So there’s a running joke that Asians have bubble tea running through their veins than blood, and there’s no denying that we do absolutely love our bubble tea.

From regular milk tea to cheese tea to fruit tea, with a variety of pearls, we love them all, and yet we still can’t seem to get enough, if it wasn’t already evident enough from the magnitude of bubble tea shops popping up all over the place.

Here some people have gone the extra mile to plate up bubble tea in ways we’ve never considered before. Genius or insane? We find out.

Photo Credit: Celest Lim

BUNS

We don’t suppose it requires much more of a description once you’ve seen the image. It’s an earl grey tea-infused fluffy dough bun filled with earl grey tea-infused cream and the classic chewy tapioca balls.

CHOCOLATE MALT TOAST

For slightly more, you can also get a Chocolate Malt Bubble Tea Toast. Kind of a cross between Horlicks and Milo in the form of a Nutella spread, it oozes nothing but sweet decadence with a pop of surprise in each bite.

Photo Credit: Nini

DORAYAKI

If you grew up watching Doraemon, you’d know his absolute favourite snack would be dorayaki, a Japanese pancake stuffed with fillings such as Azuki paste. Over in Taiwan, you’d find a stall called Quolofune selling Pearl Milk Tea Nama Dorayaki apart from regular dorayaki flavours. It’s a winning combination of sweet black sugar tapioca and freshly whipped soft cream.

Photo Credit: Nini

EGG TARTS

We’ve had chocolate egg tarts, passion fruit egg tarts, so why not bubble tea egg tarts? We don’t just mean tossing a spoonful of tapioca on top of a regular Portuguese egg tart though. Found inside a train station at Liang Liang Hao, they serve up hot pockets of eggy goodness with tapiocas almost all but melting into the egg mixture.

Photo Credit: Nini

PANCAKES

Combine a Japanese’s fluffy souffle-style pancake with tapioca pearls and you’ll get a dish that looks like someone plucked it straight out of your mid-day office daydreams. Described as a lovely mesh of milk tea-infused cream with black sugar pearls atop the fluffiest, airiest pancake ever that even guys would enjoy as it’s not overly sweet.

Photo Credit: Nini

PANCAKES..?

Before you question why pancake appears twice (maybe thrice, if you consider Dorayaki one too), there are so many different types of pancakes served with tapioca we couldn’t help but give them their own individual spotlight.

Photo Credit: Nini

PIZZA

Regardless of whether you think pineapple belongs on pizza, this might be enough to spark a new debate. While the idea of chewy black sugar balls in a bed of melted cheese and crust might seem sacrilegious since dessert pizzas are already a thing, what’s there to lose with tapioca on pizza?

Photo Credit: Shopaholicdeb

ROLL

Another creation by our very own Breadtalk is their Earl Grey Bubble Tea Roll to wrap up their Taste of Taiwan release. The same earl grey tea-infused cream and tapioca are wrapped within a light and airy Swiss sponge cake with little flecks of tea leaves added to the mix. It’s sure to make everyone say “wow” when you bring it to the table.

Photo Credit: TP Tea

SOFT SERVE

You’ve probably also already heard by now that TP Tea sells their signature soft serve with tapioca as toppings. You can expect a satisfying creamy bite of milk tea in the form of ice cream that contrasts perfectly with the thick chewy tapioca pearls.

Photo Credit: The Benjamins

TOAST

Picture two slices of crispy bread with chewy tapioca pearls stuffed in the middle, drizzled in a sauce of your choice. Sounds crazy? You’ll be surprised to know that some people love it.

It is safe to say that everybody knows about the Taiwanese milk teas that have taken Singapore by storm. These Chun Cui He teas are stocked in selected 7-11 outlets around the island, and are available in extremely limited quantities.

The milk teas came to our shores recently, and they get swiped off the shelves every single time they are restocked. In fact, 7-11 has even issued notifications and announcements that customers are only allowed to purchase a maximum of 6 bottles at any one time.

But here is why we believe that the Chun Cui He Milk Teas Are Not Worth The Hype.

Buying six bottles of the same milk tea at one time might seem a little too much, but people have gotten away with buying more than these when the milk teas first landed in Singapore.

A recent viral post saw a man boasting about how he bought boxes of these milk teas. This in turn sparked an outrage among netizens who labelled him as selfish and inconsiderate.

If you thought that was all, you’d be surprised to learn that there is even a Facebook group for Chun Cui He fanatics with updates on which 7-11 outlets have restocks, and which are all sold out. They even provide tips on the hours to visit for higher chances of walking away with a bottle (or six) of the milk teas for yourself.

We know what you are probably thinking: are these milk teas really worth all that attention?

If you are not quick enough, you won’t even be able to catch a glimpse of them on the shelves. Don’t get us wrong; the milk teas taste pretty decent. We would go as far as to say that these are a must-try when you are in Taiwan. They are easily available everywhere there, and you won’t have to go hunting them down.

But here is one main reason why they are not worth the hype, especially when they are brought to Singapore – they are way too overpriced for what they are worth.

In Taiwan, they cost just about S$1.20 per bottle, and that is almost the same cost as a bottle of mineral water there. But here, they retail for about S$2.80 – that’s more than two times the original price!

They are also a lot smaller than you would imagine them to be, making the prices that they are sold for all the more exorbitant.

In Taiwan, these Chun Cui He milk teas come in a plethora of different flavours such as Green Tea Latte, Sumiyaki, Mocha and more, but Singapore only stocks their Original Milk Tea and Latte flavours.

Well, these milk teas probably sell out faster than hotcakes here in Singapore because Singaporeans are FOMOs. Yes, the fear of missing out. Whenever we see people going crazy over something new or interesting, the fad spreads, and soon everybody is lining up to get one of their own – even if they do not truly understand what the hype is all about.

And you know what really bothers us? The milk tea actually tastes pretty much like what most bottled milk teas would taste like! Sure, there are bad bottled milk teas, but compare Chun Cui He Milk Tea to regular ones that are perpetually available on the shelves (such as Pokka Milk Tea) and you would realise they are actually pretty similar.

You know what is even better? Royal Milk Tea from Japan.

If, in the highly unlikely scenario, that you chance upon a bottle of Chun Cui He Milk Tea up on 7-11 shelves, go ahead and give it a try. If you have not had a taste of these teas for yourself, it might be a good idea to see what the hype is all about.

But we don’t think you’ll be able to find ready stocks on shelves without first doing a bit of research to see which outlets have restocked, and the milk teas are honestly not worth that kind of effort.

The trend should die down soon. Give it a few months (or maybe weeks!), and we bet you good money you can walk in to any 7-11 and pick up some for yourself easily.