If you have been anywhere on the internet, or outside, lately you have probably seen groups of teens and your local gang of Gen Z-ers walking around with a cup of boba. But what are those little marbles at the bottom of the cup? What about it makes it so popular amongst the youth? For those of you who haven’t heard of the stuff until now, and for those seasoned boba enthusiasts, here is your introductory course to boba. 

Boba, or bubble tea as it is often called, is a tea-based milk filled with tapioca pearls, the “boba”. The drink made its first appearance in Taiwan in the early 1980s, where the pearls were originally paired up with shaved ice desserts and syrups of various flavours. Today, the drink most commonly consists of tea accompanied by tapioca balls, the boba. However, most baobab shops also offer a variety of different toppings for your tea such as grass jelly, aloe vera, or red bean. The tea for the boba base is usually black or green and can be customised with a variety of different syrups for flavour. Milk is also a common additive, making the drink a lot creamier. 

The “classic” boba drink, the one that you always see people posting about, is usually black tea with milk and boba. If you’re not buying into the whole tea schtick, most boba shops also offer slushies and other kinds of drinks too. There are also multiple different varieties of the “classic” boba tea which incorporate a variety of different ingredients and toppings like fresh fruits, matcha, and even cream cheese.

After your boba is customised to perfection, it’s usually sealed up with a special sealing machine and handed to you with a large boba straw. Boba straws are much thicker than regular straws to accommodate the chunks of boba that you’ll be slurping up. 

As for why boba is so immensely popular these days, the answer is not so simple. It could be due to the fact that it is around the same price as coffee, and could be seen as a “healthier” option due to it having little to no caffeine. It could also be due to the uniqueness of boba and its wide range of flavours and customisation, whereas coffee will always just taste like coffee. To be honest, it could also just be that it looks cool. Aesthetics are everything these days, just look at TikTok, and boba is a very aesthetically pleasing drink. 

All-in-all, boba is great, and it’s fun to see new trends emerge and grow, for better or for worse. Whether you like boba or not, you have to admit, it looks pretty darn good!