The recently opened Teaze is the first place to introduce bubble tea to Mumbai

A new hangout for tea-totallers

Invented on the streets of Taiwan in the ’80s, Bubble Tea originally consisted of sweetened, cold green or milk tea to which tapioca balls, or pearls, were added. The liquid confection is quite popular in east Asia and the drink gets its name from the neutral-flavoured, translucent pearls which look like bubbles from the side of the glass.
The recently opened Teaze is the first place to introduce bubble tea to Mumbai and already seems to have favour with students from neighbouring Hinduja College. The tiny outlet, which can barely squeeze four people in, is surrounded by myriad street-food stalls.

Teaze offers green teas, milk teas, blended iced teas, energizers, T-shakes and milkshakes in a variety of flavours. These can be had plain, with a filling of plain tapioca or fruit-flavoured bubbles. All drinks are served in plastic glasses with sealed tops and fat straws thick enough for the bubbles to pass through.
We found the passion-fruit-flavoured, green tea concoction with mango bubbles to be very refreshing, but cloyingly sweet. Apparently, we also had to specify the degree of sweetness we desired. The English toffee milk tea with tapioca bubbles was much nicer; the pearls were perfectly chewy and the tea had a delicate caramel-toffee flavour. The small size would make a great on-the-go breakfast. Also very nice was the green apple green tea, though the strips of grape coconut jelly didn’t do so well with the straws.
Bubble tea is a novel, fun alternative to iced teas and if you’re in the area, it’s worth popping into Teaze.