven't gotten him to try it yet, though!
• You kidding? I should be paying him! I dunno. If memory serves, sexyrobot mentioned something about paying to be shot in the bottom, and you replied rather enthusiastically... C'mon, don't be shy now! Anyone else a fan of Ice Kacang? Mmmm...
• Yay, ice kacang! Literally means ice with nuts(or beans). Although I prefer the ice to the kacang (^_^)
• I just feel it would be a crime to charge money for the sexy thrill of pinging sexyrobot on his shiny sexy hiney of sexiness. Actually, it probably is a crime ...
• Ah, Ice Kacang my old friend. Shaved ice over various beans, sweet corn and jellies, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and sweet syrups. Like 'Nedra, I could do without the beans, sweet corn and jellies and just stick with the shaved ice.
• ooga_booga, didya ever have those iceballs they sold on the street? My mom and dad did, but alas I am too young to remember those. Basically just the ice and syrup. yum. *raids fridge for condensed milk and ice*
• Teacicles! I picked up a popsicle mold at the dollar store today. Brewed up some tea with lemon & honey, poured in mold with a few fresh blueberries. Currently waiting for freezing to occur. May add some vodka to the next batch.
• (How was it, islander?) Pantyhose Tea Sounds tasty!
• I could probably sell that to the pantyfetish boys! tea strained thru pantyhose worn by beautiful dominant women (with sweaty feet). place yr order today!!!