BUBBLE TEA mania

BUBBLE TEA is the new word in town. Never heard of it? Come on! Vienna is more and more becoming an international city, offering lots of exotic food and drinks you normally wouldn't get around Europe ... but wait, hasn't that been the case for centuries now? Living in Vienna I sometimes tend to forget how international it is - and how open people are to try out new and unknown things. Like Bubble Tea.

I made my encounter with Bubble Tea on my first visit to Asia - to be exact: In South Korea. A friend told me about his love for Bubble Tea. I had no clue - and got laughed at. So he described: It is a fruit flavored tea with pearls. To be honest, this just confused me even more and definitely didn't lead me in any way to rock up at the next tea shop to order some. But destiny has it ways and finally I tried my very first bubble tea on Yonsei campus in a little coffee take out shop. It was awesome! And ... already more like an evolved version of the traditional drink. To be exact it consisted of cookies, Vanilla, milk and ice - crushed together to form the perfect summer drink that would cheer you up after a hard day in school.

Coffee Take Out at Yonsei University Campus, Seoul

But: What exactly is Bubble Tea? 
Take some black tea and some milk - shake it till it is full of little bubbles, add sirup or honey and some tapioka pearls - and voilà! You have the beginners version of Bubble Tea. Its taste is sweet and creamy and makes you wanna have more with each sip you take - and after finishing your cup you feel like you just had half a dinner - you are pretty full.
I, for my part, never liked black tea with milk up to the day when i tried my first bubble milk tea in Taiwan - which was totally different to any other black tea I've ever had.
Bubble Tea is not that old yet - it should be in its 30ies now as it is claimed to have been invented in the 1980s in Taichung (Taiwan) - and the legend wants it that, of all things, a boring meeting lead a woman to pour her taiwanese dessert with tapioka into her cold tea.
If more of these great inventions would happen at boring meetings the world would definitely be a happier place! :)

Tealicious, Vienna

Having experienced this nice drink in Asia - I was missing it alot when I came back to Vienna.
So, how much luckier could I be than with the first real Bubble Tea shop opening in Vienna around that time: Tealicious.
I couldn't do other than try it - and was a little disappointed. Ordering a normal milk tea bubble tea (black tea) - it tasted far too much like powder (which was kind of weird) and not sweet at all - it was a pretty boring taste ... I never finished it. Sad thing was that my friend made the same experience with his choice and I haven't been there to try another tea again. This was a one time experience and ever since I heard newspapers and blogs talking about how nice this shop is - and when articles are written about Bubble Tea - this is always the first shop they mention. So on my lists of things to do stands to give it a second try. Everyone else should go out and make up his mind of which shop they like best!

My favorite Bubble Tea shop in Vienna is BaBuRu. 
It just tastes like the regular Bubble Tea in Taiwan - making it my first stop every time I arrive at Schottentor.  The service is really nice and next to the regular menu is a board telling you the specials of the season. The tea is comparatively cheaper than other shops - if you order Tapioka pearls as topping. Every other add-on costs 0.50 cents - and they are really worth trying. The new sensation is Aloe Vera Jelly - very nice.
I brought lots of friends to this shop and so far no one went home disappointed. Especially taiwanese people love to go there and claim that it tastes exactly the same as in their home country.

Chacha Bubbletea Bar
This little bar opened in Lugner City and offers pretty nice Bubble Tea as well. A little bit hidden away, it is found next to the running sushi bar upstairs. For my taste, a little bit too much milk is added (like in Starbucks) which dilutes the taste. But all in all it is okay and can be considered as a nice dessert to go for after eating at one of the buffets right next to it.

Ginza
- is actually a sushi shop - offering coffee and bubble tea to-go as well. The Bubble Tea section is pretty small, offering only 5 flavors: Taro, papaya, strawberry, peach and pineapple. The taste offers no overwhelming experience but it is okay and a good investment for everyone who has time and a little hunger to kill at Praterstern.

Bubble's Tea Bar
This is a new shop at BahnhofCity Wien West - and I have to admit I didn't try it yet. This shop is part of a German chain which started out in Berlin and now exports their concept to Vienna. It remains to be seen how people will like it. :)




tea-licious Bubbletea Boutique
Margaretenstraße 22
1040 Wien


tea-licious Bubbletea Bar
Donauzentrum - Wagramer Straße 81/2/3
1220 Wien
http://www.tea-licious.at


baburu to go
Schottentorpassage 
1010 Wien


baburu living room
Naschmarkt - Kettenbrückengasse 22
1040 Wien


baburu shopping center
Millenium City - Wehlistraße 64
1200 Wien
www.baburu.at


Chacha Bubbletea Bar
Lugner City - Gablenzgasse 5-13
1150 Wien
http://www.chacha-bubbleteabar.com/


Bubble's Tea Bar
Bahnhofcity Wien West - Europaplatz 1
1150 Wien
http://www.bubbles-teabar.de


Ginza Running Sushi
Bahnhof Praterstern
1020 Wien