Asia has a long history of drinking tea. But one style of tea has long been bubbling above the other vareties — and taking the global market by storm.

Originating in Taipei in the 1980s, bubble tea made its way to the United States in the 1990s. It became extremely popular within the Taiwanese American community on the West Coast. Shops began opening up all over California, becoming well known with the surrounding Asian American communities.

But how did it reach such a wide audience in these past few years, especially the U.S., which is primarily a coffee-drinking nation? Its popularity can mainly be attributed to two things: the rise of social media, and its versatility.

Social media started taking off in the mid-2000s, and from viral hits like “Bobalife” by the Fung Brothers to simply sharing photos of their drinks from boba companies like the Boba Bros and Kung-Fu tea. This, of course, led to experiments in aesthetics. (On the West Coast, most call it boba tea.)

Boba was soon far from simply being the original milk tea with black tapioca pearls. To keep up with the attention from social media and changing tastes, boba shop owners began using a variety of new ingredients like fruit, jelly, aloe, ice cream, red beans, and even alcohol. These changes kept boba relevant over the years while also stretching its reach across different communities.

The creativity and adaptability of “bobaristas” have really helped to push the drink into being one of the most popular drinks in mainstream culture. It has been over 30 years since bubble tea first came to the America, but the market is only expected to continue growing.

SAMPAN, published by the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association, is the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, acting as a bridge between Asian American community organizations and individuals in the Greater Boston area. It is published biweekly and distributed free-of-charge throughout metro Boston; it is also delivered to as far away as Hawaii.