Contrary to its name, there are no bubbles in bubble tea. There isn’t always tea, either. Bubble tea can be found nationwide, from mall food courts to the drink menus of high-end restaurants But its origins are in Taiwan.
And while the drink is wildly popular, bubble tea — or boba tea as it is also frequently called — still remains a bit of a mystery.
These bubble-like pearls, the defining feature of the drink, are actually marble-sized balls of tapioca, (Tapioca is a starch that is extracted from cassava root that is naturally gluten-free and typically made into flour and edible pearls
The raw tapioca pearls, which are often black but can also be transparent or white, get cooked in boiling water until they become soft. They pearls are then kept in a simple syrup mixture so that they become sweet and remain chewy until they are ready for use.
