Bubble Tea or Boba Tea has been making waves around the world lately for it’s delicious flavors as well as different textures that it provides. Whether you want chewy tapioca pearls or even fruity type of drinks, there is an option for everyone. But one thing to know is that it can sometimes be hard to find out how much caffeine is in your Bubble Tea.
After all, does Bubble Tea have caffeine it it?
And the answer is actually it depends. With so many variety of drinks out there, it can actually be hard to tell. But fortunately for you, we have done our homework. And in this article we will answer all the questions you may have about Bubble Tea and the Caffeine that is inside it.
What Is Bubble Tea?
For those that don’t know, Bubble Tea or Boba as some may call it, is a special kind of drink that originated from Taiwan. It is a delicious drink that utilizes different types of teas and pairs it with different toppings to give incredible flavors with each and every sip.
As you can tell by the name, Bubble Tea is actually referring to the drink itself where it’s part tea and part bubbles with the bubbles being the tapioca pearls. And depending on what kind of drink you get, you would usually get a different tea used to make it.
Some of the most common teas you can find inside a Bubble Tea drink includes Green Tea, Black Tea, Fruit Tea and more. There are stores that even carry Herbal Tea too which is pretty cool to see.
These stores would then usually pair the tea up with some type of flavor like milk or flavored syrup to help give the drink itself more substance. Then they would add in tapioca pearls that are basically small round black balls that are chewy and pairs nicely with the drink.
So in a nutshell, Bubble Tea is basically a tea drink that has chewy tapioca pearls in it.
Types Of Bubble Tea
Now depending on where you visit to get your Bubble Tea, you would usually find out that there is quite a big variety of them. For instance, they got plain types of bubble tea which is basically just tea with some flavor added in it. There are also slushes, juices and so much more.
With over thousands of different variations around, the type of Bubble Tea that you would find usually depends on what kind of tea was used, how much sweetness is added in and also the types of toppings used. Then you also have to factor in whether you want it hot or cold which adds even more variation to your drink.
But most importantly, the Bubble Tea would usually all start with a tea base.
So depending on what tea base you use, that would have a majority impact as to how your drink will taste.
Does Bubble Tea Have Caffeine In It?
You would be surprised to find out that most Bubble Tea drinks out there actually does have caffeine in it. After all, majority of Bubble Tea drinks are made using a tea base. Which is where you could get your caffeine from. However, the caffeine that you get from Bubble Tea is actually different from the caffeine you get from a coffee or what not.
The reason for this is because the caffeine in Bubble Tea is actually pretty slow to act up in your body. Which means that when you drink a Bubble Tea drink, you won’t really get any of the post-caffeine effects you would usually get when drinking coffee.
Although this does depend on how you make your Bubble Tea drink in general because even though the caffeine is low, if you add too much sugar than it can still make you crash overall.
But in general however, most Bubble Tea drinks will use some type of tea base like Green Tea, Black Tea, Fruit Tea or any other teas to make your drink. So to answer your question, yes majority of Bubble Tea drinks out there will have caffeine in it.
Which Bubble Tea Has The Most Caffeine?
Depending on what kind of tea base you use for your Bubble Tea, the amount of caffeine in it will vary. For instance, Green Tea would usually have the lowest amount of caffeine where as Black Tea would have a higher amount of caffeine.
Here is a break down of the amount of caffeine in different teas:
Green Tea:
Green Tea typically has the lowest amount of caffeine in it when used in a Bubble Tea drink. For instance, in a 1 cup of Green Tea, there would usually be around 20 to 30 mg of caffeine. Which is typically not bad when compared to other types of teas out there.
But this also depends on what kind of Green Tea they use as well, since Green Tea comes in many different varieties. The most common Green Tea has the lowest but if you were to go for a different variety like Matcha Green Tea then you would usually find that it has up to 70 mg of caffeine or more.
However, most Bubble Tea locations won’t use Matcha Green Tea as it’s a bit too expensive. So they would usually end up using the cheapest kind which has the lowest amount of caffeine in it.
Black Tea:
Black Tea is one of the most common teas used in making Bubble Tea drinks. It’s especially popular in the common drinks like Classic Milk Tea and more. However you would be surprised to find out that it also carries one of the highest amount of caffeine’s out of all teas.
For instance, in a 1 cup of Black Tea, you would usually find that it carries an average of around 40 to 50 mg of caffeine which is actually pretty high for Bubble Tea.
But just like Green Tea where they have different varieties, Black Teas also have different varieties too. Depending on whether you use Earl Grey or Black Assam or more, the amount of caffeine in it can vary greatly too.
However, in general Black Tea would usually have the most caffeine in it.
Fruit Tea:
Fruit Teas are another type of tea that many places will use when making Bubble Tea. However the thing with Fruit Teas is that it still utilizes tea but combines it with some type of fruit flavored puree or syrup. Which means, depending on what kind of tea it uses, whether its Green Tea, Black Tea or something else, the amount of caffeine it has can definitely vary.
But even with that being said, it would still carry less caffeine than compared to one of the tea bases that uses nothing but tea. For instance, regular Black Tea in general has around 40 to 50 mg of caffeine. But if you were to use a Fruit Tea that has Black Tea in it, it might only have around 30 to 40 mg of caffeine.
So it just depends on what kind of tea they use to make it, but overall it should be a lot lower than its full portion counterparts.
Herbal Tea:
Now there is one kind of tea out there called the Herbal Tea which actually doesn’t have any caffeine in it at all. However, not many Bubble Tea shops will carry this as it’s not really a popular tea base to use. For those that do, then they’ll probably mention it somewhere on their store so customers who opt for no caffeine can order it.
But the vast majority of Bubble Tea shops out there will not carry this item so you are probably out of luck when wanting a Bubble Tea drink with no caffeine.
Conclusion
So as you can see, Bubble Tea actually does have caffeine in it, but it generally depends on what type of tea base you get. Now there are some teas out there which have no caffeine like the Herbal Teas, but those are not too common in Bubble Tea Shops.
Usually when you go to a Bubble Tea shop, they will most likely carry either Green Tea, Black Tea or Fruit Teas which all does have caffeine in them.
So to answer your question, Yes, most Bubble Teas will usually have caffeine in them. However it’s not really a crazy amount and you would not usually have the same effects as you would when drinking coffee. So hopefully this article was able to help you in some way and better understand how much caffeine is in Bubble Tea.
