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GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Will Tapioca Pearl Tea Conquer Starbucks?
n 30 years a single Starbucks cafe in Seattle's Pike Place Market has spawned 4,700 attitude-packed locations worldwide. Its secret? Taking the Italian espresso bar and fitting it to American values by upsizing cups and downsizing chichi. How successful has that been? Starbucks has replaced McDonalds as the bladder break of choice for discriminating panhandlers and savvy cabbies.
A more evolved brew?
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But no sooner had cultural pundits and standup comics retooled their schticks for an Italian-roast future when from the mysterious east (Taiwan, to be exact) emerged an unlikely challenger.
Some call it tapioca pearl tea. Others call it bubble tea, or even boba (mama's breast) tea. The "pearl", "bubble" and "boba" refer to tapioca starch balls typically the size of the plumpest, most expensive salmon roe you've ever seen. They are usually the shade and translucence of beluga caviar but also come in an array of rainbow colors -- or are even colorless. They settle several layers deep at the bottom of an ice-cold cup of sweetened milk tea -- or any flavored beverage from lychee or mimosa to coconut. They are served in clear plastic cups with a fat 1/2-inch-diameter straw. The moment of truth is when the first sip rolls up the straw and you feel, along with the beverage, one or more pearls invading your mouth. It's an alien sensation -- and that's half the fun. The other half is chewing them while swallowing the drink.
Since 1999 cafes selling pearl tea have been mushrooming in every major Asian population center in the U.S. on the heels of hundreds of bubble tea parlors that have opened in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia and China. The explosion of boba shops has made the Starbucks growth seem downright sober. Boba tea was first concocted around 1988 by a Taipei street vendor for sale to a local clientele of grade-school kids. The kids loved it. So did their elders. By the early 90s the craze had swept the island and spilled over into Southeast Asia. In about the time it took for Starbucks to open its 17th location, tapioca pearl tea became the beverage of choice for tens of millions in a dozen Pacific Rim nations. And their enthusiasm is very very catching.
The sheer fun of sipping a visually and sensually oddball beverage is an important part of it, but other factors may explain its legs. Tea is healthier than coffee, and milk tea is far healthier than the rich concoctions served up by Starbucks and similar establishments. Even the tapioca bubbles are a healthful component made from cassava roots which actually supply modest but significant amounts of iron and calcium. Some even consider tapioca a promoter of regular bowel movements.
Is boba tea destined to wean the world of its coffee addiction? Or is it just another crazy teen fad?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:53:47 PM)
I'm sure it is another good business that will be a sucess in the market. I tried it myself and i like it no doubt about it. It is very fun to drink it, especially chewing the "boba" or "bubble" pearl. Along with a vast flavorful taste from different fruits and even to mocha and tea. you can practically find almost any fun fruit snack in a boba/bubble drinks. i can't say it will beat Starbuck or any other major company, but it sure is an increasing market for it. i can't list how many peoples i know that haven't tried it at least once, and living here in Orange County being one of the major Asian populace area. It is not hard to find a place that sell these drinks mixed. Welcome to Orange County!
Deja
Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 17:50:44 (PDT)
IMPORTANT POINTS:
1) asian entrepreneurs must be vigilant to the white opportunists stealing this idea and creating a oversaturated, 50,000-store BubbleBucks franchise. come on taiwanese immigrant businesspeople- get on it before shlomo goldstein from wall street homogenizes it and creates a McBoba chain. it's not just a drink; it's culture.
2) when you folks decide to do it, dont fall into the common asian FOB trap of catering to whitey by changing and bastardizing an already winning formula. they will come to buy it, you just have to stand your ground and let them discover it. dont start selling out and fussing over "weird names", "different atmosphere" and all that insecure crap. if boba werent any different than neighborhood strip mall juice joints it wouldnt even be an issue nor successful. dont let your greed and insecurity carry you away; dont forget that.
God of Asia
Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 12:38:06 (PDT)
All the Bubble Tea/Tapioca Pearl joints here in Houston serve Iced Coffee--which you can get with the large Tapioca Pearls or without. I live around the corner from one of the Suzhi Tea Houses and that place is always busy. You can get milk tea, iced coffee, or even fruit-flavored, smoothie-type pearl tea drinks there.
I still hit the Starbucks regularly for a latté or a Frappucino too. Most of the Starbuck's here in H-Town have a significant AA customer base who hang out there and read/study, as well as cut up with their groups of friends. I don't think Pearl tea will replace Starbuck's, but I do think that it has already become a fixture in Houston, Vancouver, San Diego and LA and won't be leaving any time soon.
But hey, IT'S ALL GOOD!!!
Hank Lewis
Monday, April 15, 2002 at 05:41:24 (PDT)
I think if they can come up with a way to make the "pearls" easier to prepare, will there be a large scale penetration of this beverage in the USA market.
Currently the "pearls" need to be prepared on a daily basis for best results.
Also the standardization of powder cream or whole cream in the tea beverage will also allow for more consistent taste among the many smaller stores in Asian community.
The last complaint is about the artifical powders use for flavoring used in many of the USA pearl tea shops. In Taiwan due to over competition many store use real fruits or taro for the flavored teas.
AC dropout ... pearl tea addict.
Monday, April 15, 2002 at 01:48:31 (PDT)
I never tried any myself, but I love kicking it at the tea shops because there are always hella honies up in the spot!
Toi San Jai
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Monday, April 15, 2002 at 00:48:27 (PDT)
I love boba! Boba tea is the best!!
yummy eater
Monday, April 15, 2002 at 00:05:15 (PDT)
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