On my trip to Japan, I found out that bubble tea is having a bit of a moment. It’s a bit of a surprise, because Singapore is already in round 2 of the bubble tea boom. But our bubble tea craze never resulted in bubble tea-related products such as this instant bubble tea that I found at Village Vanguard.
If you’re wondering why this is also called “instant tapioca drink”, it’s because bubble tea is referred to as “tapioca” in Japan. I was pretty surprised but it makes sense – the pearls are from tapioca after all.
The instructions are clear, but they also make it obvious that this isn’t going to be as instant as the name promises. To get your cup of bubble tea, you must:
- Open the lid and take out the ingredients
- Open the sachets of milk tea and tapioca pearls and add them into the cup
- Add hot water (85 to 90 degrees celsius) – if you want iced tea, fill it to the bottom line. For hot tea, fill it to the top line
- Stir well with the straw and wait for five minutes
- If you’d like it cold, add in enough ice so that the liquid reaches the top line. Stir it one more time and your tea is done.
Yes, they included the instructions to remove the ingredient packet. Like I said, it’s very clear.
Trying it out
I’ve got to say, the milk tea powder does not look appetising. But it does smell like the bottled milk tea you get in conbinis.
The dried pearls look like chocolate chips to me.
One of my friends made this the week before me (I got three as souvenirs) and she said that the pearls were still pretty tough after five minutes, so I left the whole thing to sit for about seven minutes.
The final product! It’s not too bad – the tea does taste like milk tea and it’s thankfully not too sweet. The pearls were chewy but strangely, also a little rough. Overall, this was a fun little cup of bubble tea. It cost me 380 yen at Village Vanguard, which makes it a pretty good gift for bubble tea-loving friends.
Featured Image: Photo by Me