5 comments

[ 2.0 ms ] story [ 19.4 ms ] thread
> “Some people will not buy a drink if we’re out of boba,” she said. “They’re literally here for the boba.”

I've heard from an ice-cream shop owner that mint-chip eaters are this way. Anyone else will substitute another flavor if the one they're looking for isn't there, but an ice-cream shop has to have mint-chip on hand because people looking for that flavor won't substitute.

Anyway: I had no idea we imported finished tapioca pearls. They seem really easy to make:

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-make-Tapioca-Pearls-fro...

(I appreciate there's a big difference between making enough for one drink and needing to have enough on hand for a week's business, but still, if it's that or losing customers, time to get cooking.)

Sounds like there is an underlying tapioca problem too:

That’s because the shipping containers from Thailand, the main producer of the world’s tapioca starch, are also stuck in the water. It’s impossible to make boba without tapioca.

Geez, I somehow missed that entire paragraph in the article.
Anecdotally, I'm one of them. If I have a mint chocolate chip craving, nothing else you give me will work out for us. It doesn't even have to be good, just the right stuff.