Little Bean

Little Bean is a bubble tea joint by my house in La Puente that I've been frequenting for years. I'm a little obsessed. They make the best tapioca tea ever. The sweet-potato based starch ball is perfectly cooked -- gooey, soft and mucilaginous with a little bit of resistance in the center of the pearl, perfectly sweetened and, I think this is the key, SERVED WARM. While lesser tapioca tea joints shake their teas and incorporate the tapioca into the frothy mess, Little Bean lets the blobs sit in the bottom of the cup, adding ice and room temperature milky tea on top of the slop which allows the tapioca to maintain its textural perfection. Besides offering green tea, red tea, and coffee in any permutation (with and without sugar, with and without milk), Little Bean also serves their tapioca with fruit smoothies, various flavored milks, teas, and juices, and with their popular shaved iced dessert. I have tried to prepare the bubbles at home but without much success. Email me if you have any tips.