In China, you’ll see lines for bubble tea everywhere.
Sometimes, the line is so long,
people pay someone else to stand in line for them.
Today’s bubble tea, or boba,
is a total upgrade of the drink we see around the world.
And it took China less than 10 years
to turn regular bubble tea into something this fancy.
Welcome to the milk tea revolution.
Let’s talk about bubble tea.
As the country’s economy improved,
people wanted food and drinks of better quality.
So we definitely have to use better ingredients.
This is Mingzai.
She’s an influencer known
for her honest reviews of milk tea drinks.
Over 10 million people follow her on Chinese social media.
Don’t try the new products yet.
I’m here to test them for you.
To understand the evolution of milk tea in China,
here’s a rough timeline.
The very first bubble tea versions —
the ones we all know — are milk teas with chewy tapioca balls.
China dubs them
milk tea 1.0.
When I was small, (shops) near my schools
sold a cup of milk tea for $0.15 to $0.30.
They were made with milk tea powder and milk powder.
Most Chinese people drank this type of bubble tea
for almost a decade.
Then in the 2000s,
milk tea makers gave their drinks an upgrade.
They replaced milk powders with real brewed tea,
and fresh milk and cream.
Prices went up accordingly.
Ten years later,
milk tea makers started experimenting more broadly.
First they created cheese tea, then fruit tea.
Most bubble tea stores also offer more than just milk tea,
like other types of tea drinks, and snacks.
Mingzai says she saw the change happening in Shenzhen.
The high-tech city is known
for having a bubble tea shop round every corner.
I wanted to be one of the first ones to review milk tea,
so people would know if they’re tasty and worth the money.
We went on a milk tea hunt with her.
First stop, getting some creamy cheese tea.
It’s tea with a light cheese foam on top.
It might sound odd, but the flavor pairs really well,
and became really popular in the mid-2010s.
When you drink cheese tea, you have to open the lid,
and drink the tea with the cream.
Let it mix inside your mouth.
Bubble tea stores are also experimenting
with other ingredients to enhance the tea flavors.
It uses tea leaves from Mount Wuyi so it’s more fragrant.
It has soy flour on it. We usually add that in desserts.
The demand for healthier drinks is rising.
That’s how fruit teas started trending.
There’s blended ice, grapes, grape juice,
and tea in this drink. It tastes rich.
Young people like fruit tea the most.
You feel refreshed, energized, and healthy drinking it.
The drinks are made with whatever fruits are in season.
There’s always something new so people keep track of the trend.
These colorful drinks are so instagrammable
they often go viral on social media.
There is hefen (noodles) milk tea.
It’s made with mango,
like mango pudding stretched it out.
It seems there’s always something new
when it comes to bubble tea in China.
You even have a ton of options when it comes to the tea itself.
Red, green, oolong, pu'er, white tea, whatever you can think of.
You can mix all sorts of fruit juices and toppings with it.
You can add ice cream, cookies, fruits,
coconut jelly, and konjac jelly.
When it’s Valentine’s Day,
a lot of brands will release pink-colored drinks
associated with sakuras or peaches.
When it’s Qingming festival,
some stores will add green sticky rice balls into milk teas.
There's even wasabi-flavored cheese cream.
It tastes a little like mustard.
For bubble tea stores today,
getting noticed is often much about their brand marketing.
This brand is very Chinese.
It’s “new China chic,” which is quite trendy now.
There are traditional Chaoshan-looking images on the cup.
The drink combines traditional tea with sweet cream,
which young people like. There are some crunchy pecans on it.
Locals call this the fourth wave of milk tea.
Drinks today are way more expensive
than what they were 20 years ago.
One cup goes for around $5.
That said, stores are using more and better ingredients,
although some of your money probably goes towards
marketing these Instagram-friendly drinks.
And it’s worth it,
because the youth market for bubble tea is huge.
Now, a lot of people like to begin their day with milk tea.
There are lots of ways to buy milk tea now.
To-go, or you can order through mini-apps on WeChat,
or just go in-person.
When I go out for dinner,
I’ll order milk tea and bring it to the restaurant.
When I’m watching a movie,
I drink milk tea instead of coke and popcorn.
Some brands have jazzed up their stores.
Young people love to take pictures there.
Other than drinks, they may sell cake, bread, or other desserts.
So we can chill and chat over our milk teas and desserts.
These brands have come up with their own flavors and price points,
and made sure they meet food safety standards
and made it convenient for their target customers.
This is Zhang Yi, a market research analyst.
Competition is very intense now.
They’ve been expanding their businesses from retail,
to delivering to offices and households.
The market will keep expanding.
In 2020, the market was worth $26 billion.
In 2021, that jumped to an estimated $40 billion.
It’ll probably hit $45 billion in 2022.
All the drinks I had today were great.
I don’t really have any complaints.
It's been two years
since I had the goal of drinking 1,000 cups of boba.
Since then, I’ve drank over 300 cups.
Young people like to try new things
so a lot of brands keep introducing new drinks and ingredients
you never imagined.
If you don’t play around with your drink,
no one will be interested in it anymore.
we’ll talk about how fast food in China
has adapted to local taste buds,
and why they’re a whole new world to explore.
Stay tuned.