What’s a boba?
Apparently I’ve been living under a rock, because I had no clue what the funny balls were at BTO last night.
“What is that?!”
“Boba! Try one!”
and Kyle hands me one.
About 2 minutes later:
“Are you supposed to pop it or something?”
He laughed pretty hard.
They were a fun little addition to the foyo, but I’m not sure I’d get them again. They were like little juice-filled balls.
I had the passion fruit boba atop all three types of dairy-free froyo, chocolate chips and blueberries.
Toasted marshmallow, salted caramel and coconut. AMAZING.
Before BTO, I had another fun little treat: taking a Zumba class from a new-to-me instructor.
(Jingle bell skirts FTW)
My aunt is a fellow fitness instructor, and while she’s here, she got a guest pass at a local gym. We have a lot in common, including the fact that our kinda vacay includes the chance to take new fitness classes, and we’ll both try anything. It was her first time taking Zumba- it was a blast. I always love to see other instructors’ choreography and what songs and class mixes they’re doing.
This morning, I’m off to teach my own Zumba class. Snacks are packed to get me through the morning, plus a filling breakfast:
Melon shared with Oliv (who got her FIRST TOOTH this morning!!!)
Breakfast cookie dough cereal with blueberries, strawberries
+ donut shop coffee with coconut milk creamer
Hope you have a wonderful day!
See ya later on the Fashion page <3
xoxo
Gina
New family post! School decisions….
Something to read:
Cardio zone burns more calories during workouts
Tasty twists on traditional hummus recipes
7 items for your fitness bucket list
Something to talk about: Standard froyo toppings! Have you tried boba before? I rarely get frozen yogurt -I’m more of a cookie or cake girl- but blueberries and chocolate chips are the usual suspects if I do 😉
59 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
It’s nice to know that they have a name since my boyfriend loves those things!
I recently tried bob a for the first time. It seems to be a big thing in SoCal but I had never heard of seen it before moving out here. I’m not really a fan either and I would definitely rather put something else as a topping on my froyo or ice cream! 😉
LOVE bobas!!!
I love boba. I used to get iced milk tea with boba at the bottom. I’m kind of glad I can’t find a place that sells good boba where I live anymore, because I’m sure it’s filled with tons of sugar, calories, etc. 😛
i googled it and it totally is. haha. so good, though!
Ladies, you can buy large tapioca balls and cook them for bubble tea. It’s a real PITA to conjure up something that ends up having the texture of either a blood clot or salmon roe, but it’s doable.
My hubs is Chinese, bubble tea is their thing. Along with convincing white people they want to eat it.
Hahahaha. Cat, your comment cracked me up. I have to say though, I am a white girl convert of bubble tea. Haven’t had one in awhile though.
I love boba!
I’ve seen the popping bobas but am more familiar with the large tapioca balls in drinks that are also called boba. They’re larger glutinous balls at the bottom of milk teas and you get a wider straw to slurp up the chewy balls.
I wondered what those little things were! I usually just top my froyo with a bunch of different kinds of fresh fruit. That’s so exciting that Livi got her first tooth 🙂 Yum, I love the Donut Shop k-cups!
YAY for Livi Lou’s new toofer! 😀 I see those boba things at Orange Leaf, and I pass. I’m reactive hypoglycemic so I try to top my froyo with some non-sugary stuff to balance it out a little better. But, the texture just looks creepy to me. 😉
Best frozen yogurt topping (that’s a total treat) that I just saw two days ago: mini junior mints! Junior Mints were my favorite candy as a kid–so I threw a few of these minis on top since I’d never seen them before. Just as good as I remembered! And so cute–being mini. Otherwise, I usually load up on the fresh fruit and dark chocolate chips! 🙂
Not such a fan of the little bubbles-didnt know they had a name!
I recommend going to get a real boba drink in town whenever you’re near La Cholla & Orange Grove at Bing’s Boba in the LeeLee’s Grocery area. They make great avocado and other fruit slushes/smoothies/teas with different types of addins, like boba or jellies. I don’t really care for those boba poppers. “Real” boba is made of tapioca.
havent had any coconut milk creamer in years but it sounds great about now!
Yay for the first tooth!
