Recent Reads: Kawaii Cafe Bubble Tea: Classic, Fun, and Refreshing Boba Drinks to Make at Home by Stacey Kwong and Beyah del Mundo

Source: From Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Kawaii Cafe Bubble Tea: Classic, Fun, and Refreshing Boba Drinks to Make at Home by Stacey Kwong and Beyah del Mundo
Publisher: Rock Point
Publication Date:  January 9, 2024

 

Format: Ebook


Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Satisfy your bubble tea cravings at home (and affordably)! Kawaii Café  Bubble Tea  includes over 60 easy-to-follow recipes, beautifully illustrated in a fun anime style.

No matter if you call it boba or bubble tea , this addictive drink that originated in Taiwan in the 1980s has taken the world by storm, with shops popping up on every corner and lines out all their doors.

Kawaii Café Bubble Tea covers all the basics, from brewing tea and making your own tapioca balls (aka boba) to handcrafting sweeteners, syrups, toppings, and more with all-natural ingredients and no corn syrup. Each recipe includes exciting anime-style illustrations and instructions for customizing to your preferred level of sweetness.

Learn how to make:

Milk Teas (lactose-free Thai, black milk, and green milk teas)

Fruit Teas (strawberry, mango, watermelon, kiwi, pineapple, pomelo, and cucumber teas)

Specialty Drinks (with special ingredients including coconut milk, almond butter, taro root, and ice cream)

Recipes include:

Pomelo Slushie (green or black tea with Pomelo Jam and Simple Syrup)

Lady Bug (black tea with Strawberry Syrup and Watermelon Syrup)

Area 51 (green tea with Cucumber Syrup and Kiwi Syrup)

Mint Tea Lemon Mojito (mint tea with Lemon Syrup, Simple Syrup, and mint leaves)

Pink Panda (milk, Strawberry Syrup, and cookies-and-cream ice cream)

With yummy recipes, down-to-earth writing, and a delightful design, Kawaii Café  Bubble Tea  is the ultimate guide to this global phenomenon.

Review: 

Such cute aka. kawaii cover art - I was immediately sold and wanted to read all about bubble tea. This is a bubble tea....cook book of sorts. It is so much more than just a bunch of recipes though and it was far more intense than expected. 

'Reading' a cookbook for review is weird - and I haven't made any of the recipes so I cannot to that point. Overall, the book had a lot of seemingly great recipes and a lot of helpful information to share. 

The authors talk about boba, syrups, bases, james, homemade thai tea, and a pink drink variation called a Piglet. The illustration from the cover and its adorable nature continues throughout - watercolor style with detail of the drinks and components.

The notes they include are so thoughtful in the process of bubble tea making and helpful. They also note that pre-made is not the end of the world, which as a non-Bubble tea maker normally, that was a nice touch. Readers could be really intimidated by this cookbook, but they do a good job trying to keep it a little light and giving you a wealth of information.  

So fun, such a happy read and viewing experience.