ARTICLES BY TEACHERS
The Bubble Tea culture in Mavis
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Once, I was telling a joke in my Sec 3 Biology class at the Hougang branch. I cannot even remember what the joke was. I guess it had something to do with a really funny answer to a worksheet question, or something. At the funniest part of the joke, something even more hilarious occurred. A student was drinking bubble tea when I was telling the joke and she started to laugh. Here’s the best part. She could not control her laughter and she snorted a bubble tea pearl out of her nose! Yes you heard me…an entire pearl out through her nostril! That was how I was first introduced to the bubble tea. That was when I realized that my students were drinking these drinks of different colours with black pearl-like looking things at the bottom and hence the name. I tried my first one not too long ago. I think it was peach milk tea, at the recommendation of a student. It was delicious. No wonder students are so hooked on to it. It’s a companion of almost every students, much to the frustration of our maintenance uncles. I am very sure you have witnessed what happened when someone spilt a whole cup of bubble tea on the carpet of your classrooms. |
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| What worried me was whether the drinks were healthy for all of you. So I decided to do a little bit of research.
Here’s what I found: |
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History |
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| Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. The beverage first spread to nearby East Asian countries, migrated to Canada before spreading to Chinatown in New York City, and then to various spots around the world. It seems that, in the beginning, tea stands were set up in front of the schools in Taiwan and would compete for business with the best selling tea. One owner became popular with her tea when she started adding different fruit flavoring to her tea. Other people started to become more adventurous and added tapioca balls into the drink. They look like bubbles and hence they named it bubble tea. | |
| There are different variations of the drink as you have probably realized by now. Sometimes, instead of tea, the drink is made with fresh fruits, milk, and crushed ice to create a healthy milk shake. You can also find drinks that are made of powdered flavoring, creamer, water, and crushed ice. (Why is it still called bubble tea? Where’s the tea?) | |
| Tapioca pearls are black, but can sometimes be found to be white or transparent. Depending on the ingredients of the pearl, its color varies. I’ve been told that the white and translucent pearls are made of caramel, starch and chamomile root extract. The black pearl includes sweet potato, cassava root and brown sugar, which gives it its black color. | |
What’s in your typical bubble tea? |
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Nutritional profile |
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| Tea: Tea is a low-fat, low-calorie beverage rich with cell-supporting antioxidants. So its good for you but tea also contains caffeine, a drug which have different effects on people. Either it makes you feel alert or sleepy. | |
| Fruit syrups and sugars: These ingredients can be high in sugar and all the fat and calories that come with it. Sugars give you energy bursts but too much of it increases the risk of diabetes. (Yes it can affect the young) Sugars can also be converted to complex carbohydrates and yes…fats. | |
| Milk products:These milk products are usually very high in fats and they pile up the calories. Plain bubble tea has 160 calories. Swirl milk in and it goes up to 230 calories. | |
| Tapioca pearls: Sorry to burst your bubbles but if you think the pearls are harmless, think again. They have the highest calorie count- over 300 calories, not to mention the added sugar. This is the nutritional profile I got from the Ministry of Health. |
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 Notice that it has one of the highest fat contents!! |
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My verdict |
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| I guess its fine to indulge in bubble tea once or even twice a week. The sugar contents may give you an energy boost if you are coming to class after a long day at school. However, it would be most unhealthy for you if you drink bubble tea everyday. Not only is it very high in sugar which could lead to diabetes but it also has the highest fat content among popular drinks. See you in class! |
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