Boba tea, a globally known drink of milk, tea, and tapioca pearls, is much more than a popular drink. It’s a symbol of Taiwanese culture and innovation.
While boba tea has recently skyrocketed in popularity, becoming a global sensation, it has long been a staple to East Asian countries.
Boba tea became popular especially in Taiwan and China in the 1980s and 1990s, but has spread to the west because of tourism, globalization, and social media methods. Today, thousands of boba tea shops have been developed in the United States.
The very beginning of the origin story of boba was in the 1980s, during Taiwan’s tea renaissance. During this time, teahouses were looking for creative ways to stand out.
One creative way teahouses tried to make themselves stand out was the invention of boba.
While it is indisputable that boba originated in Taiwan, controversy surrounds who the true founder of this beloved beverage, boba tea, is in Taiwan.
Two different boba shops in Taiwan both claim to be the founder of the infamous black pearls.
In the early 1980s, the owner of a tea store called Chun Shui Tang came up with serving tea cold. This became a hit in Taiwan, and tea houses began serving tea cold. Later, a product development manager working with him came up with the idea of combining sweet tapioca pudding with tea, the boba aspect of boba tea.
Another claim was made regarding the origins of boba tea, from the Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan, founded by Tu Tseong He. According to Tu Tseong He’s version, he added a traditional Taiwanese snack from his childhood, tapioca balls, into his green tea. He originally used white pearls, which later evolved into the dark pearls we all know and love today.
The two companies claiming to be the founder of boba tea were involved in a bitter lawsuit spanning ten years regarding the origins of boba. Both sides fiercely defended their claims to the invention. However, the court did not rule in either companies’ favor, since neither of them filed a patent or trademark protection.
While both companies, Chun Shui Tang and Hanlin Tea Room continue to flourish today, the question of who truly invented boba tea remains unresolved.
What is clear, however, is that boba tea is deeply rooted into Taiwan’s culture of experimentation with tea. Whether Chun Shui Tang’s innovation of iced tea or Hanlin Tea Room’s creative use of tapioca pearls came first in the timeline, both of these contributed to the overall development of boba tea.
What started as a simple experiment involving tea and tapioca has quickly turned into a cultural and commercial force, and boba tea has become a beloved drink by many people in the world.
However, boba is more than just a new delicious beverage to enjoy. Boba has become a symbol of Taiwan’s food culture, and is a cultural bridge that connects Taiwan with the rest of the world.