Boba History

Boba is a drink that usually is a mix of tea, milk or fruit, and some chewy tapioca balls. Boba, or bubble tea is prevalent part in Asian culture, specifically for East and Southeast Asians. However, it has now been seen in almost all parts of the world. This is because of the time period it came from. With its history, its similar properties of other foods, and globalization of the world, boba has become popular wherever it goes. The boba drink was accidentally invented. The history begins in 1988 where a Taiwanese teahouse manager had a sweetened tapioca pudding and some tea during a meeting. She poured the tapioca pearls from the pudding to the tea just for fun and loved it immediately after taste testing it (Chang, 2012). It was sold in their teahouse and as tourists stopped and drank their boba, they began to spread the word about the drink. This then led to many more stores starting to sell boba drinks and it soon became a
Starting with Asia, Japan, South Korea, and China, all have been taking this drink with stride by creating many stores. In Germany, some McDonald’s stores have been adding the drink on their menu (Tepper, 2012). Although there are not many Asian people, culture has spread due to globalization. Within the United States, there are hundreds of restaurants and stores that sell boba drinks. In Iowa City, Iowa, there are more boba shops than Starbucks shops (Drash and Loo). In the Midwest, there is not as much diversity as the coasts. However, for the same reason that McDonald’s in Germany included boba, culture spreads through trade, wars, and peace treaties. Southern California has many boba stores because of the amount of Asian immigrants. Cultural movements among Asian-Americans allow people to be more connected to their ethnicity ("Asian Americans in LA Share Tea and Tradition, Boba Style", 2013). Due to globalization, Asian cultural movements help make boba