<Tr> <Th> Main ingredients </Th> <Td> Tapioca, milk / creamer, brewed tea, sugar, water </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Cookbook: Bubble Tea Media: Boba / bubble tea </Td> </Tr> <P> Boba tea (also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, boba juice, boba tea, or simply bubble tea) (Chinese: 波霸 奶茶; pinyin: bōbà nǎichá, with tapioca balls it is 珍珠 奶茶; zhēnzhū nǎichá) is a Taiwanese tea - based drink invented in Tainan and Taichung in the 1980s . Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed with fruit or milk, to which chewy tapioca balls (known as bubbles, pearls, or boba) and fruit jelly (especially tropical fruits like lychee) are often added . Ice - blended versions are usually mixed with fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency . There are many varieties of the drink with a wide range of ingredients with some ingredients being mango, taro, coconut, and peach . The two most popular varieties are bubble milk tea with tapioca and bubble milk green tea with tapioca . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (July 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What are the little balls in boba tea