One of the (unhealthier) habits I adopt as soon as I set foot in Malaysia is that my water consumption drastically declines and I develop a bit of a compulsive obsession with Chatime. The plethora of exotic beverages on their menu are overwhelming to say the least. I consume so much Chatime on my Trips to Malaysia that I decided it Chatime deserves an exclusive blogpost.

Chatime has SO MANY exciting beverages to pick from (at an absolute bargain, might I add?), but I almost always get a “Milk Tea with Bubbles” for that morning pick-me-up/caffeine shot. What exactly is bubble tea, you may ask?

While bubble tea is no stranger to the world beyond the Far East now, perhaps you haven’t really tried it yet and want to know more. The first time I had bubble tea (over a decade ago), I couldn’t have more than a few sips and with a heavy heart tossed it in the bin. This brings us to our first point:

Bubble Tea is an acquired taste

The “bubbles” in traditional bubble tea are tapioca pearls, with a most peculiar taste that goes really well with milk tea and coffee. Newer versions of said bubbles include QQ jelly, mixed fruit jelly, aloe vera, coconut jelly and probably more variants that I haven’t yet tried.

Other fun facts about bubble tea are:

• Bubble Tea is also known as Pearl Milk tea or Boba tea
• Bubble Tea was born in Taiwan circa 80s
• The oldest most original form was made of black tea, condensed milk and tapioca pearls

Pictured below are probably only half of the Chatime beverages I consumed over a week.

 

 

 

 

I’m sure I had Chatime twice as often as I paused to take pictures of it, and my cousin tells me that everytime she passes by a Chatime now, she can’t help but miss me 🙂

Have you tried Chatime? What’s your favorite Bubble Tea brand?