What Are The Most Popular Bubble Tea Flavours?
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August 2nd, 2022
Bubble tea comes in many delicious flavours, from fruity to milky to chocolatey. But with so many options, it can be hard to know which one to choose. In this guide to Bubble Tea, we’ll decode your way through the different flavours and what they mean. And if you're still feel like you would like some more information you can read our guide to everything bubble tea.
What is Bubble Tea?
Bubble tea first originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, and has since become a popular beverage around the world. At its core, bubble tea is a tea-based drink that is typically served cold or iced. It is normally sweetened slightly and has boba or tapioca pearls added.
Different Ways to Add Flavouring
1. Types of Tea
Bubble tea can be made with any type of tea, but black tea is most commonly used. The most popular bubble tea flavour is probably milk tea, which is simply black tea with milk, sugar and tapioca pearls. Other types of tea you could use include green tea, oolong tea, herbal tea, white tea and fruit teas.
2. Toppings
Boba, jelly, pudding, nata de coco, lychee jelly and aloe vera are all common toppings you'll find in bubble tea. They each have a unique flavour and texture that can take your bubble tea drinking experience to the next level. Here's a quick guide to some of the most popular toppings.
a) Tapioca Pearls or Boba - these little round balls come from Taiwan. You'll usually see them either black or white. Black bobas are made from tapioca while white bobas are made from rice flour. Both are chewy in texture and tend to absorb the flavour of your drink.
b) Popping Boba - these little round balls have a thin membrane and 'pop' in your mouth to reveal a burst of fruit flavoured juice
c) Jellies - these come in small cubes and are normally made from agar agar or coconut meat (nata de coco) instead of gelatine. Some popular flavours are strawberry, mango, lychee and even aloe vera. You can also get rainbow jelly which is a mix of all the flavours if you can't decide.
d) Pudding - this is a custard that is thickened with gelatine before being poured over the top of your drink.
3. Sweeteners, Syrups and Flavourings
Bubble tea can be made with different types of sweeteners and syrups. The most common type of sweetener is simple syrup, which is made by dissolving sugar in water. Some of the other popular choices include honey, agave nectar, fruit syrups and fruit juice, as well as powdered flavourings.
What Are Fruit Flavoured Bubble Teas?
Fruity teas are bubble teas that contain, you guessed it, fruit! They can be made in a variety of ways depending on how you want to flavour it. But they are normally made using green tea instead of black tea. Then other flavouring is added but this isn't a strict rule. Flavourings can be in the form of pureed fruit, real pieces of fruit, popping boba or even just flavoured syrups, as they are easier to mix in with the tea. Some popular fruit tea flavours include mango, strawberry, and lychee.
The Top 8 Boba Flavours
There are seemingly endless flavour possibilities when it comes to bubble tea. To help you navigate the wide world of boba, we’ve compiled a list of the top eight most popular flavours;
- Taro - taro root blended with milk and tapioca pearls to create a smooth and creamy beverage which is purple in colour.
- Thai Boba Tea - made with Ceylon tea, spices, a small amount of condensed milk and black tapioca pearls
- Brown Sugar Boba - bubble tea made without tea just milk, brown sugar syrup and tapioca pearls.
- Strawberry Green Tea - Green tea mixed with strawberry syrup
- Honeydew Milk Tea - tastes like fresh honeydew melon, this flavour is popular in Malaysia where it was created!
- Lychee Jelly - Lychee fruit pieces in sugar cane juice with tapioca balls
- Passionfruit Green Tea - Sweetened green tea combined with passionfruit purée
- Green Tea Blueberry - Blueberries blended with matcha powder and green tea
What boba should I get for the first time?
A popular choice would be the most classic bubble tea flavours of either milk tea or taro tea. But honeydew might be a good option if you want something a little more familiar. Or we would recommend choosing flavours that you already know you like, for example if you like Ceylon tea try Thai boba or if you love matcha try a matcha or green tea based boba.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does rainbow jelly taste like?
Rainbow jelly is made using coconut meat and it comes in various colours or flavours. Normally you'd except the colours to correspond to the flavouring, for example blue jelly would be blueberry and red would be strawberry. Each jelly will also have a slightly coconutty flavour because of how they are made.
What is the flavour is black pearl boba?
The most popular flavour of bubble tea, black pearl is also known as boba or tapioca pearls. They have a neutral taste that allows them to absorb the flavour of the tea or milk they are paired with.
What is the flavour is golden pearl boba?
Golden pearl boba are made in the same way as black pearls but infused with honey which gives them their golden colour. They are slightly sweeter in taste and chewy in texture.
