Bubble Tea comes to Steamer Wharfby Steamer Wharf

Bubble Tea has been popping up all over New Zealand in the last couple of years and now we have our very own bubble tea shop at Steamer Wharf. Tucked between Saigon Kingdom and Farelli’s Trattoria in the laneway is a cute little hole in the wall called Tea 88 Queenstown.

Owners Danny and Julie Nguyen, who recently refurbished their popular Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Kingdom to reflect a cooler more upbeat and contemporary look, decided to make the most of their underutilised private room to create a whole new offering opening up into the laneway.

With its leafy wall, colourful branding and cute waving puppy logo, T88 certainly looks as fun and tasty as the drinks it sells.

So what is bubble tea you may well ask? Contrary to its name, there are no bubbles in bubble tea and there isn't always tea, either! Also known as boba nai cha, zhenhou nia cha, and pearl tea, bubble tea is an iced sweet drink that has “bubbles” of round and chewy tapioca balls in the bottom. Its origins are in Taiwan in the 1980s (according to one source) where Liu Han Chie, the owner of Chun Shui Tang teahouse in Taichung decided to add cooked pearls of tapioca to a cup of sweetened iced tea.

The drink has evolved over the years to include a wide variety of bases including both black and green teas, fruit teas, icy smoothies as well as the more popular milk teas. The pearls of tapioca (extracted from Cassava root and naturally gluten – free) are cooked in boiling water until they become soft, then soaked in a syrup so that they become sweet and chewy. The real flavour comes from the drink itself — the pearls are there more for texture.

The menu at Tea 88 is extensive and covers every possibility with headings such as Brown Sugar Series, Traditional Milk Tea, Pure Tea and Fruit Tea. Then there’s the top of the line Fruity Slushy with Cheese Foam. The Peach Slushy with White Pearl is particularly decadent, made with seasonal fruit from local sources. And, as if that’s not enough choice, once you have selected the base you then need to choose your topping, then how much ice you want (none, less, half or regular), and the sweetness of your drink!

Too many decisions for you? Don’t be put off, the friendly staff will help first timers and any worries will be washed away by the cool refreshing taste of your bubble tea, sipped through an oversized bio-degradable straw!