Qatar celebrates arrival of first bubble tea shop

Qatar has launched its first bubble tea shop at the Doha City Centre Mall.

The Pearl Bubble Tea shop sells boba or pearl tea, a beverage consisting of chewy tapioca pearls, growing in popularity within the region.

The beverage originates from Southeast Asia and has rocketed in popularity within America since the 90s and now the Middle East, with a number of bubble tea shops in Bahrain, Lebanon and Dubai.

Imtiaz Dawood, the shop’s creator, learned the recipe in Canada and after five years in Qatar, felt the time was right to introduce to the market.

“I wanted to do it properly, I wanted to make sure we got the drinks right,” he said after spending some six months trying to get the shop up and running amidst a sea of red tape.

The drink is served as cold milk tea, a slushie or a smoothie. Pearl Bubble Tea recommends the coconut taro smoothie, the pineapple slushie and the mango milk tea.

Dawood has suggested that there are plans to take the brand further, expanding into other Doha malls.