So here they are: the balls that gave us our name. The goal here is to get them to be QQ—the Taiwanese term for chewiness that’s similar to the Italian concept of al dente . . . but even chewier. The way you control the texture is through the boiling time. Don’t use boba that’s labeled “quick cook”—that kind of boba has a hardening quality in the starch that isn’t properly QQ. We want straight-up tapioca for this recipe. Remember to stir throughout the cooking process. Don’t let the boba stick to the bottom of the pot, since that might cause some of the balls to burn or scorch. The next key is the syrup bath, which adds the flavor. Some places keep their boba in a syrup bath over heat, which is a personal preference. We like our boba to be at room temperature for our drinks. This is for convenience (no need to keep a slow cooker in every store) and also, more important, so it doesn’t melt the ice in our drinks and thus dilute the flavors of the ingredients and toppings. Note that boba is not hard to make right, but it does need to be fairly fresh; we don’t hold our boba for more than 4 hours after they’re made. After that, they start to turn mushy—very not QQ!!