Bubble tea vegan?

[petunia]

hey everyone.

just a little question... does anyone know if bubble tea is usually vegan, or not so much?

im talking about the little "tapioca" balls that they put in it. Ive read on the internet that some are just tapioca and/or agar, and some are geletin based. it depends on the company.

but the problem is that at the bubble tea house i frequent, the language barrier between the people who work there and myself is so strong that i am certain they will have no idea what i am asking. and i dont want to offend them, etc, etc. (i will probably try to find out in the future, im just avoiding it for now. lol... ) ive also been avoiding the bubble tea, because im scared its not vegan, and i miss it!

anyway, does anybody know if the little balls are GENERALLY vegan?
thanks!

[Digital Ghost]

I have heard that they sometimes soak the tapioca balls in honey.

However someone with more knowledge on all this is probably just about to answer.......sorry.

[Pob]

Never heard of that before. Just looked it up.

Looks and sounds gross! I don't want no lumpy black stuff in ma tea, thankyouverymuch!

[fondducoeur]

The Bubble Tea Company where I am from does not use gelatin, but I was told that they were usually vegan, just to make sure the tea itself did not have dairy/honey. I love bubble tea but haven't had it in quite a while.

[mariana]

I always just assumed the tapioca balls were vegan! I guess you could order it without "pearl"...but that just wouldn't be as good. I also assumed that if you got the fruit slushy-type bubble tea it wouldn't have any dairy...but are you saying it might have dairy, fundduocoeur? Oh no!

The Bubble Tea Company where I am from does not use gelatin, but I was told that they were usually vegan, just to make sure the tea itself did not have dairy/honey. I love bubble tea but haven't had it in quite a while.

This is really making me crave bubble tea! The people who work at the bubble tea place around here don't speak English, but luckily they're from Taiwan and I am studying Chinese, so I will ask them about dairy...I have no idea how to say gelatin in Chinese, though.
P.S. What is everyone's favorite flavor of bubble tea? I think mine's lychee.

[fondducoeur]

I usually get the mango or the wintermelon (i'm not sure what that flavor actually is, but its good and I was assured that its vegan). However, I know some flavor my boyfriend tried getting one time they said had milk in it (it was the slushy kind), but I'm not sure what that flavor is. So some do have dairy in them. The boba (or pearls) is vegan. However, traditional bubble tea (the not-slushy kind) is based on condensed milk, honey, and tapioca balls. Some places do offer soy milk though.

[mariana]

Thanks! That's good to know. I like the fruit flavors, so I will have to make sure that they don't have milk (weird! why put milk in a fruit slush type thing?). Yum, mango! That's my 2nd favorite flavor I think.