Gina, I adore your collection of inspirational coffee mugs! Where do you get them?
I tried boba a while back – I wasn’t a huge fan of it either! Just thought it was a little weird.
No matter what kind of froyo I get, either Reese’s Pieces or Peanut Butter Cups is a requirement. Every single time. And banana slices. And marshmallows…. (I have a bit of an extensive list :-))
OMG Gina. I love your blog, and I’ve learned a lot from it, so I’ll take this time to note everything I know about boba.
My parents are Taiwanese, and boba is a Taiwanese thing. It’s not usually filled with juice (or red). It’s usually a brown tapioca ball, that’s chewy. They include it in shaved ice toppings (but shaved ice in Taiwan has a ton of toppings–it’s not much like Hawaiian shaved ice). The most popular boba thing is probably boba milk tea, which is milk tea + boba at the bottom. They serve it with big straws so you can suck up the boba while you drink it. I don’t know if there’s a big Chinese/Taiwanese population near where you live, but I’m sure Yelp will be able to help you out if you want to try it. (SoCal has a huge boba following, so next time you’re in the area, you can check out some authentic tea shops.)
There are actually a ton of boba-like chewy things that Taiwanese people put in drinks haha. Regular big boba, mini boba, flavored boba, pink boba, different flavors of jellies, etc. And the drinks have huge variety too. Smoothies, slushies, various flavored milk teas, flavored milks, etc.
Also, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea
Healthwise, boba isn’t exactly great for you. It’s just tapioca starch, and the drinks it comes with are usually really sugary. And the milk teas usually contain dairy. You’d probably be better off getting a slushie/smoothie, if you want to avoid dairy. Not all places use fresh fruit, though, but fresh mango smoothie + boba is pretty yum. (Also, if you’re ever in Taiwan, boba stands are EVERYWHERE.)
Sorry I just left you an essay on boba. Just a thought–if your yogurt place includes boba as a topping, check if they also have mochi. Mochi is soft and chewy and lightly sweet. <3 it on froyo.
I LOVE froyo and I LOVELOVELOVE bobas! They’re my favorite topping! I also like strawberries, raspberries, kiwi and yogurt chips.
I have definitely never heard of a boba so you are not alone lol! They look….interesting to say the least 🙂
Congrats to Miss Liv on her first tooth!! I haven’t knowingly eaten boba balls before either, but just reading Catherine’s comment above makes them sound a little more familiar because I have had the balls that come in bubble tea. Not sure I love em either… my fave fro yo toppings are usually fruit, but occasionally I’ll get butterscotch chips and chocolate chips. I’m a butterscotch monster!
I have seen boba before (didn’t know what they were called) but have never tried it. They remind me too much of those little bath beads I used to love as a kid! =]
I love boba! I’ve never had it in froyo/ice cream. Here in Tampa it’s really popular in milk teas. I always get mine in a Thai tea with soy milk. So delicious!!!! If you’re ever in Tampa (we do have that big air force base…) check out Kaleisia. http://thetealounge.com/
i always get the “little kid” toppings on my fro-yo: sprinkles, circus animal cookies, cinnamon toast crunch, and graham cracker crumbs!
I had no clue what Boba was either! You are not the only one! I’ve seen them at pinkberry before but had no clue what it was! Glad you cleared it up for me! Enjoy Zumba today!
I was wondering what those things were called! I had them on my fro-yo once and wasn’t the biggest fan!
I love Boba! I always get a little bit of the mango-flavored one when I got to Red Mango in Omaha. Even if it doesn’t go with any other bit of my Froyo Sundae (last time it was PB Froyo and lots of chocolate/nutty toppings). It’s good stuff, and this is coming from someone who hates tapioca (everyone compares it to tapioca).
I agree, tapioca boba are the way to go. Those syrup filled ones are so sickly sweet even my 7-year-old wouldn’t eat them. Bubble tea is taking over my town in Germany. I just need to pick a favorite place and train them to make it to my liking…lots of tea, just a splash of milk (preferably soy or almond), no sweetener, and lots of tapioca boba. Hmmm, maybe I should just make it myself!
