Quickly Bubble Tea

Walking down Roosevelt Avenue the other day, I passed a Quickly bubble tea place. I called my daughter to ask her what kind of bubble tea she'd like and she wanted me to order her a green. Quickly is the name of a chain of principally cold tea and fruit drinks that describes itself as a "New Generation Asian Fusion Cafe." There is some food, but they feature drinks galore with 264 varieties of teas, slushies, and fruit juice combos. However, the main feature is "Bubble Milk Tea," a creamy cold mixture of strong black tea and milk with chewy purple tapioca balls in it. The cups are heat-sealed with a thin plastic cover which does not leak when the cup is shaken or placed upside down. One takes a wide, plastic straw from the counter and punches a hole in the cellophane lid to enjoy this exotic concoction. You have to be careful to control your suction so that you don't inhale the tapioca balls, or bubbles, and at the same time enjoy the sweet milky tea. I usually pull my straw up a bit from the bottom in order to get a sip of the tea alone. Then I'll plunge it in further for a mouthful of tapioca that has the consistency of slightly gushier gummy bears. This stuff is really delicious.

I always find the name of the chain rather humorous, since quickly is an adverb that cries out for a verb or other adverb to modify. Quickly Served. Quickly Made. Or perhaps they could have resorted to an adjective-noun combination: Quick T. But then no one asked me. I just pay my $2.50 for something I could never get at Starbucks or the local diner. And the cup says that they have Quickly locations in Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, England, Canada, and the USA. So, if you want to treat yourself to something that is both interesting and tasty, just Google "Quickly" and find the location nearest you. If you're in South Dakota, I'm sure they will gladly send you one by FedEx or UPS. The heat-sealed lids won't leak.

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