What, you may ask, is a bubble tea, as did we. The questioner was kind enough to elaborate as follows: "It's a sweetened flavored Taiwanese tea drink mixed with large tapioca balls and milk, served over ice. You use a big round straw to suck up the tapioca balls while drinking the tea. I know that it sounds kind of gross, but it really is pretty good."
Aha! At that point, we realized that we not only knew what bubble tea was, but had actually tried it -- once. Yup, the milkshake-y part was okay (except that we just had to try the durian flavor (more of that later*), but we couldn't help the feeling that the tapioca-ball bit must be a similar sensation to sucking up fat frogspawn through a straw.
Still, it takes all sorts and as this reader commented, bubble (a.k.a. "boba" or "pearl") tea is very big in Canada and on the West Coast and does have a foothold in Las Vegas, although not a huge one and not, as far as we could find, on the Strip. Plus, a couple of venues that existed prior to our call appeared to have bitten the boba, so to speak, but those that survive say they're doing good business.
According to the Wikipedia entry for bubble tea, it originated in Taiwan in the late 1980s and consisted of a hot black tea, black tapioca pearls, condensed milk, and honey. As the drink became more popular, variations were created -- first iced versions with a hint of peach or plum flavoring, then more and more fruit flavors were added until, in some cases, the tea's removed entirely in favor of real fruits, where it approaches something more akin to a smoothie or milkshake. Sometimes little jello cubes ("choobees") are substituted for the traditional tapioca balls. A "snow bubble" is a slushie-like version where one of many fruit flavors is mixed in with shaved ice and tapioca balls, but the cold temperature can cause the balls to harden and makes it harder to suck them up a straw.
As noted, the available flavors are myriad: We've found almond, banana, barley, cappuccino, chocolate, coconut, coffee, durian, ginger, green bean, green tea, honey, honeydew, jasmine, lavender, lychee, mango, mocha, peanut, pudding, red bean, sesame, strawberry, and taro and doubtless there are many more. The iced versions and fruit drinks on offer also come in multiple flavors, plus menus commonly offer regular teas and coffees, shaved ice, and soy puddings. As far as the venues are concerned, think hip Internet cafe meets Starbucks.
Here are the Las Vegas locations for bubble tea we've found:
Hue Thai's Sandwiches (reviewed in July, 2005 LVA) 5115 W. Spring Mountain Rd. 702/943-8872 Hours: 10 am-11 pm.daily In addition to the house speciality French/Vietnamese-style sandwiches, stews, and curries, the menu features an extensive list of boba teas, juices, slushes, snow bubbles, smoothies, and flavored teas.
Easy Life Boba Tea 8560 W. Desert Inn Rd. 702/365-9995 Hours: 10 am-9 pm daily Also serves (mainly Asian) snacks, including chicken wings and both fish and lobster balls.
Boba Café 9711 S. Eastern Ave. 702/456-7669 Hours: 10 am-9 pm (Sun. 11 am-6 pm) Also serves sandwiches and filled croissants.
Volcano Tea House 4215 Spring Mountain Rd. (in Chinatown, just a few blocks west of the Strip) Phone -- unavailable Hours: 11 am-10 pm daily (11 pm Fri./Sat.) We've also visited this one in person and can confirm that it's a funky bustling little joint where you can sit down with your laptop while enjoying a boba tea, smoothie, flavored tea, jelly juice, frozen yogurt, or choice of coffee. It doesn't have Internet access, but Chinatown used to be a Wifi hotspot. Let us know if you try.
*Although known as the "King of the Fruits" and highly prized for its rich almond-custardy flavor and uniquely silky texture, the durian has one horrible drawback, namely its smell. So foul is the odor that the fruit is banned from many public places throughout Southeast Asia, including ho
