Bubble Tea- My first solo feature as a journalist in training

‘Frankenstein’s lab’ is what comes to mind when you walk into this small store On Rupert Street in trendy Soho. Complete with employees dressed in white lab coats, black walls with recipes drawn in chalk and test tubes used to hold the various liquids- this is a bubble tea store.

Bubbleology, as the chain is called, is the newest global craze. This delicious Taiwanese tea is served to you custom made to your tastes. You can have it hot or cold, milky or fruity and with many delicious flavors to choose from, it is refreshing drink for any season.

Angellos Berdos, 21, the branch supervisor, has been working at the store for almost a year. When asked how many customers he has to serve a day he said: ‘Per day? We get 500 a day at least. It’s not as busy during the afternoon but after 5pm, the cue reaches all the way to the bus stop.’

Originating from a happy accident in a teahouse in Taichung, Taiwan, the inventor, Liv Han-Chieh, had a brilliant idea to serve cold tea in the same way that she had been served cold coffee. From there on the recipes progressed until Bubble Tea stretched from street corners in Indonesia to high class stores in the UK.

The store has two ‘scientists’ behind the bar at all times. Angellos said: ‘The summer months are a lot busier; there are many tourists around this area, and the heat is making people buy more fruity teas.’

When asked how the tea was made, Angellos smiles slyly and points to the back door.

The décor is complete with a large steel door marked ‘TOP SECRET,’ and when asked about what was back there Angellos said: ‘That is where we keep our recipes and ingredients. Our teas are completely fresh and the ingredients arrive every three hours. The ingredients are all from Taiwan where bubble tea is originally from.’

Another unique feature and its biggest appeal is the ‘Boba’ or ‘Tapioca’ which are small, black, chewy balls the size of marbles. They have the same consistency as jelly and they are added to your tea. You then use a thick, hollow straw to suck up the tapioca with your tea.

Angellos says that tapioca ‘gets him crazy, ‘and that it is the main reason he likes coming to work in the morning. ‘I can never have enough tapioca; I usually make my drink with double the usual amount. All the people that come in here order the tapioca before they pick a drink.’

Bubble Tea is just as famous in the winters, when the teas are served hot to customers. The more loyal customers are seen here in the winter months, with the tourist season over.

‘Taro is a big thing in the summer, it is ordered the most,’ says Angellos. ‘Usually people will come in here and ask for a suggestion, and I advise the fruit teas because they are easier to start off with.’

This ‘healthy delicious juice’ as a student at the shop, Zainab Mahmud, 16, called it is a must try on a hot summers day.