Two big boxes awaited me at my buildings package room, one with a big "REDDIT SECRET SANTA" sticker on it! Apparently, my secret santa searched through my history thoroughly enough to know that I love the bubble teas from the NYC street markets, and lo and behold not only do I find among the packing peanuts a 6-pound bag of tapioca balls, but also a bag of milk tea powder, 2 bags of golden milk tea leaves, those spiffy super-wide bubble tea straws, a cocktail shaker (which I'm not sure yet how it relates to this bubble extravaganza, but it will certainly be put to use in other alcoholic ways,) a spoon strainer, and a long handled spoon for spoony awesomeness.

Thank you, secret santa... not only have you made me super excited, but if there's one person I know who enjoys bubble tea more than I do, it's my girlfriend and she will freak out when she sees this.

Hopefully I can find some recipes online about how this all works together. Or if you have serving suggestions, I'm all ears. The package came with instructions on how to cook the tapioca balls, and the milk tea powder package came with preparation suggestions, but I'm not sure how the golden milk tea leaves fit in, and when do I add the balls? and it says to cook ALL the balls at once... can I do it in batches? does it keep in the fridge if i do it all at once?