My Bubble Tea Experience

Bubble tea!!! I remember watching and Australian comedy program where one of the characters was having an out of body experience at a Chinese bubble tea bar where he spent the whole entire day drinking all the bubble tea variations on the menu. Whilst watching the program I thought to myself, what the hell is he drinking?  It wasn’t until I ventured down to London, that I was able to fulfill my bubble tea experience.

To put you in the picture a bit of history is always helpful. Bubble tea is an East Asian drink originating from Taiwan where it was invented in Tainan and Taichung in the 1980’s. It lends its name to a wide variety of refreshing flavoured and milk teas served either ice cold or piping hot with a variety of toppings which include chewy tapioca, fruit jelly, agar jelly and puddings. Different types of teas include green tea, black tea and white tea which can be flavoured. The founder of the bubble tea craze is Liu Han-Chien.

My bubble tea experience began in Camden Town at Mooboo 84 Parkway after a long day eating and shopping. I’d been talking about it all day to my cousin as we trolled through the streets of Camden seeking something other than the normal juice drink, not to mention the fact that, I’d been going on about it since the day I had stepped foot in London. When we had finally located the shop I could feel a sense of joy and excitement sweep over me as I looked at the menu perplexed.

The shop was basic in decor, clean with all attention focused to the front of the store where the menu and polite helpful staff awaited our purchase.  The staff were great, they were quick to recognise the pair of newbie’s in the shop and so helped us choose the best cup of bubble tea. So many decisions, the choice of tea, sweetness, ice, the balls of juice flavour as well as the temperature of the tea.  At the end of all my decision making I landed myself a passion fruit bubble tea with mango balls as toppings, 25% sweetness, and cold with no ice. Just what I needed parched on a hot London summers evening.

As I stabbed my big fat straw into the cartoon and sucked juice through my straw I thought cool passion fruit tea that tasted just like a nice glass of juice, then the bubbles came through and popped in my mouth. I have to admit it was strange, bubble of mango juice balls exploding in my mouth, words could not describe the sensation of balls of juice exploding flavour in my mouth. I have to say from that moment I was hooked. Bubble tea bring it on!!!!!!

Nosteagia located within the trendy Boxpark Shoreditch was my next bubble tea experience, were I purchased a green tea with lychee balls. It was again a delight, the experience was different as Boxpark’s funky cool ambience gave a different feel. I think this was my favourite out of the two currently experienced. I was now on a bubble tea mission to sample the best Bubble teas London had to offer in the short space of time I had in the big smoke.

My last bubble tea purchase ended at the busy trendy T4 in Westfield after a long day shopping. The decor was stylish and chic, it was exceptionally busy with no room for a relaxing tea experience.  We bought our tea and ventured outside into the evening sun to enjoy. I have to say I didn’t enjoy this bubble tea as much, I had chosen liquorice balls as a topping. I’m not a fan of liquorice, so this was my least favourite out of the 3, which was a bit disappointing.

So, its review time. Do I like bubble tea? Yes!!!!!!!! I love the bubbles cannot get enough. Which bubble tea did I enjoy the most? Nosteagia’s bubble tea, as I felt it was more quenching, I feel this was due to the flavour of the tea and toppings I choose. It is no way a reflection on the vendor, but rather on my choice of flavour combinations. Which had the better ambience? Well it has to be Nosteagia, based on its location within trendy Boxpark in Shoreditch, there was a definite buzz that you couldn’t ignore. Mooboo on the other hand was very quiet as it was off the beaten track, so there was less of a vibe. However Mooboo was where I had my first bubble tea experience, they essentially showed me the ropes so I have to give a big shout to their exemplary customer service.

Rating time….we start with Mooboo  http://www.mooboo.co/  #mooboo.london    …….cost 4 out of 5, taste 4 out of 5, service 5 out of 5, ambience 3 out of 5 (as it was nearing closing time when we visited this could well be higher)

Nosteagia  www.nosteagia.com  #nosteagialondon  …….cost 4 out of 5, taste 5 out of 5, service 3.8 out of 5 (it was very busy so felt pressure to decide quickly) ambience 4.5 out of 5,

T4  http://t4-west-london.business.site  #t4bubbletea ……….cost 3.7 out of 5 (slightly more expensive than the rest), taste 3 out of 5, service 3 out of 5 (again really busy felt rushed to order) ambience 3 out of 5.

  

So whether you’re in Camden, Shoreditch or Stratford you’re never too far away from a bubble tea café.

To find out more about my bubble experience visit my  YouTube channel by clicking on the link below  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=veggiesandvibez where you can watch my vlog