Every now and then, search engine giant Google redesigns its homepage to celebrate an event, pay tribute to a renowned personality, or simply highlight the joys in life. Google calls it the Google Doodle.
Some of the most unforgettable and beautiful Google Doodles are Wubbo Ockels’ 74th birthday, the Carnaval de Barranquilla, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the Moscow Metro, and the International Women’s Day, just to new a few.
This time, Google is paying homage to a worldwide favorite: bubble tea.
Bubble tea is quite popular across the globe nowadays. Bubble teas, otherwise known as boba milk teas, are cold, frothy drinks made with a tea base shaken with flavors, sweeteners, and milk. They also consist of tapioca pearls at the base of the glass. Those who drink this need to use a fat straw to not miss out on the pearls.
Bubble tea was not around before, you might say. And you are correct. Unlike many other beverages, this drink is a recent invention. History says that bubble tea was first created in Taiwan during the 1980s.
One day, a Taiwanese tea stand had this bright idea of adding tapioca pearls to their frothy tea drinks to create imaginative and tasty beverages. Since these beverages had bubbles at the top – the froth – and at the bottom – the tapioca pearls, they became known as bubble tea.
But the historical origins of bubble tea are pretty varied. Another version says bubble tea was first created by a certain Liu Han Chieh, who mixed milk tea with black tapioca balls. The drink became popular among students who would buy it from street vendors for breakfast or snacks.
Right on this very day, bubble tea is a favorite drink in Asia and worldwide.
According to surveys, millennials are the biggest fans of bubble tea. And according to Fortune Business Insights, a leader in market research, the bubble tea market worldwide is projected to grow from $2.29 billion in 2022 to a whopping $3.78 billion by 2029.
Google makes sure it is part of the success of bubble teas. Today, it has marked the global popularity of this beverage, of course, in their own style, through a doodle.
The search engine giant is celebrating the well-loved drink with a fun, interactive doodle that lets netizens create their own milk tea concoctions and run their own shop. The cover is an image of a dog preparing bubble tea.
Netizens then will play as that dog who runs a bubble tea cart business. Google shows it is a rainy day, and they are pushing their cart and setting up the shop.
Customers are waiting, and those who click the “Play” button will be redirected to a pop-up where they can create customized drinks for five different customers by combining the ingredients (black and white pearls, tea, and sweet syrup) in specific amounts.
This needs to be done four more times to serve the other customers. The served drink is also rated based on how accurately you fill the cup per ingredient.
”Satisfy your craving and make a yummy cup of bubble tea in today’s interactive Doodle, which features Taiwan’s indigenous Formosan Mountain Dog as well as a crew of familiar Doodle characters!” Google said in its official statement.
