Bubble tea
Bubble Tea , also known internationally under the name Pearl Milk Tea or Boba , is a Taiwanese drink based on sweetened green or black tea , which is often mixed with milk and fruit syrup and prepared like a milkshake . The peculiarity of this drink, which is drunk with a straw , consists in added colored balls made of tapioca or another cornstarch , or the Popping Bobas , balls made of alginate with a liquid filling that burst when you bite.
History and dissemination
Bubble tea was invented in Taiwan in the mid-1980s, with at least two tea houses claiming authorship. The original foam drink did not contain any tapioca pearls, but only fruit syrup or puree and was sold by street vendors mainly to school children. Some time later the tapioca balls were added. It is said to have become popular only after a report on Japanese television about the drink.
By the 1990s, bubble tea became a trending drink in Asia and California , from where the trend spread across the United States. In Taiwan and in the neighboring country China as well as Southeast Asia , the United States and Australia there are tea house chains that exclusively sell bubble tea in a wide variety of varieties.
Bubble Tea was first offered in Germany in 2009 . Shops in Austria followed in 2010 and shops in Switzerland in 2012 . In the inner cities of Germany and Austria, the number of bubble tea cafés rose sharply until 2012. The concept and furnishings are very similar, the latter is often designed in orange and green. Some of them are operated as franchises . In 2012, McDonald’s also sold Bubble Tea in its branches in Germany and Austria.
In 2013, the number of sales outlets in Germany fell sharply.
etymology
The term Bubble Tea (literally: (air) bubble tea , factually correct: bubble tea or pearl tea ) is the English translation of a Chinese word that is generally used for a certain type of preparation of tea beverages, in which various ingredients such as tea, sugar, Milk and ice are mixed in the manner of a shake, so that foam forms on the surface of the drink. There is black or green foam tea. The drink, which now outside Taiwan and China as bubble tea is called, is called in Chinese actually "Pearl milk tea" ( Chinese 珍珠奶茶 , Pinyin Zhenzhu nǎichá ) due to the added beads. So originally, bubble tea has nothing to do with these balls and also not with their chewing gum-like consistency, as is sometimes assumed. In Asia, the pearls are also called Boba (pearls).
Flavors
The drink is now available in numerous flavors, and in Taiwan, sweet condensed milk and honey are often added. The traditional tapioca balls are cooked for about 25 minutes until they have a consistency similar to chewing gum . Since the starch is tasteless, the finished globules are dipped in a sugar solution. You will then be sucked up with the straw. In newer versions of bubble tea, popping bobas are added, jelly balls made from alginate (seaweed starch) with a filling made from flavored sugar syrup.
Bubble tea is usually served cold with ice, but there are also warm versions and, for some time now, a bubble coffee .
Although bubble tea comes from Taiwan, other bubble tea mixtures are becoming increasingly popular. Inspirations for a wide variety of flavors come from a wide variety of kitchens. For example, hibiscus flowers from Mexican cuisine; Saffron, cardamom and condensed milk for Indian bubble tea; and rose water for bubble tea with Persian flavor.
Sometimes nata de coco is used in mass-produced bubble tea beverages as a healthier alternative to tapioca starch. Nata de Coco is very high in fiber and contains less cholesterol and fat. The nata de coco is cut into thin strips so that it fits better through the straw.
Milk for bubble tea is available on request and is available in many shops. Some restaurants use a milk substitute because many East Asians are lactose intolerant and also because it is cheaper and easier to store than real perishable milk. Soymilk versions are widely used in western countries . This gives the bubble teas a characteristic taste and special consistency.
Health aspects
Bubble tea has been criticized by nutrition experts for its high sugar content , which is roughly equivalent to that of soft drinks . According to Stiftung Warentest , various bubble tea drinks contained about the same amount of sugar and caffeine as the soft drink Cola . Furthermore, azo dyes and artificial flavors were found to the extent permitted in all products tested . The calorie content of bubble tea varies depending on how it is prepared. Pediatricians warn that small children could choke on the 5 to 8 millimeter diameter pearls and thereby suffocate and demand corresponding warnings on the cups.
Scientists from the Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine at RWTH Aachen University claimed to journalists at the Rheinische Post in 2012 that they had found harmful, carcinogenic chemicals in bubble tea. A corresponding article led to a wide media coverage in Germany. The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Consumer Protection then had 84 samples examined. All of them were free of toxins. The brand manufacturers Possmei and Tea One commissioned analyzes from independent institutes, in which no toxins were found either.
The scientist responsible for the analysis of the Aachen institute Manfred Möller, who had been quoted in the media with the statement that there was "a lot of dirt" in bubble tea, claimed in 2013 that no statements had ever been made about a possible health hazard and that it was the analysis was just a test of a new type of measuring device. He regretted the media reports, which had amounted to a "smear campaign". Affected entrepreneurs, however, see the scientists, who voluntarily informed the press about their measurement results, to be responsible and are demanding compensation.
literature
- Andrew F. Smith: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. Oxford 2004, Bubble Tea article , p. 138
See also
Web links
- Karin Pollack, When the bubble bursts , in derstandard.at , May 24, 2012
Individual evidence
- ↑ UNIMAG.AT: Bubble Tea is also becoming a lifestyle hit in Vienna.
- ↑ Leonie Seifert, be careful, sweet and slimy! Bubble tea is flooding the city centers . In: FAZ.net , April 21, 2012
- ↑ a b Maximilian Kalkhof: Ausgeblubbert , Zeit Online, May 30, 2013.
- ^ Bureau of Taste, Everything You Need to Know About Bubble Tea , Sous Chef, July 27, 2016, accessed August 21, 2017
- ^ Asian Consumer Intelligence, Healthier Bubble Tea ( Memento of May 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Five by fifty, March 17, 2009, accessed on August 21, 2017
- ↑ Julie Chao, Taiwan tapioca tea on tap , San Francisco Examiner, December 12, 1999 Retrieved on August 22, 2017
- ↑ Drinking fun with lots of calories and additives ( Memento from June 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In BR.de.
- ^ Stiftung Warentest: Bubble Tea: Dickmacher from the Far East , test 7/2012.
- ↑ Christina Finke, Danger of Asphyxiation - Pediatricians Warn About Bubble Tea , in WAZ - www.derwesten.de of March 5, 2012.
- ^ Christian Schwerdtfeger and Gerhard Voogt, Gladbach: Poison traces in Bubble Tea in RP-online, August 22, 2012
- ↑ State government of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ministry of Consumer Protection, presents the state parliament with the results of the research on bubble tea ( memento of October 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on September 24, 2012.
- ↑ report of Possmei In Bubble Tea it bubbles dangerous , Time of 29 August 2012 found.