Break for Bubbles

When we were small, Katie and I used to spend our hard-earned pocket money on a slush puppy each after swimming at Hyndburn Sports Centre. Now that I’m a little older, I’ve found a new, slightly more sophisticated drink to follow a session at the Tepid Baths.

Ice crush from Easy Way Bubble Cafe is a variation on bubble tea, a Taiwanese speciality. Basically a crushed-ice smoothie, it comes in a range of flavours such as mango, passionfruit and plum (Skene’s favourite) and extras include herb jelly, aloe vera and chopped lychee. My preferred addition though is black tapioca pearls – sweet balls of starch with the consistency of fruit pastilles but none of the animal products. An extra wide straw is required and specialist skills must be developed in order to suck up every last pearl.

Here’s a picture of some actual bubble tea from our recent visit to Hong Kong airport. It may look unappetising but, trust me, it is in fact delicious.