I believed bubble tea was first introduced in Hong Kong or Taiwan in the early 1990s... And was a big hit all over Asia in the late 90s... It is amazing to see it generating interests/discussion on here now...

And I was a big fan of it... Now, i get one once in a long long while... I bought one in SF's Chinatown recently... Not the best but it was decent... Shared it with a friend from SEA... And he wasn't impressed at all... I doubt he would get any in the future...

As mentioned on an earlier post here, the drink is great.. just too unhealthy.. especially if u are watching your waistline... Few years ago, shops in SIN (likely in other countries as well) have been offering aloe vera chunks as replacement of the pearls... Something healthier if u matched that with green tea w/o milk...

But drink unhealthily, u will die.. and drink healthily, u will still die... So i choose to eat/drink what i enjoyed the most before the day comes...