We try Tapioca Beer, the drink that everyone’s raving about in Japan right now

Boba beer? Yes, please.

Like much of the world, Japan has fallen under the spell of bubble tea, with specialty stores popping up all over the place. Now the trend is branching out into the world of alcoholic beverages, with the news that Japan now has Tapioca Beer.

As soon as we heard that we could get drunk on tapioca, we were out the door and off to the Shinjuku MyLord department store branch of iBEER LE SUN PALM, the beer bar restaurant responsible for the new creation. And when we arrived, we saw that there were four different types of Tapioca Beer available, all billed as “Tapioca The Next”.

These beers were definitely taking tapioca to the next level, with plain, strawberry, pineapple and kiwi fruit varieties on offer. We decided to go with the plain, and when it arrived, we couldn’t tear our eyes away from its beauty.

Large black balls of tapioca filled up the bottom of the drink, which was served in a soda glass, making it look more like a cream-topped dessert than a beer.

We took hold of the extra-wide straw and gave the drink a sip. Instantly, a ball party kicked off in our mouths, as the beer bubbles sparkled on our tongue, sending out bitter notes while the tapioca balls slid up the straw one after the other.

It was a simple pairing of beer and tapioca, but what a match they were together. The sensation of chewing sweet tapioca while drinking a bitter beer was weirdly wonderful, and if you’re a bit tired of having sweet bubble teas, this is a fantastic new way to enjoy boba.

Another unusual thing we noticed about the beer was the fact that it contained ice. We thought this was strange at first, but after a while we realised that the ice made it feel like we were slurping up icy balls of slippery tapioca.

We loved every mouthful of the Tapioca Beer and if we had more time on our hands we would’ve happily enjoyed them all. The plain variety we tried cost 580 yen (US$5.35) plus tax, while the ones with fruit syrup cost 630 yen.

The beers can be found at the following iBEER LE SUN PALM locations: Shinjuku Mylord, Shibuya Hikarie, Futakotamagawa Rise, and Atré Kawasaki. Now we just need them to find a way to bottle their boba beer, because that would truly be next level.

Photos: SoraNews24
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