Bubble Tea expands its market in Thiruvananthapuram

It was the oversized straw in the drink that piqued my interest and then those chewy, little balls that shot through it into the mouth. This was my first try with bubble tea in Thiruvananthapuram. During the pre-pandemic era, the capital of Kerala had only a few cafes that sold drinks. But after the second lockdown, more have opened up in the city, expanding the city’s bubble tea fanbase.

There is Cafe Boba Queen near Vellayambalam Junction, Bumble Bee at Althara Junction, Food Truck and its subsidiary, Cafe Club Day, near Nanthancode and BAO-TAO at Kaudiyar.

The main attraction of bubble tea originally from Taiwan is tapioca pearls/balls or boba. These little balls made from tapioca starch are the bottom layer in the drink. While the classic bubble tea, also known as pearl milk tea or boba tea around the world, consists of black tea, milk/condensed milk and boba, there are now a number of variations of unsweetened tea, including boba in smoothies, slush and put in fruits. -based or aerated drinks.

For example, the menu at Café Boba Queen features ice bubbles which are milk-based drinks that contain boba. Flavors include Mango, Saffron, Rose Milk, Fig & Honey, and Butterscotch… “Fizzy Mint Bubble varieties are fruit-flavored aerated drinks with bobas, while there are also yogurt-based drinks in fruit flavored ones. Ours There are also ‘exotica’ made from imported fruit-based syrups. Instead of tapioca pearls, they have ‘popping boba’, which are fruit juice gels that burst in your mouth,” says Ashwathy L. Mohan , who runs the place along with his friend Ganesh S. Exotica varieties include watermelon, mango, guava. Pineapple, Orange, Lychee and Green Apple.

The latest addition to their menu is the Spicy Poppy Twist, which are sweet and spicy drinks with boba. Flavors include Passion Fruit Chili, Lemon Sweet & Salt, Mango Green Chili, Pineapple Chaat and Guava Chili. “Our tea varieties include Taiwanese green tea, classic bubble tea, which has Indian tea flavor, and different varieties of ‘fruit tea’, which has tea flavored and fruit syrups,” says Ganesh.

Bubble Tea Varieties at Cafe Boba Queen in Thiruvananthapuram | photo credit: special arrangement

experiment with flavors

Nandu Prasad, owner of BAO-TAO, says, “Not everyone likes the signature bubble tea with a tea base and this is the reason why new flavors keep coming up. “We have over 60 varieties on the menu and more will be added. The drink has universal appeal and we keep updating the flavors whenever the trend changes. Tiramisu, caramel popcorn and sweet potato are some of the new flavors that have hit the market,” he says.

Bumble Bee food truck serves bubble tea at Althara Junction in Thiruvananthapuram. photo credit: special arrangement

He says that although the classic iced bubble tea is made using a shaker, he prefers to use a blender because customers like it in a way so that the drink has a smoothie-like consistency. BAO-TAO’s menu features boba in milkshakes and popping boba in fruit tea and slush. The boba-milkshake-cheese foam variety is a specialty and comes in flavors such as mango, passion fruit, raspberry, banana (banana, caramel, chocolate) and Oreo.

At Bumble Bee and Cafe Club D, run by Kiran Kulthinker, most of the drinks are coffee-based. The dozens of flavors available include Chocolate, Guava, Mango, Strawberry, Passionfruit, Butterscotch and Tender Coconut. “Besides the fruit syrup/pulp, we also use the powder in drinks, as is the case with taro (a type of yam),” he says.

exposed during lockdown

Interestingly, all these ventures were launched during and around the second lockdown in 2021. “I used to run two tuition centers which had to be closed due to the pandemic. I decided to try something new and that’s when the idea of ​​bubble tea came. It is like a one-time meal and I have had it during my travels outside Kerala,” says Kiran, who launched the Bumble Bee food truck in March 2021.

Ashwathi L Mohan and Ganesh S, who run Cafe Boba Queen. photo credit: special arrangement

For Ashwathy, who is running a successful baking venture (Dancing Oven by Ash), bubble tea came up as an option when she thought of branching out to a new venture. “With so many bakers I wanted to do something else. That’s when my sister, who is in Australia, mentioned bubble tea and I wanted to try it. My batchmate Ganesh from engineering college was game for it and we went to Bengaluru for training,” says Ashwathy.

They started as Cloud Kitchen in March last year. “We had our own apprehensions about its success and hence we have personally delivered the drink on several occasions. There were days when we didn’t get more than 10 orders. But slowly people started heating it up and we started getting more orders thanks to our friends and social media. It was our customers who inspired us to open this shop in December,” she adds.

Nandu Prasad K, who runs the BAO-TAO in Thiruvananthapuram. photo credit: special arrangement

For Nandu, BAO-TAO is an extension of his experience running a construction and interior designing firm. “We have done interiors of some food joints and food-related enterprises in Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru. Work-related travel introduced me to a variety of cuisines and eventually, I decided to foray into the food industry with a new product. She got out bubble tea. With not much to do during the lockdown, I learned more about it online. I started it in June as a takeaway venture as I had already imported a huge amount of material and could not keep it for long,” says Nandu.

Kiran Kulthinker with Chef Suresh Pillai at the inauguration of Bumble Bee. photo credit: special arrangement

Tapioca balls are imported from Taiwan. Indian companies are also manufacturing it. “We have found that imported boba are better than the Indian ones. This also applies to syrup. The quality of the boba and syrup determines the taste of the tea,” says Nandu.

The drink comes in 300ml, 350ml and 500ml bottle/cup and the price starts from Rs.90.