The invention of bubble tea

Published: Nov. 21, 2023, 10 a.m.

In 1987, a tea shop in Taiwan named Chun Shui Tang began selling pearl milk tea, or bubble tea, as it\u2019s often called.

It would revolutionise the tea-drinking world.

Ben Henderson speaks to Liu Han-Chieh, the shop owner, and Lin Xiuhu, who first added the drink\u2019s signature tapioca balls.

(Photo: Bubble tea. Credit: Chun Shui Tang)