Leeds Bubbleology Event

Bubble tea is something I have heard so much about over the last few months, but never really had the chance to try until last night. Bloggers have been raving about it, bubble tea shops have been sprouting up all over the UK quicker than you can actually say Bubble tea and snapshots of bubble tea lovers have been recently appearing on Instagram. There is clearly a major craze for this Taiwanese tea that has recently hit the UK shores and it was about time I tried it.

According to Bubbleology:"Bubble Tea is the name given to the wide variety of refreshing flavoured fruit teas and milks served ice cold or piping hot with chewy natural tapioca balls that you can suck up through a big fat straw." Sound intriguing? These tapioca balls are known commonly as 'Boba' which is rumoured to have evolved into the word 'Bubble - hence the name Bubble Name. The bubble tea has Taiwanese origins and was invented in the 1980s. The tea became incredibly popular and was adapted by other Asian countries before eventually hitting North America, Australia and now the UK.

The newest store to be added to the Bubbleology collection is in Leeds Trinity shopping centre and the team hosted a lovely event so that local bloggers could sample the tea and have a much needed catch up. The event was held at Cafe 164 on Duke Street Leeds, somewhere I hadn't previously been but I can't wait to go back. There's a beautiful art gallery in the cafe and the most delicious sweet and savoury treats available. I fell head over heels for the Toffee Apple Loaf and if I hadn't had a gigantic meal before I went, given the chance I would have devoured the whole loaf.

During the event we were all given the chance to blend our own types of tea and choose our flavoured fruit balls. I opted for a Mango and Passionfruit bubble tea with extra passionfruit balls. Bubble tea is a really strange experience if you haven't tried it before and had no previous warning. As soon as you suck through your straw, the balls come and pop in your mouth leaving a burst of fruit and a kinda gooey but sweet texture to chew on. It takes some getting used to at first and if you try a bubble tea without reading about them first, it can come as quite a surprise.

I didn't know what to expect from my Bubbletea and I have been left feeling a little bit confused whether I enjoyed it or not. As mentioned previously it is a strange sensation and this drink was possibly too much on the sweet side for me. I'm looking forward to going back and trying a different flavour like their chocolate bubble tea which has more of a milkshake consistency.

Have you tried Bubble tea before?