Brewed Fresh Daily

Coffee houses reign as king in Northeast Ohio, but not necessarily in the eyes of a group of Asian-American entrepreneurs who have opened the area's first "bubble tea cafe" - serving up in the heart of winter an assortment of ice cold, effervescent teas. Bubble tea, or pearl milk tea as it is sometimes called, was originally a Taiwanese drink. Now it is popular throughout Asia and has made its way across the Pacific. The beverage is a blend of green or black tea, sweet condensed milk, ice and the pearls, made from cassava root. Aficionados suck up the milk and simulantaneously chew the pearls. Called TurboFour, the cafe makes 10 flavors, all with the chewy tapioca pearls settled at the bottom of a 16oz plastic cup that comes with a jumbo straw. Flavors range from coffee to almond. The owners admit it can be disconcerting for first-time bubble tea drinkers to suck up the slightly sweet tapioca pearls.