Chun Shui Tang, Siwei Original Store

Chun Shui Tang is where many people first meet bubble tea, and this Siwei Street original store ties back to the story of how the brand began in 1983. In May 1983 its founder, Liu Han-chieh, opened a tea shop on Siwei Street under the name Yangxian Tea House (陽羨茶行); he is said to have seen iced coffee in Japan and, back in Taiwan, started shaking hot tea with ice in a cocktail shaker to make cold 'foam tea'. The street later became known as the 'foam tea street'.

The menu covers tea drinks, tea snacks and light meals. The company's own timeline says that in 1987 it set up a separate Mu Xi Tang (木犀堂) inside the tea house for gongfu-brewed tea and tea sales, though whether the original store has such a room today is something to confirm on the spot. As for who first made pearl milk tea, Chun Shui Tang says an employee, Lin Hsiu-hui, added tapioca to tea, and its site gives 1986 for the first try and 1987 for the launch, while Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan says its owner, Tu Tsong-he, did. Both dates fall in the 1980s, both accounts come mainly from the shops themselves, and neither has been settled. A cup here is also a taste of a story still being argued over.