Bubble Tea Coming To Moody Street

WALTHAM, MA — Bubble Tea lovers who've made their way down Moody Street recently are cheering. A sign in the window of the space formerly occupied by the old Cricket Wireless shop says it all: Kung Fu Tea is coming to Waltham.

The New York City-based chain was founded in 2009 after three friends had returned from a trip to Taiwan and were having a hard time finding a quality take on the childhood drink they had come to love in Taiwan.

A decade later, Kung Fu Tea has more than 200 locations across the country.

If you've never had bubble tea, here are some things to know:

Bubble tea is also known as pearl milk tea, boba juice, boba milk tea or just boba. It's a tea-based drink that was first concocted in Taiwan in the 1980s, then grew in popularity in the 1990s in Japan and Hong Kong and then found its way to the U.S. in the early 2000s.

Most recipes contain tea in some base shaken with fruit or milk. You can also get it as a slushy or a smoothie, blended with ice. There are variations that include a range of ingredients from aloe to herbal jelly, but bubbles or boba (chewy tapioca balls) are generally added, thus the name: bubble tea.

All the drinks are generally sweet, but at Kung Fu Tea you can order by how much sugar/ sweetness you're interested in.

The Kung Fu Tea website touts the business' use of Taiwanese tea leaves, brewed fresh every three hours and say they make bubbles from a combination of tapioca, brown sugar and honey every two hours to preserve their fresh, chewy texture.

This would be the tenth Kung Fu Tea in the state. No word on an opening date, just yet.

Subscribe to Waltham Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Got something to add?
Sign up to post to Patch and tell your neighbors what's going on in and around Waltham. Post anything from calendar events to a column about a need in your neighborhood to a public meeting folks should know about. Our philosophy is the more neighborhood watchers the better.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/ Patch Staff. Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna)