Pearls are a College Student's Best Friend
A Minnesota bubble tea review
By Morgan Shelley
Content disclaimer: This article will discuss food and food consumption.
Imagine: It’s a perfect winter day (which means it isn’t snowing). You enter your favorite bubble tea shop, the scent of tapioca pearls hangs in the air and your favorite beverage ingredients are in stock. The human behind the counter greets you with a smile, and your drink is ready faster than you could have ever anticipated. This, wildcat, is what paradise is like.
I had my first bubble tea experience in Chicago’s Chinatown during high school, and my world has not been the same since I bit into my first black pearl. I’ve noticed multiple new shops pop up and have enjoyed a lot of bubble tea since then. After this adorable Google Doodle caught my eye a few weeks ago, I became very curious about the history of the beverage and why it seems to have the ability to bring people together during even the bleakest of times.
“Bubble tea connects people cross-culturally and deserves its popularity,” said Kajnrig Khang ‘25 (Psychology, she/they) about the popularity of bubble tea in Minnesota, which they explained is a recent phenomenon. “I used to only go to one shop as a child because there just weren’t any around.” Khang’s favorite bubble tea shop is Poke & Song Tea in Blaine, Minn.; her favorite flavor is Strawberry. Chewy tapioca pearls are their favorite part of the experience, but choking on the pearls is something they shared they could do without. (Honestly, same!)
Simplicitea’s menu. Credit: Simplicitea.
Bubble tea is a Taiwanese beverage that was created during the 1980s with roots in traditional Taiwanese tea culture dating back to the 1600s. Taiwanese people introduced the local drink around the world, and it has been a global success. Bubble tea also goes by many names—boba, boba tea, pearl milk tea, etc. There are numerous bubble tea shops in Minnesota. One of my longtime favorites is Simplicitea in St. Paul, Minn.: Their brown sugar boba is heavenly, they have an enormous variety of beverages and they’re less than two miles away from campus! I can’t wait to walk there with some friends when the weather improves.
Alexia Kern ‘25 (Biology, she/her) shared her favorite thing about bubble tea: “It gives me a great excuse to go out and spend time with my friends and loved ones while also having a fun, delicious drink.” She doesn’t enjoy undercooked tapioca pearls, almond is her favorite flavor of bubble tea and she drinks boba about three times a month. Chatime—founded in Zhubei, Taiwan, in 2005 with over 2,500 locations in 38 countries—is Kern’s favorite boba franchise. With locations in Minneapolis, Bloomington and Edina, it seems that Chatime is a statewide favorite.
Chatime’s Mall of America shop. Credit: MOAC Mall Holdings LLC
Where there is bubble tea, a crowd of happy people is bound to appear. “It's hard to find someone college-aged nowadays who doesn’t know what bubble tea is,” explained Natalie Nemes ‘24 (English, she/her). “I find it so fascinating that such a niche drink has become so widespread.” The tapioca pearls in bubble tea were surprising for Nemes—a common occurrence for first-time bubble tea drinkers—but now, the pearls are her favorite part of the experience. (Again, same!)
Fern Schiffer ‘25 (English, any pronouns) “rarely (seeks) out bubble tea without also getting food,” and one of their favorite places to eat and drink Thai or fruit-flavored boba is Ichiddo Ramen (which has locations everywhere from Highland Park to Bloomington and even Roseville.)
Bubble tea is something college students can bond over because it represents something greater than a beverage prepared to your liking. “Boba forces me to slow down so I can enjoy it more,” explained Joey Foerner ‘25 (Master of Social Work, he/they). Two interviewees mentioned connections between boba and people they care about during our discussions. Slowing down and connecting with others seems to be a natural part of the college student bubble tea experience.
For me, bubble tea is connected to pleasant memories of high school and my first days living in Minnesota, a world 400 miles away from my home in Chicago. It is special no matter what day of the week I get it, and it never fails to make me smile, or at least, make me focus on exactly where I am in my life.
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that pearls are a college student’s best friend.
