The practice of drinking tea with milk has been around for centuries and enjoyed by many cultures throughout the world. Milk tea is said to have originated in China, where it remains one of the country’s — indeed one of Asia’s — most popular nonalcoholic drinks.
But in the 1980s, tea vendors in Taiwan began serving a novel variation of the beloved beverage. The milk tea was served ice-cold and combined with fen yuan, a traditional Taiwanese dessert made with ice, sugar, and small, sweet tapioca balls, also known as pearls or bubbles.
The drink became a sensation. By the 1990s and early 2000s, bubble tea — or boba, as it is more commonly known — spread around the world. Its popularity has only increased over time. The global boba tea business itself is currently valued at more than $2 billion annually, and expected to exceed $6 billion over the next decade.
The sweet, refreshing drink, with its wide range of textures and flavors, certainly tastes good, but is it good for you? Are there any health benefits to bubble tea? Before we can answer that, we should first look at how boba tea is made, and what ingredients it contains.
