The Bubble Tea Craze Across Europe And The US

[♥ Lily ♥]

The Bubble Tea Craze Across Europe and America

Over the last 9 years the bubble tea craze from the Far East spread like wildfire
across Europe and the US and even the Middle East.



The drinks are now ubiquitous on High Streets, from cities to small towns.

It is often brightly coloured, sometimes served with milk, with a layer of jelly-like globules
- tapioca balls - that settle at the bottom of the cup.

Drunk through an extra thick straw with a spoon-shaped tip,
it is a mouthful of tea and chewiness - both a drink and a snack.

"It's an absolute phenomenon."

"It is something that at first was a bit difficult to grasp, it's a different taste experience."



"My favourite flavour is taro milk, which is a root vegetable, lilac in colour."

While it's still yet to grow in popularity in the UK,
it's extremely popular in Germany according to market research firm Mintel.

Even McDonald's has started serving it.

So what are your thoughts on bubble tea?

Have you tried it?

Or have all the health scares around bubble tea detered you?




A bubble tea drinking competition in Germany


The shocked reactions on peoples faces from the pearls and bubbles in the tea...

[TheMaestro]

Never had it, probably never will. I would like to taste, but I never waste money on such things.

[Daco Celtic]

This is a new craze? This was popular in California going back to the early 2000s, partly due to the Asian population. We have "Boba Shops" that sell these drinks.

[♥ Lily ♥]

This is a new craze? This was popular in California going back to the early 2000s, partly due to the Asian population.

It's been around in the UK for about 10 years now, but I've never ever tried it due to the health scares around bubble teas:

In May 2011, a food scandal occurred in Taiwan when DEHP (a chemical plasticizer and potential carcinogen used to make plastic) was found as a stabilizer in drinks and juice syrups. In June the Health Minister of Malaysia, Liow Tiong Lai, instructed companies selling "Strawberry Syrup", a material used in some bubble teas, to stop selling them after chemical tests showed they were tainted with DEHP.

In August 2012, scientists from the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH) in Germany analyzed bubble tea samples in a research project to look for allergenic substances. The result indicated that the products contain styrene, acetophenone, and brominated substances, which can negatively affect health. The report was published by German newspaper Rheinische Post and caused Taiwan's representative office in Germany to issue a statement, saying food items in Taiwan are monitored. Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration confirmed in September that, in a second round of tests conducted by German authorities, Taiwanese bubble tea was found to be free of cancer-causing chemicals. The products were also found to contain no excessive levels of heavy-metal contaminants or other health-threatening agents.

In May 2013, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration issued an alert on the detection of maleic acid, an unapproved food additive, in some food products, including tapioca pearls. The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore conducted its own tests and found additional brands of tapioca pearls and some other starch-based products sold in Singapore were similarly affected.

In May 2019, around 100 undigested tapioca pearls were found in the abdomen of a 14-year-old girl in Zhejiang province, China after she complained of constipation. However, physicians believe that consuming tapioca pearls should not be a concern as it is made from starch-based cassava root which is easily digested by the body, similarly to fibre.

In July 2019, Singapore's Mount Alvernia Hospital warned against the sugar content of bubble tea since the drink had become extremely popular in Singapore in recent years. While it recognises the benefits of drinking green tea and black tea in reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis and cancer, the hospital cautions the addition of other ingredients like non-dairy creamer and toppings in the tea, which raises the fat and sugar content of the tea and increases the risk of chronic diseases. Non-dairy creamer is a milk substitute that contains trans fat in the form of hydrogenated palm oil. The hospital warns that this oil has been strongly correlated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble...ealth_concerns

It doesn't look healthy with the sugars in it.

I'll stick with normal herbal teas.... or a cup of Earl Grey or Lady Grey.

[JamesBond007]

Yeah, I tried even though it is probably a fad. My favorite would be Matcha green bubble tea :




However, I like Kombucha tea and real tea better. Kombucha is the shit and when you drink it induces enlightenment I swear by regulating your gut bacteria therefore also cleansing the mind :



My favorite real tea is chai tea and earl grey :

[♥ Lily ♥]

I'm curious about the taste... maybe I'd try it one day but would spit it out rather than swallowing it to avoid health problems.

I wouldn't try it though if it's high in sugars, as I like to look after my good teeth. (That's why I never drink coke, lemonade, coffee, wines, and anything that rots or discolours peoples teeth.)

I usually only drink lots of water each day 98% of the year, and very occasionally drink herbal teas, and very very very occasionally drink earl grey or lady grey as a treat.... with mouthwash and flossing afterwards.

[Daco Celtic]

It's been around in the UK for about 10 years now, but I've never ever tried it due to the health scares.



It doesn't look healthy with the sugars in it.

I'll stick with normal herbal teas.... or a cup of Earl Grey or Lady Grey.

Yeah, it's not something I would drink everyday but its not bad on a hot summer day. It does have tons of sugar.

[♥ Lily ♥]

Yeah, it's not something I would drink everyday but its not bad on a hot summer day. It does have tons of sugar.

Well that's a definite no-no then. I'll definitely pass on trying that.

Don't people who put that in their bloodstream worry about diabetes, eyesight problems, and tooth decay?

I think whoever introduced those drinks to western nations are trying to poison us and kill off our population. They market and advertise junk to people to put in their blood and organs.... and worst of all they target vulnerable children by making the drinks look colourful.

[JamesBond007]

I'm curious about the taste... maybe I'd try it one day but would spit it out rather than swallowing it to avoid health problems.

I wouldn't try it though if it's high in sugars, as I like to look after my good teeth. (That's why I never drink coke, lemonade, coffee, wines, and anything that rots or discolours peoples teeth.) I mostly only drink water each day, and occasionally drink herbal teas, and very very occasionally drink earl grey or lady grey as a treat.... with mouthwash and flossing afterwards.

I try a lot of exotic things being from cosmopolitan New York (which is probably more cosmopolitan than even London and Paris) so my memory of it is not exactly strong to how it tasted but I remember as sweet since I don't put sugar in my tea (just a clot of cream) but I remember it being weird especially when I got down the tapioca balls so I only ate a few of them and threw the rest out. I should stay away from it too since I have strong proclivity towards cavities in my teeth being that my ancestry is mostly from the British isles. Actually, unlike bubble tea I can instantly remember where I was when I first tried Kombucha tea because as soon as I tasted it I got blown away by it's taste and I could tell it was ultra-healthy so my bubble tea experience was lackluster in comparison.

[JamesBond007]

Well that's a definite no-no then. I'll definitely pass on trying that.

Don't people who put that in their bloodstream worry about diabetes, eyesight problems, and tooth decay?

I think whoever introduced those drinks to western nations are trying to poison us and kill off our population. They market and advertise junk to people to put in their blood and organs.... and worst of all they target vulnerable children by making the drinks look colourful.

That is low road unregulated American capitalism for you. In America they don't compete over quality of products but rather compete based only on price and sugary cheap drinks appeal to the masses while also being cheaper to make than Kombucha. You said it is from the far east but first probably became really popular in the city centers of America then spreading out. That Macdonald's makes it shows it is right in line with the spirit of American low road capitalism.