Japan's love for bubble tea shows few signs of waning

When it comes to Japan's tapioca craze, it seems the third time may be the charm. Currently in the midst of a boom that has already outstripped the previous two waves, demand for tapioca drinks, also known as bubble tea or pearl tea, is still going strong.A starch extracted from the cassava root, tapioca first won fans in Japan in the 1990s as a key ingredient in a coconut milk dessert. It then popped up again when milk tea using tapioca balls shaped like large, black pearls boomed in the 2000s.The drink fad made its return in 2015 and shows few signs of slowing down this time around, with …READ FULL ARTICLE