Bubbly Summer: Remember These Words When You Order Your Bubble Tea…

Summer heat is apt to give rise to afternoon energy crash, when a cup of creamy icy bubble tea would freshen you up. It’s been almost a routine in the office to treat ourselves to bubble tea every afternoon, totally leaving behind the diet we’re on trying to shake off some sedentary weight.

Getting bubble tea delivered to your door or office is as easy as clicking your fingers, thanks to all these food-ordering apps. It only gets a bit tricky if you are still sharpening up your Chinese, when it comes to choosing the wide range of flavors the bubble tea shops offer.

Usually, bubble tea shops give options for sugar levels and variations of temperature. Put Coco, the bubble tea shop we order most from because it’s always quick to deliver, provide four choices of temperature:
– 常规冰 (cháng guī bīng “average”)
– 多冰 (duō bīng “extra ice”)
– 少冰 (shǎo bīng “less ice”)
– 去冰 (qù bīng “without ice”)…

…and five sugar levels:
– 常规糖 (cháng guī táng “average”)
– 多糖 (duō táng “extra sugar”)
– 半糖 (bàn táng “medium sugar”)
– 微糖 (wēi táng “low sugar”)
– 无糖 (wú táng “no added sugar”).

At Royaltea, the options for sugar level and temperature are more or less the same, though there’s an extra sweetness option called 完美比例 (wán měi bǐ lì “perfect proportion”), and also 热 (rè “hot”) temperature – obviously not a top option for summer, especially for those who didn’t grow up in a culture obsessed with hot water.

Chewy tidbits, including black pearl (珍珠 zhēnzhū), coconut jelly (椰果 yē guǒ), red beans (红豆 hóngdòu), and mung beans (绿豆 lǜdòu), are also on the menu, to add more texture to the drink. For the jelly, there are different flavors such as lychee (荔枝 lìzhī), mango (芒果 mángguǒ), coffee (咖啡 kāfēi), and green tea (绿茶 lǜchá).

Another piece of advice from a self-confessed bubble tea addict: if you’re ordering from a bubble tea shop which takes a long time to deliver, try not to order with ice, because by the time it arrives the ice cubes will have melted, which significantly waters down the flavor.

Check out this article by our sister brand the Beijinger to find out where can you feed your bubble tea addiction.

Photos: Pixabay; bubbleteaology.com