From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea
‘Bubble tea’ also known as boba, is a tea beverage that originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. The balls are often called “pearls,” and are consumed along with the beverage through a wide straw. Bubble tea is especially popular in many East Asian and Southeast Asian regions such as China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Brunei, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and more recently popularized in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.