Pearl tea
(Fruit tea with kumquat ‘pearls’ – you might just make out the jelly bits in the bottom of the cup)
Ying and I went out to explore the area around the hotel one night, concerned that we will be re-housed too quickly to appreciate the Old Town area around the hotel. Inevitably Ying was too embarrassed to allow me to produce an enormous city map, so equally predictably, we got lost. On the way, I was placated with a plastic cup of ‘bubble’ or ‘pearl’ tea. It’s simply warm or cold tea in a variety of flavours but the exciting addition is some gelatinous, round blobs settled in the bottom of the cup. These you suck up with an extra-wide straw and then chew gently like a Haribo gummy bear. I like the fruity flavours, but the ones containing milk and jelly bits together are a bit too weird!
It’s a complete waste of packaging; the juice is made to order, but the server puts the cup into a machine where it gets a watertight cellophane lid and then they punch it with the straw. The novelty is spoiled by the realisation that it is completely unnecessary and environmentally harmful. It is fun to watch though.
they/we have the same culture in Taiwan. Tea shops everywhere with great ‘barista’ tea mixing action.
They really should introduce reusable cups, supported by loyalty programs and branded packaging or something.