What is Bubble Tea (Boba) and how to prepare it at home

Boba is a fresh tea that you can drink and eat, crackling and sweet, colorful and summery: that's why bubble tea, the tea with pearls, is so loved.

From the East, the colors of Bubble Tea (Boba)

Hearing this name you will probably think of a colored American sweetish drink. In reality it is not so: bubble tea, also known as "boba", is a special tea that comes from the East, especially from China and Taiwan, where it was invented about forty years ago.
If you are in some big city and suddenly you see a scary row of young people screaming and you do not understand what it is, you have probably come across one of the Bubble tea shops that are now so widespread even in the West.
Among the most popular teas, you can find the bubble tea matcha, the one with jasmine or the more classic earl gray.

Bubble tea: what is "Boba"

Bubble tea or boba is a green tea or black tea shaken together with milk and tapioca pearls, a tuber from South America, known for its flour.
It can also be made with yogurt or ice cream and the tapioca pearls are white, but also black or colored, and what they like so much is that they can be eaten, they have a jelly-like consistency that "explodes" on the palate.
The artificial thing is the sweetish syrups that end up in the drink, which color them and that have different origins.
It is possible to prepare Bubble tea at home with more natural ingredients such as honey, maple syrup or agave juice.

How to make Bubble Tea at home

Can you make bubble tea at home? Of course, just like the more well-known Indian chai. The most complicated thing to find are the famous tapioca pearls, but with a little luck you can find them in an ethnic store or on the internet.
The tapioca pearls are then put in water for ten minutes, then they must be cooked for other ten minutes in boiling water, continuing to mix gently. Once ready, you can turn off the stove and you can leave the pearls to rest for another 15 minutes in the covered pot before draining them well.
Then you can keep the pearls in the refrigerator in a fruit syrup or in water and sugar, ready to be put in tea.
The green or black tea, with your favorite aroma, is prepared as you wish, simply shaking it with milk and ice cubes, and pouring it into a glass with a couple of spoonfuls of pearls on the bottom.