Bubble Tea and the World

For this project, we are interested in how bubble tea has spread on a global scale.

The British and Tea

No one knows who first added milk to tea, as it is a common practice among many cultures, however there is no doubt that the modern tea culture was largely influenced by the relationship between China and Britain during the years surrounding the Opium Wars.

The British, being fond in particular of black teas and integrating milk as an essential part of their tea culture, had a profound influence on the regions they colonized and traded with. It is the opinion of the author that the British insistence on adding milk to tea, and their power within the tea industry as a result of “stealing” tea from China paved the way for the eventual formation of the tapioca and milk infused drink so many people know and love today.

Globalization

The spread of westernization led to a homogenized trend of culture, in this case Western consumerism methods of convenience and individualization. With the trend in globalization through Westernization, the tea drinking culture of Taiwan is reconstructed into the form of Bubble Tea to fit the construct of the modern trend of Western consumerism. Today’s Bubble tea is a marker of Taiwan’s new identity in response to homogenization as a diversification of its traditional tea drinking culture.

“McDonaldism” is a term used by American sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society in 1993. The term essentially means rationality and is “the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world.” Basically, “McDonaldization” takes a task and breaks it down into smaller tasks. Bubble Tea is made in such a way, in which the process of bubble tea follows the pouring of tea and milk into a plastic cup, filling it with the varieties of tapioca pearls and jellies, then mixing them all together in a shaking machine and finally a plastic covering is snapped on top. Blog Site

Popularity

Bubble tea did not spread across the world for no reason. There are specific aspects of the beverage that have helped it reach the level of popularity it holds today. Two features of bubble tea are discussed through the medium of a satirical news site. (Note: Weebly sites sometimes do not work with campus wi-fi.)

The first article explores the ingredients of bubble tea through discussions of its addictiveness and health scares. The fact that these health scares do not seem to have significantly affected bubble tea’s popularity shows how enduring of a drink it is.

The second article explores the sexualization of bubble tea. This topic is discussed by relating the drink to fears over immorality. Eating is a very sensual experience, and is often compared to or associated with sex and sexual arousal. The sensuousness of bubble tea likely contribute to its global popularity.

This project is a collaboration between Jennifer Liu, Erika Harper, and Alexander B. Kodama

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the read!