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Wondering why your Google search bar shows an animation of a dog in a chef’s hat making bubble tea?

Monday’s Google Doodle is celebrating the refreshing Taiwanese beverage that became a huge international sensation in the 1980s.

Bubble tea, for the uninitiated, is in its most basic form just tea combined with milk or fruit syrup, with little balls of tapioca. The flavour variations now are virtually endless, as shops across the world come up with their own versions of the popular drink.

Clicking on the Doodle will land you in a minigame, with Taiwan’s Indigenous Formosan Mountain Dog operating a bubble tea stand in a rainy forest. You’re tasked with adding the ingredients to fill the cup to the appropriate line, earning you a star for your hard work. The dog is also joined by a cast of familiar past Doodle characters.

Google’s new Doodle is an homage to the bubble tea emoji which was created three years ago, forever immortalizing the drink’s place in popular culture.

Bubble tea, also known as boba tea or pearl milk tea, can be traced back to centuries of traditional tea culture in Taiwan. It became popular starting in the 1980s across Asia and North America, as waves of Taiwanese immigrants introduced the recipe overseas.

According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of the term was in 1993.

Here is a list of previous stories from the Star on bubble tea, including a design café in Toronto and recipes on how to make it at home.

The Star’s digital producer Madison Wong reviews cafe and shop Benkei Hime at Toronto’s Eaton Centre. This unconventional bubble tea spot also sells merchandise, such as clothing and home accessories, designed by international and local artists.

This recipe is inspired by Hyun Jung Kim, owner of Toronto’s Core Bubble Tea. While it shows the step-by-step to making a classic milk tea, it says you can top it up with aloe vera jelly or even add a shot of espresso to turn it into a latte.

In another series of recipes, the Star’s food reporter Karon Liu shows how to make a chocolate-Nutella malt shake with tapioca pearls and suggests adding alcohol to switch things up.

In this story, Liu interviews Michaela Hapak, corporate pastry chef of the Icon Legacy Hospitality group at the time, and learns how to make gourmet marshmallows out of bubble tea powder. He shares the recipe with readers.

This story is part of a Star series called The Dish, which breaks down the nutritional information of Torontonians’ favourite dishes.

In 2019, the Star investigated the emergence of bubble tea frenzy in Vancouver. “While bubble tea and dessert shops are changing the makeup of the neighbourhoods, it could be short-lived. Those in the business predict bubble tea is just another food craze that’s bound to burst,” the article by former Vancouver Star reporter Jenny Peng reads.

Four years later, the Doodle’s celebration of bubble tea shows its fan base is as alive as ever.

Leave us a note in the comments about your favourite bubble tea spot in the city.

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