Things I Love: Bubble Tea
My first installation of the Things I Love series! Bubble tea has become a global phenomenon that originated in Taiwan. It's availability in most of the United States is sparse. In the midwest, where I live, you never know quite what you're going to get when you order bubble tea. Nearly all Asian restaurants have took on offering bubble tea but it's all very different. You'll get a cup of watered down flavouring syrup, or a smoothie, or a slushie, all with the standard black tapioca pearls. It's nothing compared to the crazy variety and customization of bubble tea joints in Melbourne. On top of that, there are so many around. The shops I saw were EasyWay, Bubble Cup, Gong Cha, and Chatime which were scattered around the CBD and suburbs. There very well could be more that I didn't see!
There's a wide variety of flavours of tea available, including variations and flavourings of milk tea such as coconut, brown sugar, strawberry, earl grey, jasmine, chocolate, watermelon, lychee, mango, taro, and so on. There's also brewed teas in green or black with fruit varieties as well. These can be purchased hot or cold. There are also frozen varieties and smoothies available. Sometimes coffee is available as well. The toppings you choose have a lot of variety such as black pearls, fruit jelly, aloe vera jelly, coconut jelly, white pearls, red bean, and loads more. The variety you get is entirely dependent on where you go, but I'll just say that no matter what you'll have a lot of options. Check out a couple of these menus of official Australian franchises to see the options they have:
Chatime Menu,
EasyWay Menu (interactive - let's you customize with a preview!)
My personal favourite drink would be strawberry milk tea with fruit/rainbow jelly from Chatime or Bubble Cup. I could live off of strawberry milk tea if I had the chance. It's just the right amount of sweet without drowning you in corn syrup like soft drinks do. The nice thing about fruit milk teas is that they offer a lighter flavour in comparison to many American drinks but still taste quite sweet. All of the bubble tea I had tried prior to this, and after returning, pales in comparison. They just taste like smoothies with tapioca rather than anything remotely "tea" related. Nearly all of the "legitimate" bubble tea joints are located on the west coast of America where there is a much larger Asian population or in Chinatowns in the east coast and south. If you happen to find a bubble tea joint that lets you customize your tea, my recommendation would be to go for a fruit milk tea and don't be afraid to try the different toppings!
My personal favourite drink would be strawberry milk tea with fruit/rainbow jelly from Chatime or Bubble Cup. I could live off of strawberry milk tea if I had the chance. It's just the right amount of sweet without drowning you in corn syrup like soft drinks do. The nice thing about fruit milk teas is that they offer a lighter flavour in comparison to many American drinks but still taste quite sweet. All of the bubble tea I had tried prior to this, and after returning, pales in comparison. They just taste like smoothies with tapioca rather than anything remotely "tea" related. Nearly all of the "legitimate" bubble tea joints are located on the west coast of America where there is a much larger Asian population or in Chinatowns in the east coast and south. If you happen to find a bubble tea joint that lets you customize your tea, my recommendation would be to go for a fruit milk tea and don't be afraid to try the different toppings! 
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