The story
Bubble tea came out of Taiwan's 1980s craze for cold, shaken tea drinks. At Chun Shui Tang, a teahouse in Taichung, product manager Lin Hsiu Hui is said to have dropped sweetened tapioca balls into her iced milk tea during a staff meeting in 1987, and the drink soon went on the menu. Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan tells a rival story dated to 1986, and the two firms fought in court for years. By the mid-1990s pearl milk tea was sold all over Taiwan, and it later spread through Asia and to cities worldwide.
Rival claims
Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan says its founder Tu Tsong-he created pearl milk tea in 1986, a year before Chun Shui Tang's 1987 date; years of lawsuits ended in 2019 without a court naming either as the inventor.
Also known as boba, boba tea, pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, tapioca milk tea.
On the Meridish menu
Bubble tea was the aperitif course on menu No. 6 on October 6, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Sweet milk tea with chewy tapioca pearls, first served at a teahouse here in the 1980s. A rival shop down the coast also claims it.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2018/11/13/2003704115
- globalvoices.org/2024/05/21/bubble-tea-a-taiwanese-sip-that-evolved-into-a-global-sensation
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chun_Shui_Tang
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
