Who Invented Bubble Tea? The History of Boba From Taiwan

Today you can buy bubble tea in malls from Los Angeles to London, but its story starts in a handful of Taiwanese tea shops in the 1980s. Ask who invented bubble tea and you will get two different answers, both from Taiwan, both with a date, and both backed by a company that has been serving the drink ever since. The honest answer is that it evolved in steps: first cold shaken tea, then tapioca pearls, then the sealed takeaway cup that carried it around the world.

Key takeaways

• Bubble tea developed in Taiwan in the 1980s from sweetened tea shaken with ice until frothy.
• Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan says founder Tu Tsung-ho added white tapioca balls to milk tea in 1986.
• Chun Shui Tang in Taichung says employee Lin Hsiu-hui created pearl milk tea in 1987 (some sources say 1988).
• The two companies went to court, and neither could patent or trademark the drink.
• It spread across Asia in the 1990s and reached the US with Taiwanese immigrants, starting in California.

In this article

1. Before the pearls: shaken tea
2. Who invented bubble tea? Two claims
3. Bubble tea timeline
4. Bubble, pearl or boba?
5. Make pearl milk tea at home
6. FAQ

Before the pearls: shaken tea

The first “bubbles” were not pearls at all. According to the Taipei Times, a popular drink in 1980s Taiwan was brewed black or green tea, sweetened with syrup and shaken hard with ice in a cocktail shaker. The shaking chilled the tea and whipped up a thick layer of froth. At first it was shaken by hand; later, machines did the job.

Chun Shui Tang, a Taichung tea house, ties its own story to this cold-tea trend: Wikipedia records that founder Liu Han-chieh began serving tea cold after seeing coffee served cold in Japan.

Meanwhile, chewy tapioca balls, fenyuan, were already a familiar sweet in Taiwan’s night markets. Wikipedia notes they were made from cassava starch, and that cassava came to Taiwan from South America during the period of Japanese rule. Putting the two together was the step that made history.

Who invented bubble tea? Two claims

Hanlin Tea Room, Tainan (1986)

Hanlin’s founder, Tu Tsung-ho, says he bought white tapioca balls at Tainan’s Yamuliao market in 1986, cooked them and added them to milk tea. He called it pearl milk tea because the balls looked like pearls. Hanlin still lets customers choose white pearls or the black ones colored with brown sugar.

Chun Shui Tang, Taichung (1987 or 1988)

Chun Shui Tang says the first cup came from Lin Hsiu-hui, a young employee who dropped tapioca balls into her iced tea during a staff meeting. The Taipei Times reports the company dates it to 1987; Wikipedia gives 1988. The drink became the chain’s best seller.

The court case

The two companies took their dispute to court. The outcome that matters for history is simple: neither could patent or trademark pearl milk tea, so anyone could make it, and soon everyone did. The Taipei Times also floats a more speculative idea: that a night-market vendor might have been inspired by cendol, an iced coconut-milk drink with jelly strands from Malaysia and Singapore. Nobody has shown a direct link.

Bubble tea timeline

That last step is easy to overlook. The Taipei Times notes that imported machines that seal takeaway cups with plastic film made the modern grab-and-go version possible.

Bubble, pearl or boba?

Sources differ on “bubble.” Wikipedia says the pearls give the drink its name, but the shaken tea that came first was famous for its froth, so both explanations circulate. “Pearl” describes the tapioca balls. “Boba” comes from the Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), a slang term used for the larger pearls that later replaced the original smaller ones, according to Wikipedia. In the US, especially in Asian American communities, “boba” became the everyday name.

The two most popular orders remain pearl black milk tea and pearl green milk tea.

Make pearl milk tea at home

You need strong tea, milk, a brown sugar syrup and quick-cook tapioca pearls (sold in Asian grocery stores). Makes one large glass.

1. Steep the tea in the hot water for 5 minutes, strain and let it cool. It should be strong.
2. Cook the pearls following the package directions, then drain.
3. Simmer the brown sugar and water for 1–2 minutes, add the warm pearls and stir to coat.
4. Spoon the pearls and syrup into a tall glass. Add ice, the cooled tea and the milk.
5. Stir and serve with a wide straw. Tapioca pearls harden as they cool, so drink within a few hours.

Variations: use oat milk for a dairy-free version; swap the black tea for jasmine green tea for a pearl green milk tea; or use cold brew coffee instead of tea for a coffee boba.

Our loose-leaf English Breakfast, a malty blend of African and Indian black teas strong enough for milk, makes a classic base. For the green version, Jasmine brings a sweet floral note. Coffee fans can try a jar of Cold Brew Coffee over brown sugar pearls. Hong Kong’s coffee-and-tea mix, the yuenyeung, is another milk tea worth knowing.

Bubble tea history FAQ

Who invented bubble tea?

Two Taiwanese tea houses claim it: Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan (1986) and Chun Shui Tang in Taichung (1987 or 1988). Neither claim has been settled in a way everyone accepts.

Why is it called bubble tea?

Most sources link the name to the round tapioca pearls. The frothy shaken tea that preceded them is another common explanation.

What are boba pearls made of?

Traditional tapioca pearls are made from cassava starch. Brown sugar gives the dark ones their color.

When did bubble tea come to the US?

In the 1990s, brought by Taiwanese immigrants, with California as the first hub.

Sources

1. Feature on the origins of pearl milk tea, Taipei Times, 2018.
2. Bubble tea, Wikipedia.

Facts checked in October 2026.

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