Bubble Tea vs Boba – Boba Time
Boba Time was officially ideated in May 2021 in Mumbai when Aachal, our pro-boba chef and master ‘boba maker’ materialized her dreams of making boba readily available at doorsteps. Prior to this, Aachal had been experimenting initially with limited orders to understand the local palate and taste since Boba was still a novelty for the Indian taste buds.
Tracing Boba Time’s journey; it all began when Dipesh – Aachal’s partner, discovered the elixir of bubble tea during his frequent travels in Taiwan- incidentally, Taiwan is the birthplace of Bubble Tea featuring the luscious tapioca pearls – what we popularly known as Boba!
To recreate the yummilicious bubble teas with juicy boba, Dipesh sourced and brought home raw Boba from Taiwan. Aachal, intrigued by his Bubble Tea fascination, tried her hand at cooking the boba herself and self-mastered the process with hours dedicated to perfecting the recipe for the righty cooked boba that will go perfectly well with milk teas and milkshakes.
What started as a small endeavour, has quickly grown to be a large & happy community of Boba Time’s happy consumers. Today, Boba Time boasts a delectable menu of Bubble Tea, (Milk Tea with Boba), Boba milkshakes, Plant based Milkshakes with boba, Boba ice teas, Popping boba, Boba mojitos, Boba Waffles along with Boba breakfast items - all handcrafted by Aachal.
Boba Time also serves raw boba (available in more than 8 flavours) sourced from the best to cater to all the budding home chefs. Boba tea or Bubble Tea originated from Taiwan and was invented by combining one of Taiwan’s most famous drinks, Bubble tea (Paomo Hongcha) and one of Taiwan’s most famous/popular desserts Tapioca balls (Fen yuan) together.
What are the bubbles in bubble tea made of?
The bubbles in bubble tea (called Tapioca) are made from Tapioca starch. Tapioca starch looks like a white flour and is extracted from the cassava root plant. Traditional versions of tapioca balls made from native starch sources like palm hearts or glutinous rice include pearl sago, landang, and kaong.
The introduction of cassava from South America during the colonial era added another starch source to Southeast Asian cuisine, resulting in cassava-based versions of Southeast Asian dishes that were formerly made from native starch sources. Among these are tapioca pearls, which originated as a cheaper alternative to pearl sago. They are virtually indistinguishable in taste and can be used interchangeably.
What do the bubbles taste like?
The boba’s in bubble tea are chewy and mildly sweet in flavour. They are usually soaked in syrup to give them flavour, or take on the flavour of the drink they’re in. So why eat bubbles if they have a mild flavour? Because of the texture and chewiness!
Most people enjoy the tapioca in their bubble tea because they add a unique, chewy texture to their drink. They are soft, chewy, and complement most milk tea drinks well!
So how did the term “Boba” come about?
The term “Boba” is an early Taiwanese slang used to describe the “Pearls” inside the Boba milk tea.
Okay, so what is the correct name? Is it Boba Tea or Bubble Tea or Pearl Milk tea?
We personally think Pearl Milk tea is the most appropriate name compared to Boba tea or Bubble tea. It is what Taiwanese people call it right now and as the country of Pearl Milk tea’s origin, we think we should align with what they call it.
Boba Time also serves Popping boba in more than 8 flavours. Popping pearls are also known as bursting boba, or popping boba do to their fruit juice interior that burst when bitten into. Popping pearls look like tapioca boba, except they are colorful, made of seaweed extract, and filled with fruit juice. They are different and distinct, but serve the same purpose for being a drink or beverage topping.
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What’s the difference between Boba & Popping Boba?
Of course, the most important and noticeable difference is that the former is made using tapioca flour, and the latter is made using mainly fruit juices. However, there are also other differences.
Tapioca pearls have more of a heavier, chewy texture. On the other hand, popping boba is less heavy and less tough. The latter bursts when bitten, adding a sudden burst of refreshing liquid to the mouthful of the drink.
Tapioca pearls are in almost every bubble tea drink and several other desserts such as cold puddings, ice creams, cakes, pastries, etc. In addition, if you buy a bubble tea home kit, shops will usually include tapioca pearls as the default topping choice.
Fruit pearls, on the other hand, are less versatile and more specialized. They help to contrast or complement the flavour of the drink or frozen dessert. For example, you can pair mango pearls with mango milk or plain milk; and strawberry pearls in a cheesecake drink. The possibilities are endless! However, fewer people use them in tea-based drinks. Most people will prefer using them in milky or fizzy drinks.
Looking for a gift for a boba-obsessed friend? Or perhaps for a significant other? We’ve got you covered! We put together a list of the top gifts for boba lovers, curated by our team at Pearly (boba tea is kind of our job).
Boba Time also supplies Premixes for Bubble Tea’s like Matcha Green Tea, Taro Tea, Thai powder and Honey dew powder.
Matcha Green Tea Powder – Best Japanese Matcha Green Tea for Weight Loss. It is a type of green tea made by taking young tea leaves and grinding them into a bright green powder. The powder is then whisked with hot water. This is different from regular green tea, where the leaves are infused in water, then removed.
Taro Powder makes creamy and delicious beverages and desserts with the authentic sweet nutty flavor of taro. The greyish purple powder mixes well to create silky smooth taro bubble tea, milk teas, smoothies, frozen yogurt and other dessert recipes.
Thai Tea Mix ChaTraMue - Thai spice blends often combine multiple exotic ingredients such as lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves. We combined dried lemongrass (easy-to-find dried lemon peel works, too) with common spices such as ginger (a cousin of galangal) to achieve that distinct Thai flavor.
Honeydew Powder Musk Melon Premium Powder Mix - Bring a fresh, ripe melon aromatic to bubble tea drinks with our premixed honeydew powder. Honeydew Milk Powder comes with a tropical vibe in its drinks, the milk taste goes with the soothing taste of honeydew brings you to a vacation under palm tree, you may also put in tapioca pearls and make it even more fun to drink.
Boba Time has its own line merchandise like Boba scrunches, Boba plush (Soft toys) available from 6 inches to 21 inches, Boba pillow, Boba pouch, Boba T-shirts, Boba Straws, Boba soaps & boba keychain which can be used as gifts to be given to your bubble tea fans.
You can buy Raw Boba/ tapioca pearls, popping boba, Boba Merchandise, Tea premixes or any boba accessories from our website http://www.bobatime.in/.
You can shop our Bubble Tea or Boba Tea (in Bengaluru) from www.airmenus.in/bobatime.
For any bulk inquiries call on +91 9769001968 or email bobatime.in@gmail.com
We take immense care & pride in being a homegrown brand serving you from our kitchen with a smile.
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