To bubble up your life

KOCHI: There are no sayings which advise you to stay within your bubble. 'Step out into the real world', the wise always proclaim. Nevertheless, none shall ask you to leave your bubble if you step inside Smoki Ice: The Bubble Tea Shop. This is the sole outlet in Kochi which serves bubble tea, a traditional Taiwanese drink which originated in the 1980s. The USP, undoubtedly, is the black balls which align your drink.
Also known as pearl tea or boba tea, the balls are made of tapioca and are rather chewy. Smoki Ice, which is housed in the Grand Central Mall opposite Infopark is the brainchild of network architect Vipin Skaria and his friends. Vipin, who had worked in China, noticed the wonders of the drink amidst his long working hours. Post getting back to India, he and his friends co-founded The Bubble Tea Shop, bringing ethnic flavours and chewy bubbles to Kochi.

"The ingredients are sourced from Taiwan. We have altered the original taste of the drink to satisfy the quintessential Malayali's taste buds. Black and green tea are mixed for the primary concoction which also serves as the base. We add tapioca balls, fruit pureed bubbles, which burst in your mouth, and nata de coco to the drinks," says Anil Prasad, one of the partners and a telecom engineer by profession. Nata de coco is jelly-like, made from fermented coconut milk and is added to desserts.

The most popular drink at the outlet is the Hongkong Milk Tea. With a rather offbeat taste, the concoction contains the Hongkong milk powder, non-dairy powder and sugar syrup replete with nata de coco and boba.

The chewy balls and jelly flakes at the bottom of the glass are a delight; some might sneak their way to your straw with a pleasant surprise. "Even though the beverage is cold, the drink is to be sipped like tea - slowly," Anil says.

The Bubble Tea Shop was purposefully located opposite Infopark. "Bubble tea is an energy drink and our target audience was the IT crowd who work long hours. As expected, our customers are the same," he says.However, the drink is yet to create a wave in Kochi."Kochiites are unaware of the drink. The concept is yet to create momentum. People here still gravitate towards shakes. In fact, we have created an array of various drinks to cater to the crowd and introduce the tapioca balls," he says.