Lately it seems a bubble tea craze has taken over Seoul. For those who don't know, bubble tea is a milk or fruit tea based drink originally from Taiwan. Another name given to this drink is "pearl milk tea" due to the chewy tapioca balls floating in it. It has spread all over Asia and its popularity has recently hit Korea. Walking around Ewha I've noticed at least six locations have popped up since March, and each place constantly has a long line of students waiting to order drinks. Last week I received a free drink coupon for Chatime outside my university and decided to take a look to see what was so special about bubble tea.

It's on one of the two main shopping streets of Ewha so it's quite easy to find, despite being rather small in size. I was given the option of 4 different drinks despite the extensive menu and opted for the Macha Smoothie since macha is one of my favourites and always a safe option! Upon going inside to wait I saw there wasn't much room to sit like the other bubble tea shops, so it seems it's more of a "to go" drink. The waiting time was quite short and the staff all spoke English, making ordering for English speakers an easy task.

Upon getting my drink I saw it had red bean in it, something I'm not particularly fond of. It was an optional add-in on the menu for 500₩ but they gave it to me in my free drink anyway :'( It was quite good anyway but I'll remember to order it without next time just in case. The only problem with bubble tea is that because of the thick straw you end up drinking it too quickly!

I liked the drink quite a lot despite the red bean so I ended up going back again a few days ago. This time I ordered Jasmine Green Tea (자스민녹차) bubble tea, and I liked it a lot more than the smoothie. It was just sweet enough and had the slight bitterness of tea. I ordered it without the bubbles because I'm not a huge fan of the texture of tapioca, but it was still good! If anyone wants to try bubble tea I definitely recommend Chatime because it has a very complete menu of not just bubble tea but also normal teas, juices, coffees, and smoothies.

Directions: Walk out of Ewha Station (이대역) exit 4, keep going straight til the very end (in front of Ewha University's main gate), turn left, and keep walking straight. Chatime is in between Lens Story and Holika Holika