BOBO Tea, in the upper mall of Manchester Arndale, has been open for a year and business has apparently been booming. But what exactly does it sell?
At first I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing but found myself glued to the straw in an effort to get hold of more gummy bubbles.
Simply put, BoBo Tea offers a wide range of, well, tea. But not just any tea. Far from your average English teabag dumped in a mug of boiling water, BoBo Tea’s drinks come with added…er, bubbles.
BoBo Tea is based on bubble tea shops that line the streets of Taiwan and Hong Kong, where caramelised tapioca bubbles are put in your drink to add great texture and flavour. There’s a massive range of milk black-tea based drinks (small £2.90, large £3.20) and a selection of refreshing iced green-tea based drinks (small £2.50, large £2.80) on offer, and you can choose to add tapioca bubbles, juice bubbles, or different flavoured jellies to your treat.
I tried a honeydew melon milk bubble tea (served hot or cold), with a fatter-than-usual straw. It took me a while to clock why the straws were so fat, but my confusion dissipated upon first sip when the bead-sized bubbles travelled up and popped all-so-suddenly onto the tongue. Definitely an odd surprise.
At first I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing but found myself glued to the straw in an effort to get hold of more gummy bubbles. The soft, chewy texture contrasted with the cold liquid and created a great balance between eating and drinking. The tea itself was milky and mild, lighter than a milkshake with just enough hint of the melon flavour.
I also tried a passion fruit ice tea with strawberry juice bubbles. By this time I was eager to get hold of the little suckers and they didn’t disappoint.
Bursting in your mouth, they fill it with flavour and make the existing drink taste even juicier. It’s really fun to pop them too. Pineapple ice tea with the strawberry juice balls is apparently a favourite among the customers.
It’s already pretty obvious what makes this place stand out. Their aim is to bring a taste of the East over to our inexperienced taste buds. We Brits are big tea drinkers but we’ve failed to appreciate the wonders of the Eastern cuppa.
It’s time we ditched the tea-bag and introduced the tea-bubble.
BoBo Tea, Unit 2 Upper Mall, Arndale Centre, M4 3AQ.
Follow Kathryn on Twitter @kittywooders
