IF you have taken a walk around the city centre in the past few months you may have noticed a slew of new shops.

Different from other cafes, bubble tea shops predominately sell one kind of drink - albeit in a range of flavour combinations.

Where the city once had one cafe selling the colourful drinks with boba balls there are now four bubble tea cafes in Worcester city centre.

Ping An in Pump Street was the first to offer the drink and now three other bubble tea cafes have opened up within a year.

Marcus Mak, owner of Bubble M in the Hop Market, believes Worcester has more bubble tea cafes than most cities of a similar size.

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Mr Mak, who opened up his shop four months ago, said: "I opened up because I noticed there was no bubble tea in this area of Worcester.

"Right now, there is quite a lot in Worcester compared to the rest of the UK, and I think that is because there are a lot of teenagers here - it is a younger city.

"Bubble tea has a lot of tastes, choice and you can decide your favourite, which is why I think it is popular in the UK."

Mooboo Worcester, Cupp Bubble Tea, Bubble M and Ping An Oriental all compete within the city centre to provide the best bubble tea. 

The drink was so popular within the city when Cupp Bubble Tea opened in December scores of people were pictured queuing outside.

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Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s and typically consists of tea accompanied by chewy tapioca balls, grass jelly, aloe vera or red bean.

A popular version of the drink also uses dissolvable pellets filled with various fruit juices.

Yeu Yeu, owner of Ping An Oriental, had her business in the city centre for the longest after opening in 2015.

She said: "It became popular after Covid when children did not have a lot to do and they saw it on TikTok.

"It is quite a different drink because you can drink and chew, and there are so many different flavours and options to choose from.

"We do have some competition, but that is what happens when something is so popular.

"Every shop has a different way of making bubble tea, so we keep our regulars."