Another unlikely pandemic shortage: Boba tea

Another unlikely pandemic shortage: Boba tea

A panic erupted on the West Coast this week. Over a drink. It happened when beverage aficionados learned that tapioca, the starch used to make the sweet, round, chewy black bubbles — or pearls — that are the featured topping in the popular boba tea drink, was in short supply. “I was shocked,” said Leanne Yuen, a longtime boba drinker and a student at the University of California, Irvine. “What am I going to do now?”