Bubble tea 珍珠奶茶

Bubble tea, bo ba, 珍珠奶茶, tapioca drinks, pearl tea:  this sweetly flavored beverage was originated in taiwan, but quickly spreaded to other countries.  many would say that the bubble tea craze is so last century.  however, this beverage always has a special place in my heart.  everytime i visit hong kong,  i look forward to having a drink at 仙跡岩 (http://www.saintsalp.com.hk/) or RBT (http://www.rbt.com.cn/scen/about.asp). 



i've noticed in recent years that many of these bubble tea places shut down due to a lack of popularity.  in a trendy fast-paced city like hong kong, things come and go.  just like the bubble tea fad, there was egg puff  (eggettes /雞蛋仔), sweet corn, takoyaki, cream puffs etc.   surprisingly, bubble tea has climbed its way back up again.  this time around, it's not about opening up posh bubble tea cafes to serve and seat customers, rather it's opening up tiny stands in malls or along the streets and selling the drinks at a low price to as many passers-by as possible. This is proving to be quite successful.






Gong cha 貢茶 in causeway bay, HK:

 

we went there at about 6pm on a weekday, the line was long and there were 4 ppl in front of me, dressed in black suits, and were ordering 42 cups of drinks!  i overheard their conversation that they worked at HSBC several blocks down.  what amazed me was that due to the large volume of order, gong cha was able to deliver their order to their office.  talk about customer service!  finally it was our turn and well, it was worth the wait.  we ordered a usual green milk tea with boba.  the tea was not too sweet and the boba's chewiness was perfect.  the best part.... it was only $12 HKD for a large cup (i think it was 16oz) with pearl.  great vaule. great taste.

http://www.gong-cha.com/

Gong cha 貢茶, Singapore: 

 



we saw several outlets of gong cha in singapore, so we decided to drop by to check it out.  this time we ordered mango fruit tea with lychee jelly.  however, it was too sweet for our taste.  it was served in a regular size only and it was not as cheap as the one in hk.  overall taste was acceptable.  slightly disappointed boba drinkers.

Share Tea 歇脚亭:

 

we ordered a passion fruit tea with big pearls and 56 % sugar.  we didn't want any sugar but the sales lady recommended it.  it was made from real passion fruit, so real that there were bits and pieces in the drink which we were not a big fan of.  

http://www.sharetea.com.tw/

Cafe E.S. King in Macau:

even in macau we had some boba tea.  i would say that this drink our be our least favortie of all.  the cafre's main selling item is really the macau pork chop buns.  thus, the store lacked variety and quality in the drinks section overall.