In the 1990s, bubble tea spread across East and Southeast Asia with ever-growing popularity. In regions like Hong Kong,
mainland China, Japan,
Vietnam, and Singapore, the bubble tea trend has expanded rapidly among young people. In some popular shops, people would line up for more than thirty minutes to get a drink. In 2020, the date 30 April was officially declared as National Bubble Tea Day in Taiwan. According to
Al Jazeera, bubble tea has become synonymous with Taiwan and is an important symbol of Taiwanese identity both domestically and internationally. Bubble tea is used to represent Taiwan in the context of the
Milk Tea Alliance.
Hong Kong Hong Kong is famous for its traditional Hong Kong–style milk tea, which is made with brewed black tea and evaporated milk. In 2020 it was estimated that the consumption of bubble tea was 5 times that of coffee in recent years. In 2019, annual sales from bubble tea shops reached as high as (roughly ). While bubble tea chains from Taiwan (e.g., Gong Cha and Coco) are still popular, more local brands, like Yi Dian Dian,
Nayuki,
Hey Tea, etc., are now dominating the market.
Japan Bubble tea first entered Japan in the late 1990s, but it failed to leave a lasting impression on the public markets. This is partly because the Japanese saw bubble tea as a hybrid between a dessert and drink because of the tapioca, and were unsure of how to market it. Moreover, two other desserts entered the market at the same time, and outshone bubble tea. Thus, it was not until the 2010s that the bubble tea trend finally swept Japan.
Singapore Known locally in Chinese as (), bubble tea is loved by many in Singapore. The drink was sold in Singapore as early as 1992 and became phenomenally popular among young people in 2001. This soon ended because of the intense competition and
price wars among shops. As a result, most bubble tea shops closed, and bubble tea lost its popularity by 2003. In 2018, interest in bubble tea rose again at an unprecedented speed in Singapore, as new brands like The Alley and Tiger Sugar entered the market; social media also played an important role in driving this renaissance of bubble tea. The arrival of Taiwanese chains such as
Chatime in 2010 marked a significant shift in the industry, as franchised outlets began appearing in major cities. By 2013, Malaysia accounted for around 50% of Chatime's global revenue. Tealive has since become the leading homegrown bubble tea brand in Malaysia, with hundreds of outlets nationwide and regional expansion across Southeast Asia. Other international and local brands, such as Gong Cha, The Alley, and Chizu, also maintain a strong presence. The Malaysian bubble tea market has experienced significant growth and popularity in recent years, becoming a prominent segment of the country's beverage industry. Bubble tea has evolved into a mainstream beverage preference among the populace, propelled by the influx of international franchises and the emergence of indigenous brands.
United States Taiwanese immigrants introduced bubble tea to the United States in the 1990s, initially in California through regions including
Los Angeles County. Chains like Tapioca Express, Quickly, Lollicup, and
Happy Lemon emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, bringing the Taiwanese bubble tea trend to the US. It is also used disparagingly in the term
boba liberal, a term that derides mainstream Asian-American liberalism. Other regions with large concentrations of bubble tea restaurants in the United States are the
Northeast and
Southwest. This is reflected in the
coffeehouse-style
teahouse chains that originate from the regions, such as
Boba Tea Company from
Albuquerque,
New Mexico, No. 1 Boba Tea in
Las Vegas,
Nevada, and
Kung Fu Tea from New York City. Albuquerque and Las Vegas have a large concentrations of boba tea restaurants, as the drink is popular especially among the
Hispano,
Navajo,
Pueblo, and other
Native American,
Hispanic and Latino American communities in the Southwest. Aside from the drink itself, boba tea stores have become more than just a business. Accompanying the "boba life" phenomenon, boba tea stores have transformed into a social space for Asian American students to form meaningful communities around. One source notes that the casual atmosphere within these stores allows people to break existing social barriers and connect over their shared identities. Alongside American bubble tea chains, several large American
coffeehouse chains have joined in on the growing popularity by adding bubble tea drinks and variants to their menus, often by first releasing them as seasonal summer drinks. Notable examples include
Caribou Coffee in 2018,
Dunkin' Donuts in 2021, and
Starbucks in 2024. A massive shipping and supply chain crisis on the US West coast, coupled with the
obstruction of the Suez Canal in March 2021, caused a shortage of tapioca pearls for bubble tea shops in the US and Canada. Most of the tapioca consumed in the US is imported from Asia, since the critical ingredient, tapioca starch, is mostly grown in Asia.
TikTok trends and the
Korean Wave also fueled the popularity of bubble tea in the United States.
Vietnam Taiwanese milk tea was introduced to
Vietnam in the early 2000s, but it took a few years for this drink to become popular with young people. Roadside stalls and carts rarely served milk tea, and the milk tea trend gradually cooled down in the late 2000s. Many shops had to liquidate or close, while others struggled to survive. Bubble tea also gained controversy because of information about tea of unknown origin, tapioca pearls allegedly being made from
polymer plastics, etc. By 2012, Taiwanese brands arrived in Vietnam, still the same old milk tea but served in a completely new style: milk tea with toppings, developing a chain model, and a space designed as well as any famous coffee shop. Also, the halo of Taiwanese milk tea gradually returned, especially around the end of 2016, to the beginning of 2017. According to a survey by Lozi, in 2017, the Vietnamese milk tea market witnessed an explosion with 100 large and small brands coexisting and over 1,500 points of sale, including major brands from Taiwan such as Ding Tea,
Gong Cha, BoBaPop. This survey also shows that milk tea is becoming a popular drink in Vietnam, when 53% of people confirming to drink milk tea at least once a week. In addition, milk tea is constantly "transforming" to meet all customer needs, from cheese cream tea, fruit tea to low-fat tea. Another important point that makes milk tea popular is the service style. Instead of small shops and school gate carts like in the past, the milk tea is designed into a spacious space, with fixed seats, and cool air conditioning. In Korea, there are many different large and small milk tea shops, famous brands, or just small shops with a drink counter and a table. Although pearl milk tea originated in Taiwan, it underwent certain changes in Korea. When entering restaurants or bakeries in Korea, we will see the
calorie index recorded very carefully as a way to protect the health of consumers. For example, at
Gong Cha milk tea shops, customers can choose the sweetness of their milk tea by choosing the sugar level (0%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100%) and similarly choose ice to add their personal favorite flavor to their milk tea.
Australia Individual bubble tea shops began to appear in Australia in the 1990s, along with other regional drinks like Eis
Cendol. Chains of stores were established as early as 2002, when the Bubble Cup franchise opened its first store in
Melbourne. Although originally associated with the rapid growth of immigration from Asia and the vast tertiary student cohort from Asia, in Melbourne and Sydney, bubble tea has become popular across many communities.
Mauritius The first bubble tea shop in
Mauritius opened in late 2012, and since then, there have been bubble tea shops in most shopping malls on the island. Bubble tea shops have become a popular place for teenagers to hang out.
United Kingdom Bubble tea appeared in the UK sometime between the 2000s and 2010s, and began gaining traction in the United Kingdom through early adoption in Asian predominated cities such as Chinatown and Soho before expanding into the mainstream market. Entrepreneurs such as Assad Khan played a key role in its growth, launching dedicated bubble tea shops like Bubbleology in London in 2011 after encountering the drink abroad. Bubble tea is especially popular amongst students, who appreciate being able to customize the drink to suit their taste. ==Cultural influence==