Bubble tea isn¡¯t a new arrival in the Tokyo drink landscape, but the beverage has recently enjoyed a popularity boom. Perhaps you¡¯ve passed a long line of adolescents in front of a store, or your Instagram feed has been overwhelmed by chunky straws and tapioca-filled, vacuum-sealed cups.
The drink ¡ª which consists of flavored tea, often mixed with milk and sugar, with black tapioca balls at the bottom, waiting to be sucked up ¡ª originally comes from Taiwan, and has gained popularity internationally over the past few decades. Its arrival in Japan is a little less clear, though it seems the first real inroads bubble tea made in the country came at the start of the millennium.
But the beverage has never been a true trend here until now. While bubble tea has had its devotees over the past decade and a half, it only recently connected with Japanese teens, the arbiters of culinary cool across the archipelago. Perhaps owing to bubble tea¡¯s photogenic properties, its colorful, layered toppings and add-ins easily visible in plastic cups, online outlets have referred to a nationwide ¡°tapioca boom.¡± You know it has spilled over into the mainstream when YouTubers and J-pop idols try to cash in on the trend.
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