BLACK BUBBLES

My fascination with my only tipple continues. This time it has been dressed up with black tapioca beads and it’s called Boba tea.

Boba tea or bubble tea is all the rage the world over and is slated to take over Starbucks coffee. Boba tea is believed to have originated in Taiwan. The “Bubble” refers to dark colored, chewy tapioca balls in the tea. They are also called pearls and these are sucked up along with the tea through a wide straw.

Bubble teas can be fruit-flavored or milk teas. I tried the mango-flavored black Chinese tea, and its one of those drinks that instantly elevates your mood. Considering it was one of those rainy evenings, that was no easy task. I persuaded a friend to try the exotic- sounding green tea with tapioca milk, so I could get a taste of it too, but not have to drink it all if I didn’t like it!!!. It was surprisingly good and came in a cup large enough to be a bowl with a soup spoon in it.

The highlight of the expedition came when my friend decided to investigate why we could not understand a word the pretty waitress was saying to us.. He was convinced she had a tongue piercing. And the true scientist that he is, he had to get to the bottom of it all and so he went right up to her and asked her if she had had her tongue pierced. The poor thing shrank into a corner in confusion and fearfully pointed out the manager. The said friend, instead of leaving things well enough alone, repeated the question to the manager.

Suffice to say that for a moment I was not sure we were going to get out of the cafe with all our limbs intact. My scientist friend is still mad that he could not get to the bottom of the puzzle and madder still since I told him that he had been rude to have asked such a question. The argument continues to this day whether you can or cannot ask someone if they have had their tongues pierced.