Bubble tea, also known as boba drink, originates from far away Asia - Taiwan islands Just don't think anything obscene, because drinking boba is definitely not associated with the popular epithet about women.
And indeed, the astonishing popularity of this drink does not fade. Often the various variations of this drink can even surprise you, but the bubble tea shop "Le Tea" decided to choose the traditional way and present Lithuanians with a classic bubble tea drink with a modern twist.
What exactly is bubble tea?
Probably, no one will be surprised by the statement that one of the main ingredients of this drink is tea. Bubble tea was created in Taiwan in the 1980s. It was known locally as pearl tea drink. Teas with traditional tapioca pearls and milk appeared first. Fruit teas and popping boba appeared a little later ("popping boba" is extremely popular in Europe). Pearl milk tea began to develop rapidly from 2000, and arrived in Europe around 2010.
What about Lithuania?
In Lithuania, bubble tea took its first steps in 2012 and, obviously, in our country, this drink was met with restraint. This drink became more popular a little more than five years later.
Preparatory work for the opening of the "Le Tea" store on Trakai Street began at the beginning of 2019, but the world and Lithuania were frozen by the COVID-19 pandemic. The founder of the store had to adjust the plans and the official opening of "Le Tea" took place in May 2020.
"Before opening Le Tea, we tried most of the bubble teas offered in Lithuania and the Baltic countries. We realized that we want to open a store in Lithuania where, without leaving the country, Lithuanians and guests of the city could taste bubble tea with an authentic recipe and high-quality ingredients. Bubble tea, in our opinion, is not only about its "accessories", first of all it is TEA, so we offer carefully made tea according to the most authentic Asian recipe.", - the founder of the shop shares his impressions.
The name of the shop came out of nowhere, as "Le" means "happy" in Chinese, and their main goal is to make people feel happy when they drink their tea.
BUBBLE tea or bubble TEA?
According to the founder of the store, people often ask the question - do you have BUBBLE tea or bubble TEA.
"We always answer them: we have bubble TEA. At Le Tea, we want our customers to enjoy authentic and high-quality tea and feel that they are drinking REAL tea. We try to create a healthy balance. We use as few sweeteners as possible to avoid confusing the taste buds. We don't want our customers to think they are drinking syrupy water with bubbles. Also, we use cane sugar instead of fructose to sweeten our drinks. Cane sugar is a healthier and tastier alternative, it does not "block" the taste receptors of the tongue. This means you can experience the natural sweetness and flavor of the tea. Of course, the price of tea is higher due to the quality ingredients, but it is definitely worth investing more in the presentation and taste of a quality drink", - the founder of "Le Tea" has no doubts about his choice.
How to distinguish between quality tea and tapioca?
According to the shop's team, in order to find out if the bubble tea shop produces quality tea, you just need to order a cup of pure tea with a little sugar and traditional tapioca pearls (also available without additives). In this way, you will find out whether the product in such a store is made with care and quality. In addition, if the tea is made from poor quality leaves, we can see the result with our own eyes - the liquid tea will look hazy, and fine dust will be visible in it.
"Our team prepares tapioca pearls and fresh tea every day. The store's tapioca pearls are made with a consistent recipe and are pleasantly chewy and springy. "Le Tea" tea uses high-quality tea leaves, the liquid tea made from them has a very rich aroma, taste, clear and without any impurities", the owner shares the peculiarities of tea making.
Bubble tea is not only for children and teenagers
It is often said that this tea is a drink for children and teenagers. However, in real life it's a bit different and the founder of Le Tea shatters this myth.
"It is a myth that only children and teenagers drink bubble tea. Many adults and older people are pleasantly surprised when they taste our tea, because they do not get such a quality experience in other bubble tea shops. People do not expect that bubble tea can be so tasty, delicious, high-quality and to their liking. We can assure you that this tea is loved by all age groups practically equally: children, teenagers, young adults, adults and seniors. Maybe we will surprise you, but the main visitors of our shop are from the age group of 20-35 years. It's no wonder that the drink we make is so popular, because we have another secret ingredient - love, which is a special component of the whole tea-making process", - the owner of Le Tea shares his impressions and experience.
High-quality raw materials come even from Taiwan: customers appreciate the quality as well
"Le Tea" offers the inhabitants of Vilnius and guests of the city a tea culture that has existed for thousands of years. According to the founder, the team's many years of experience and knowledge of tea making allow us to offer the best products to our customers.
"We cooperate with many experienced partners from Taiwanese factories, all our raw materials are produced in Taiwan. Since we communicate with them in the same language, cooperation is smoother and more efficient. We pay particular attention to the quality of our products and the taste of our drinks. We make fresh tea and accessories every day. Visitors to the store will have a personalized experience - everyone can choose hot and cold drink options, adjust the amount of ice for the drink, and the sweetness. We constantly test and taste the drinks we make, so that we notice problems in time and customers are not disappointed with the quality of the drinks. We want and strive to offer only the best to our customers", the founder of the "Le Tea" shop does not hide his determination.
The shop is also very positively evaluated by customers who travel from country to country and evaluate where the bubble tea is best. One customer always looks at the comments left by customers from Asia when choosing bubble tea shops.
"In Europe, I usually look for reviews of bubble tea shops, which are appreciated by customers from Asia. In my opinion, for European shops, such customers set a higher standard for bubble tea because they can try different shops in Taiwan or Asia and decide what is good and what is bad. The first comment I saw was written by an Asian woman. She mentioned that she had "tested" this place a year ago, which left only positive impressions, and when she returned to the same place a year later, she was surprised that the quality remained the same. I have her to thank for this feedback. If you want to know whether bubble tea is good or not, order pure tea with a little sugar. Having tried bubble tea in most European cities (London, Italian cities, Zurich, etc.), I didn't have high expectations. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the richness and aftertaste of the jasmine green tea I ordered. It was the taste of authentic Taiwanese tea. I asked for 50% sugar, it turned out a very good, but not too sweet drink. The traditional tapioca pearls were very easy to chew, which is exactly what I like. Probably the best European bubble tea shop I've visited so far," wrote one active commenter on the Le Tea account on Google, who gave the shop a five-star rating.
Therefore, the taste of traditional Asian bubble tea will be waiting for everyone at the "Le Tea" shop on Trakai Street.
Le Tea teas can also be ordered on delivery platforms "Volt" and "Bolt Food".
Contact information
Address: Trakų st. 7-10, Vilnius
Working hours: Open throughout the week, but opening hours change depending on the season and we recommend checking opening hours on Google Maps before visiting the store.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letea2020/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Letea2020
Article prepared in collaboration with Le Tea
