Bubble Tea Google Doodle: Why is Google celebrating bubble tea, what dog is used in it, and what are the origins of the drink?

Once a little known beverage, it’s now a familiar sight on Britain’s high streets – and has now been honoured by Google.

Clicking on today's Google Doodle opens up a fun interactive game.

Today’s (January 29-30) Google Doodle celebrates bubble tea – using an interactive game to challenge users to make the perfect combination of flavours.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Doodle and the drink that inspired it.

Who came up with the Google Doodle and how does it work?

Designed by Google artists Sophie Diao and Celine You, the logo features the drink alongside a canine character.

The player controls a dog who runs a bubble tea stall in the middle of a rainy forest. To prepare the drink, gamers fill the cup with all the ingredients including milk, sugar, boba balls and flavours. Fiver orders need to be completed before shutting up shop, with customers demonstrating the popularity of your concoctions by poking their straws into the cup.

What is bubble tea?

Also known as pearl milk tea or boba tea, bubble tea is a popular Taiwanese drink that has become increaingly fashionable around the world.

It consists of tea accompanied by chewy tapioca balls, but can also be made with grass jelly, fruit jelly, aloe vera, or red bean.

There are countless varieties and flavors, but the two most popular traditional varieties are pearl black milk tea and pearl green milk tea.

The most popular international styles of bubble tea are often sweet with fruity flavours and eye-catching colours.

Why was the Google Doodle released today?

Following bubble tea’s increasing popularity with Gen-Z and millennial consumers, on January 29, 2020, Unicode Consortium announced that the drink would have its own emoji. The Google Doodle marks the second anniversary of this pop cultural landmark.

Where did bubble tea start?

Bubble tea’s roots are in traditional Taiwanese tea culture dating as far back as the early 17 century, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the trend started to spread across Asia with the reinvented drink we now known as bubble tea. Now bubble tea shops are common in city centres across the UK and Europe, brought over by waves of Taiwanese immigrants over the past few decades.

Shops constantly experiment with new flavors, additions, and mixtures and the global market is now estimated to be worth over £3.5billion.

What type of dog is used in the Google Doodle?

The dog character is a Formosan Mountain Dog, a dog that is indigenous to Taiwan that are well-adapted to the country’s thick forests.

Also known at the Taiwan Dog, they were once semi-wild but are now often kept as family pets – as well as as hunting dogs, guard dogs, stunt dogs, rescue dogs, or simply as companions.

There are three types of Formosans – two small and one medium – and it is used as the official mascot of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.