Bubble Tea Station Mango slush with boba: Bubble Tea Station is a good reminder of the realities of bubble tea in mainstream America. When NYTimes published an article on the odd-blobs-in-drinks trend, a mostly-justifiable outrage was heard from bubble tea fanatics across the country, leading to multiple revisions and an official apology from the editors. While bubble tea is by no means a new cultural phenomena in the states, it's also nowhere near as pervasive as those of us living in urban centers might think. Last month, I found myself in Meadowwood Mall, an air conditioned refuge in dessert-hot Reno, Nevada, a city where Asians make out about 6% of the population. Adjacent to Flaming Wok in the mall foodcourt is Bubble Tea Station, a stand with a menu of largely tropical fruit slush options. I approached the counter and asked if they adjust sweetness, upon which I received a blank stare - perhaps a question never asked before. I take that as a no and wait 20 minutes for the appropriate powders to be mixed before I receive my mango slush, the color of orange juice. The boba is mush, and the drink is mostly ice despite its saturated orange hue. Here, we have a slurpie-sweet beverage with curious blobs, more akin to what was described in the Times than most bubble tea I've had over the years. 2.0/5.0

bubbletea drinks bubbleteastation mango slush boba 2.0