Never heard of Boba.. interesting!! I love taking new-to-me instructor’s classes. I always learn something from every Instructor I take, that only helps out my own class, or solidifies what I am doing in my class to be a GOOD thing. It’s definitely interesting to see how different we all are. There are many people who love one’s class, and then there are others who don’t like the same instructor, and all for so many different reasons. Nothing sucks more, though, than taking a new instructor and you hating the style. Happened to me once.. It was torture getting through her class and she was actually pretty popular in my area.. we all just have different preferences! Glad you had fun, though!
I love your coffee mug! That is adorable!
I thought those boba’s were tapioca balls. Did you ever have bubble tea? I used to love that stuff.
Never heard of boba haha I’ll have to keep my eyes open
I’ve never tried boba either, but I do remember a few years back when boba tea was all the rage. I was always curious but never tried it for some reason.
I LOVE boba, especially in Thai Iced Tea! It’s the best!
Have you ever had the tea? Boba is SO. WEIRD. But then you like, can’t stop eating it…. I’m a fan.
Love boba! I tried it first in China (boba tea) but recently discovered it at froyo places too! The mango boba tastes awesome with vanilla froyo. Just sayin…
I tried boba the first time the other day, don’t worry I had no idea what they were either :] I had mango and I thought it was excellent, so fun!
Your not alone! I have never heard of them either…AND cute jingle skirt!!
Yeah I’m not sure I’d like those bobas. But i definitely like dark chocolate chips and coconut on top of my fro-yo!
Did you go to bto on kolb & sunrise? I’ve never seen those non dairy flavors!!!! I always get watermelon and cantaloupe … Salted caramel sounds better than it probably is… I live across the street so if you say they’re good… I’ll go get some:)
You’re braver than I am! I tend to be a purist with my froyo. My favorite is a simple strawberry froyo with fresh cut strawberries on top. And if I’m feeling really adventurous, sometimes I put white chocolate chips on it too! 🙂
Haha, I tried those boba at Yogurtland a few weeks ago, and I thought they were kind of gross :/. Not my cup of tea, although I LOVE boba milk tea.
Frozen yogurt is totally my thing, and I put strawberries, banana chunks, blueberries, and mochi on mine. I also allow myself one gummy worm for when I finish the yogurt (writing this makes me sound much more ridiculous than I am).
Boba and I are not friends! I always feel like when I top my vegan froyo with boba I swallow the little suckers before I can chomp them and than I start to ponder the fact that I swallowed a boba and when does it explode? But fruit YUM! I am glad to see more fro-yo shops are open to dairy free options! The one closest to me only has one which I am happy with but to have a choice of three I would be so HAPPY! Love and Shine CourtStar
I tend to forego the toppings in lieu of more fro yo!
My husband has loved boba for yeeears but it gives me the heebie jeebies! I’d much rather have cherries!
Hey Gina! I went back to an old post and tried your stuffed chicken with spinach and sundried tomatoes (subbed parmesan and romano for goat cheese) and it was the bomb. Thanks for posting it!
ahhh one of my faves! so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
I was wondering what those little things were in all the toppings bars. I don’t think I’d be fan. I love trying new fitness stuff on vacations!!
Really?! You’ve never heard of Boba?! Oh my goodness, I’m actually drinking one of the Boba smoothies right now! (You NEED to try one… trust me.)
Congrats to Olivia on her first tooth! And congrats to mommy and daddy for making it through the first part of the teething stage. 🙂
i am a huge fan of bubble/boba tea AND boba in my froyo!!
I love passionfruit boba on my froyo, my favorite place to get it is Menchie’s. Favorite froyo toppings, fresh kiwi (because I hardly ever buy it myself), strawberries, and blueberries 🙂
Favorite frozen yogurt toppings are: rainbow sprinkles, granola, sliced almonds, and white chocolate chips! I have tried the boba before but Im not a gigantic fan of them. I like mochi much better because they are nice and chewy but not too chewy like gummy bears can be 🙂
I think I live under a rock as well- never heard of a boba before!
It sounds like you had a great zumba workout with your aunt. thanks for the bucket list link- I love that idea!
I tried boba once on my fro yo, but I much prefer getting fruit, granola, coconut and crushed Oreo bits on mine!