# Who has had popping boba? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582 "2015-06-03T23:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582/1 "2015-06-03T23:03:05Z")
I went to a pho joint for lunch yesterday, and they gave me a free milk tea with boba in it. First, I had never had milk tea before, and second, there were little orange “boba” or pearls in the bottom of the glass. I had had tapioca boba before, which I like, but I had never seen orange ones. I sucked up a strawful and started to chew, and they popped in my mouth. They looked exactly like salmon roe, translucent and tender, and their texture was exactly like salmon roe. But the insides were filled with tart, tangy passion fruit juice! It was a major eye-opener. The waiter didn’t speak enough English to fill me in, so I Googled it when I returned to the office. Someone invented a method of making little pearl-sized balls of juice encased inside a thin skin - very clever. They’ve been around for a couple of years and are getting very popular. They’re damned addicting. The combination of mellow milky tea with tart fruity popping pearls is indescribable. I’m going out tomorrow for lunch near a milk tea/boba joint and get a big glass of jasmine milk tea with mango popping boba. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582/2 "2015-06-03T23:07:51Z")
Yeah, I had popping boba once, but I recovered with minimal scarring and the doctor assures me I’m now immune. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582/3 "2015-06-04T02:48:50Z")
There’s a local self-serve frozen yogurt place that has them as a possible topping. I like them (especially passion fruit flavour). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582/4 "2015-06-04T03:13:16Z")
I think it’s been popular longer than a few years. It’s also known as [bubble tea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea), and I know I’ve had it and I haven’t really gone anywhere that might have had such a thing in at least 5 years. I find it at the froyo place now, too. It’s neat! ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582/5 "2015-06-04T12:51:43Z")
It sounds like it’s just calcium alginate spheres. You can make it with just about any sort of flavor. I don’t really like the taste of calcium at that concentration, but YMMV. > **[Spherification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherification)** > > Spherification is a culinary process that employs sodium alginate and either calcium chloride or calcium glucate lactate to shape a liquid into squishy spheres, which visually and texturally resemble roe. The technique was documented by Unilever in the 1950s and brought to the modernist cuisine by the creative team at El Bulli under the direction of chefs Ferran Adrià and Albert Adrià. > There are two main methods for creating such spheres, which differ based on the calcium content of the liquid p... ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582/6 "2015-06-04T13:31:04Z")
I normally love gimmicks like this but there’s something texturally disturbing about these, so they’re just not for me 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-popping-boba/721582/7 "2015-06-04T14:15:07Z")
What are the symptoms?