Bubble tea, the satisfyingly delicious tea-based drink from Taiwan, has recently been called out by multiple food publications (here, here, and here) for being unhealthy due to the immense amount of sugar in the drink. The main culprit? The starchy tapioca, or the black boba balls, which are boiled in what is essentially sugar water for that chewy texture that we all look forward to with every sip.

With the rising popularity of bubble tea (which can be made with milk or fruit, both are super yum) in major cities like New York and Los Angeles, it's a drink that can't be ignored with the varies types of teas that can be used to create it. Honestly, it's so popular that even a beauty product was created in it's image. Sure, the calorie count is pretty high up there with the mixture of milk, sugar, and other deliciousness that can be added like red bean, grass jelly, and egg custard, but nowadays it's possible to customize the level of sugar and even ice in your bubble tea.

I mean, I'm guilty of having a bubble tea once a week (or twice), but in a way, it's like grabbing a cup of coffee (I mean, the caffeine is no joke). So yes, bubble tea should be consumed in moderation just like every other thing that's bad for us, like ice cream, ramen, candy, and Hot Cheetos Fries (well, there goes my summer diet list. But it's also important to treat yourself (insert Aziz Ansari gif) and make the most out of all the yum eateries out there in the world.

So here's a list of my favorite bubble tea places ever: Kung Fu Tea, Coco Bubble Tea, and Boba Guys. P.S.: These are pretty big chains, I recommend actually going to the motherland (Taiwan) to try some local favorites. I mean hey, that's a good enough reason to add a country on your travel list, right?

Basically what I'm trying to say is 1. Drink your bubble tea, 2. Go travel to Taiwan, and 3. Who cares about the calories count? In the words of Drake (who did not create this phrase by the way), "YOLO".

Wow, how 2012 was that?

Cheers.