Have you ever felt frustrated when you finish all the tea in your bubble tea before the bobas (tapioca balls)? I am pretty sure you are not alone.

One strategy is to maximize boba consumption in every sip, i.e., try to get the maximum amount of bobas while getting the minimum amount of tea possible. But what exactly are the maximum and minimum amounts?

These simulations show the optimized sip based on the amount of bobas and tea in the straw (method adapted from this post). It assumes that all bobas stack on top of each other nicely in the bottom of the cup. If you put a straw straight down when there are n layers of bobas, you will get n bobas in the straw. The rest of the straw up to the drink’s height is tea. The drinker sips until all n bobas are in their mouth, then stops. After each sip, these n bobas and tea inside the straw are gradually reduced from the cup.

Several factors can affect the drinking experience and whether you can finish the bobas before the tea:

1. Cup Dimension

The shape of the cup affects how well bobas can stack up. If the cup is wider, the bobas spread more and you get fewer bobas per sip.

Comparing different cups: top, slim cup; bottom, wide cup

2. What You Put in the Cup

Of course, the more tea, more chance of success. More bobas mean less space for tea and more bobas to finish. Ice is an additional variable that takes up space, but also melts and gradually increases tea volume.

Simulations for different amount of ingredients: top, no ice; middle, more boba; bottom, with ice

3. How You Drink It

Not everybody drinks the optimized sip. Consuming more tea per sip or aggressively sucking bobas or drinking so slowly that all the ice melts can all affect the results. See the comparison of these three cases:

optimized sip more tea per sip (200% of tea in an optimized sip) more bobas per sip (200% of bobas in an optimized sip)

Comparing various drinking styles: top, optimized sip; middle, more tea per sip; bottom, more bobas per sip

Create Your Own Simulation

Use this interactive simulator to simulate how long it could take to finish a cup of bubble tea in your own drinking style. See if you can finish the bobas before the tea.