Bubble tea

Bubble tea is a Taiwanese drink combining tea with milk or fruit flavoring and chewy tapioca pearls or other toppings, usually served cold.

Tapioca: A starchy product made from cassava root, used in foods and drinks. Tapioca starch forms the chewy pearls that give many bubble teas their signature texture.
Taiwan: An island in East Asia with a distinct political and cultural history. Bubble tea developed in Taiwan during the late twentieth century.
Fruit tea: A tea drink flavored with fruit, fruit juice, or fruit syrup. Fruit tea provides a non-milky base for many bubble tea combinations.
Taiwanese diaspora: Communities of Taiwanese people and their descendants living outside Taiwan. Taiwanese migration helped carry bubble tea shops and recipes abroad.
Cassava: A tropical root crop whose starchy tubers are a major food source. Cassava is the plant source of the starch used to make tapioca pearls.
Taichung: A major city in central Taiwan. One influential origin story places an early bubble tea invention in Taichung.
Popping boba: Small juice-filled spheres that burst when bitten. These spheres offer a juicy alternative to chewy tapioca pearls.
Asian American cuisine: Food traditions shaped by Asian immigrants and their descendants in the United States. Bubble tea became a prominent offering in Asian American food businesses and neighborhoods.
Tea: An infusion made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, served hot or cold. Tea provides the brewed base in many bubble tea recipes.
Chun Shui Tang: A Taiwanese teahouse chain founded in Taichung. The chain claims its staff created cold tea with tapioca pearls in the 1980s.

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