Bubble Tea Gets an Unexpected Twist

Muslims in New York find community at the boba shop.

I can’t remember the first time I had bubble tea, to be quite honest. In Hong Kong, in the 1990s, we had Ten Ren’s tea shop where I used to go with my friends for a tall glass of ice-cold green apple tea. It was tart-sweet and tannic, but I don’t recall any tapioca pearls. Afterwards, we would walk across the street to the Times Square mall in Causeway …