This has bugged me for twenty years.
“Bubble tea” refers to tea that is mixed in a shaker, creating a small layer of bubbles when it is served.
“Bubble tea with pearls” is the one with tapioca pearls in the bottom. Milk tea is tea made with milk.
Informative review
Submitted 3 weeks ago by ObviouslyNotBanana@piefed.world to [deleted]
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Comments
dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
TIL. I’ve literally never seen the first drink you’re describing.
mushroommunk@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
They’re talking about bubble foam tea. Sure that was a thing but at least in any part of America I’ve been in, boba tea and bubble tea from the start was the tapioca pearl drink.
Some people get this purist notion that things can only ever be one thing and screech if someone uses a term differently.
dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
Early on when it was coming into the US shops made the distinction, but Americans just sort of conflated the two. Makes it confusing if you want bubble tea with jelly and not pearls.
Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
You’re referring to “bubble foam tea”, which refers to the foam.
“Bubble tea” is something different and refers to the tapioca pearls.
At least, that’s the distinction Wikipedia gives, which seems to match the given origins of bubble tea
fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 2 weeks ago
@Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works the above comment answers your question.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
I wanted to see what this entailed, looked up “shiba bubble tea” and found a bubble tea/restaurant in my city that is Shiba Inu themed and looks like something you’d find in Japan. 😮
I’m gonna go check this place the fuck out.
kattfisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Ask them if they have Serbian bubble tea
RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
BUBBLE TEA JE SRBIJA
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Ive never built up the courage to try even a single bubble tea, partly because its stupid expensive, but mostly because im worried about saying the wrong thing and having people think im strange. Like if you asked for extra sugar on your hot dog or something.
Finding that there’s mad purists arguing about what is or isnt doesnt make this any easier.
TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
tbh the worst someone will think is you’re a dumb American, which there are a lot of. They won’t single you out or care at all.
Even if they do, it’ll just be a gossip sesh with coworkers to pass the time and nothing more
mushroommunk@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
I can (potentially) explain the double bagged paper. Growing up in the South that was the de-facto cooling rack, no wires racks. They were cut open, laid on any flat surface, them cookies or cakes or what have you were laid on them to cool. They’d wick away moisture or grease and be easy clean up.
Free with groceries and if they were double bagged you had enough for a double batch of chocolate chip cookies while also usually guaranteeing (usually) the bag wouldn’t split from condensation or something before you got home.
CannonFodder@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Isn’t ketchup pretty much just red sugar gel?
Hugin@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It varies a lot. From sweet banana, to tomato based, to the original fish sauce.
dwemthy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Hence it does not belong on tube steak
Bane_Killgrind@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Catsup is a pretty wide ranging condiment. You should look up 18th century cooking videos about catsup
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
On my continent it also has tomato and vinegar lol
mushroomman_toad@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
The classic bubble tea is just Taiwanese style milk tea with sugar and tapioca
DO NOT ORDER THE CHEESE TEA
SlothMama@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Do you mean cheese foam? I love cheese foam.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Well the good news is that a Korean corn dog stand will happily add extra sugar and not find the request strange. I guess the lesson is you just have to find where you fit in lol.
The second good news is that food vendors are typically quite happy when you know nothing because they typically like to share new experiences with people.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Just pick any flavor you like and ask for it Animal Style.
lost_faith@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Personally not a fan (don’t like the taste of teas), but many I know are. Order a basic one the first time however it says on the board, ask for a suggestion saying you never tried this before, ask any other questions you have they will generally answer, like “What do other people do with/put in this” you will either love it or feel you wasted money. Either way it will be a new experience. Oh, don’t worry about what others think of your choices (so long as you are not hurting anyone that is) you do you and enjoy, purists will just bring you down
BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Just order online so then you don’t have to interact with anyone at all except getting it from counter.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
Its quite mid to bad fruity milk tea with pudding at the bottom
There’s a savory crepe place I stopped going to like 80 cents would get you a fully loaded crepe, but it only came with bobba, and I didnt have the language skills to ask for no tea.
RedditRefugee69@lemmynsfw.com 2 weeks ago
There’s mad purists about everything. Don’t let them prevent you from casually enjoying life.
Bane_Killgrind@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
It’s basically a premium milkshake and/or slushie coffee/tea. The two questions you should ask are what kind of fruit do you want and how much caffeine should come with it.
fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Just pick the one that looks like it has the flavors you enjoy, then that’s usually it, unless there is an option to pick sugar / ice amounts. In Berlin they also let you pick what “bubbles” you wanted : you had the classic boba with some flavour inside them, but also chunks of jelly, or what I guess was tapioca pearls (more chunky, no juice inside).
Or you do like I always did in China : point to the one that looks best and hope for the best :)
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
So… What are the bubbles then?
ddplf@szmer.info 3 weeks ago
buckshot
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Maybe he uses carbonated water?
Serbia appears to have normal bubble tea places.
icelimit@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
What’s normal here? With or without ‘bubbles’ ?
aislopmukbang@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
hookah
zabadoh@ani.social 2 weeks ago
It’s like the first time in any restaurant or food place where you’re not familiar with the food:
Ask the server what they recommend.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Then say okay
Lupo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I like to narrow it down to 2 choices and ask which they prefer
BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They always recommend something that’s quick and easy to make and makes the restaurant more money, there’s no way for a server to know what you would like, do your own research in advance before ordering somewhere it takes 10 Mins at most
Crankley@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This is a wild take. Genuinely worried about how you are viewing the folks you interact with.
I spent a fair amount of time working in the food industry. It is way easier to just say what you legitimately would recommend rather then come up with a bizzare lie.
iAvicenna@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
somebody blows bubbles into the tea with a pipette, that is the serbian way.
PlaidBaron@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Its not bubble tea unless it has Serb spit in it.
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 2 weeks ago
Tbf they’ll do that to the food or drinks regardless of what you order
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 2 weeks ago
God there really is something wrong with Serbia, thank god they don’t have an empire
helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Instructions unclear; do not use bubble soap mix
xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Not aware of “Serbian bubble tea” but after looking up the place in the Google maps, it has Shiba Inu logo, a neon sign that reads “Made in Thailand”, and a general poppy Asian milk tea shop vibe. The frappes and milk tea don’tlook bad but yeah, misleading image.
psx_crab@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Image
Lol.
burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
Italians can suck my short toe. They didn’t even come up with the pizza, it was italian heritage immigrants. Same thing for people who complain about deep dish pizza (which is really just a weird lasagna/casserole) not being pizza.
Dewe@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Which ‘Italian heritage immigrants’? Are you saying pizza is an American invention?
SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Italians should be more like the Japanese and embrace change and just appropriate those fusion dishes and pretend like they invented it. Like if the Japanese were like Italians salmon sushi would have never become a Japanese dish. Before Norwegian salmon farmers came to Japan to convince Japanese chefs to sell raw salmon in the 80’s, salmon sushi didn’t exist since wild salmon often contains parasites. If the Japanese were like Italians they would have scoffed at the idea to sell and eat salmon sushi.
baines@lemmy.cafe 2 weeks ago
forget Italians, Hawaiians want no part in this travesty