Notting Hill’s Bubbleology is ‘bubblicious’

There’s a new craze heading our way, no not Tom Daly shaped boyfriends for everyone, but the latest drink that’s so trendy it makes Frank Ocean look like your Nan: Bubble tea.

As a nation of tea drinkers, it’s surprising that nobody has tried experimenting with our traditional tipple before, but then again we don’t really like messing about with a national institution, until now…

So So Gay were invited along to the launch night of the new Notting Hill branch of Bubbleology, that serves up ‘the delicious science of bubble tea’.

So just what is bubble tea?

Well, it’s the name given to a variety of refreshing flavoured fruit teas and milk teas, served either ice cold or piping hot, with chewy natural tapioca balls, that according to Bubbleology you can ‘suck up through a big fat straw.’ Steady now.

And wait, did we say tapioca? The dessert that my Grandad used to eat after his roast dinner, that looked a bit like frog spawn? (After extensive Googling I found that what I’m actually remembering is tapioca pudding. So I was sort of close.)

This type of tapioca is actually a bit like a gummy bear, and the small marble sized balls sit at the bottom of your drink, creating an amazing and unusual taste sensation. With drink flavours ranging from white peach to mocha, there’s something for everyone to try.

With stores already in Soho and Knightsbridge, and plans to open two more concession stands within the next two months soon we’ll be as familiar to Bubbleology as we are to Starbucks. Plus the brand is going global, with stores opening as far as Russia, Saudi Arabia and parts of America soon.

In fact, bubble tea is already a massive phenomenon in New York, where I’ve just been living for the past year. In the big apple, you’re nobody unless you’re sucking on tapioca balls on your lunch hour. And anything they can do, we can do better.

If after reading all this, you’ve realised you don’t actually like tea, then you need to pay Bubbleology a visit just for their theatrical decore, chilled out vibe and the Rice Krispie cake pops, (two words: life changing).

Bubbleology is open seven days a week in Soho and Notting Hill, and can also be found on the 5th floor of Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge. Tweet them at @Bubbleology_UK, and let us know at @SoSoGay what your favourite flavour is!

Photograph courtesy of Ben Egan.