Some pearl-shaped bubble foods have been with us for a long time — not fads at all. Perhaps the classic is caviar, and fish ...

has turned it into a cultural icon for younger generations. Bubble tea started in Taiwan during the 1980s when Liu Han-Chieh added sweetened tapioca pearls to cold tea at Chun Shui Tang teahouse.

Herrine Ro: Vancouver, British Columbia, is known for its boba. Bubble tea, pearls, however you want to call it. There are hundreds of bubble-tea shops serving variations of the Taiwanese drink ...