The invention of bubble milk tea is disputed, but two tea houses in Taiwan both claim to have originated the drink in 1986: Chun Shui Tang in Taichung and Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan.
While definitive proof of who invented it first remains elusive, here's a breakdown of the claims:
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Chun Shui Tang: This tea house in Taichung claims that its founder, Liu Han-Chieh, experimented with adding tapioca pearls (fen yuan) to iced tea after seeing white tapioca balls during a meeting. His product development manager, Lin Hsiu Hui, is often credited with first pouring the tapioca pearls into her iced tea in 1988 (though the initial claim is 1986), leading to the drink's popularity among customers.
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Hanlin Tea Room: This tea house in Tainan also claims to have invented bubble tea in 1986. The owner, Tu Tsong-he, says he was inspired by white tapioca balls he saw at the Yamuliao Market. He used these white tapioca balls to make his "pearl tea." He later switched to black tapioca pearls, which are the standard today.
Ultimately, there is no single inventor of bubble tea. It seems to have emerged organically as different tea houses experimented with ingredients and techniques. The popularity of these early versions led to the bubble tea we know and love today.
