Bubble Teas, Carl Jung, and Archetypes: What Your Favorite Bubble Tea Says About You

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

Carl Jung was a dreamer. He sought to plumb the murky depths of the human psyche: a free diver, an aeronaut of the soul, a miner laboring to unearth treasures hidden deep within. He was like a straw, through which we draw forth realization, the beau idéal.

Milky metaphors aside, we also suspect that Carl Gustav Jung would have been a die-hard fan of bubble tea. It is a beverage of the collective that animates all personas (shadowy or otherwise) and brings us closer to our inner self. Analysts say it might even bring about world peace. And like his psychological theories bubble tea has something of the universal contained within.

Now magicians never reveal their secrets, and psychics often claim insights into information the rest of us will never access. However, in this blog we are going to take more of a hypnotist’s approach: “telling you exactly what we will be doing.” “When we count via twelve…” that sort of thing as we siphon from these holy waters and begin to distill or divine your choice of bubble tea. 

If you are a fan of the blog, you will likely have read how we distrust personality tests and are skeptical of love languages for the reason that we suspect that they do as good a job at reflecting the cultural values of the societies in which they are created as they do at imparting insights about an individual. That said, and as anyone who has checked out Buzzfeed knows, they are incredibly addictive.

Part of it, as hypnotists know, as Buzzfeed knows, as advertisers, stockbrokers, and psychologists know, we are incredibly easy to influence through suggestion. In the context of this article we could propose that you are insightful, a romantic, someone who shows courage, and well you will find a way to make the shoe fit — well before midnight. So take it with a sphere of tapioca what we have written below. It is bubble tea, not kool-aid, that we are drinking here.

Prince Charming Himself

To keep it simple we have made our analysis based on a pairing of Jung’s wheel of a dozen common archetypes with a Coco (a very common bubble tea chain) menu. For the sake of nomenclature, we will predominantly be using the word “pearl” to refer to tapioca bubbles, or balls, also sometimes called bobas. Our reasoning for this is that in Chinese the word is zhen zhu ( 珍珠) which translates to “pearl.”

Carl Jung identified twelve archetypes that he believed were the basis of human experience. He proposed that we all contain personal and unique combinations of these energies that are expressed based an individual’s life events, cultural background, and other personality characteristics.

Remember, we are diving for the depths here. This is a guided exploration of taste and preference and self. It’s okay if the results surprise you, it’s okay if you disagree. Pay attention to what rises to the surface. If at any point you feel like you need to stop reading, perhaps to find something to wet your tastebuds, that is okay too. We at Pop Rooms make these blogs available to you twenty-four seven and you are welcome to return at any time. We will begin with deep, slow, sips.

1. Hero: Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Pearls (and sometimes pudding)

What can we say, “the crème de la crème sometimes needs a little, crème.” If you are a fan of this luxurious, sweet, almost sinful but oh so well deserved, libation then you are one of the favored (and not just by the cashier: $$). Mead is not the only drink found in Valhalla these days. A brown sugar pearl series order reflects someone who has found their partridge in a pear tree and who knows how to flip their coattails like a cape. You are someone who aspires to all that is good and who knows just how to achieve this. You are confident with your actions and because of this others look to you for guidance. Like Clark Kent and Diana Prince you set the bar without even trying to. Just don’t go overboard, “sugar” is not what the “S” stands for.

2. Lover: Jasmine Green Tea with Pearls

And they will know what only lovers know. You are one who sets your sights on singular truths — perhaps the only truth. You know the secret music of a city in an evening autumn rain with a warm cup of tea in your hand and another heart beating next to you. The scent of midnight jasmine speaks to you along with the wish never to be parted. If taste alone could transcend time this might be it. The sounds of a rising symphony and the only ones in the room. The fairy godmothers and psychologists remind us, however, that we will eventually need to return. It is not good to become too attached to one idea. It is just bubble tea after all.

3. Jester: Lemon Yakult with Coconut Cubes

The trickster is historically one who comes to shake up social preconceptions. The fool, who despite being a fool, does at times speak important truths. They may just be here to suggest that we are getting ahead of ourselves while not wearing any clothes. The joker is also described as “a free-wheeling, blatant hedonist who will plot silly pranks just for the fun of it.” While there are far more cringeworthy combinations that can made from a Coco drinks menu, we like to think of the “LYC“ as the Jester’s Tuesday potation (to which they may or may not also add something a little stronger).

4. Everyman: Milk Tea with Pearls

It’s the country road, the plain croissant, the pork filled dumpling, the cold beer, the company of good friends, and the classic milk tea. It’s the simple things in life. “If it ain’t broke…” why would you ever want to change a good thing? We all need the baseline, the metric, the timeless, the familiar, the standard, that which is safe and easy to come home to. You can identify the everyman or everywoman, those who order the classic with pearls, by the way they stand in line. They carry an innate sense of who they are and what brings them to this place in time. Just remember the cry of Mark Twain who among other things reminds us that “charitable views of men and things” are found best through both travel and new experiences. It’s sometimes good to measure new depths.

5. Caregiver: Taro Milk Tea

You are a hug embodied. One with a little more star dust of saints and angels and someone who watches over all of us. You give yourself and all that you have to each person and each moment. It’s you who brave the snowstorms to find golden rings and those lost in the dark. Your sweetness is inherent and you carry a warmth that makes us all feel a little safer. Taro milk tea, your drink of choice, is like that too. On behalf of all those who don’t say it enough, “thank you.” And make sure to take time and care for yourself too.

6. Ruler: Passionfruit Green Tea with Coconut Jelly, Pearls, and Taro

“It’s gotta be a mighty drink so haters please beware…
It’s gonna be the main event like no drink has been before…
It’s been stocking up on different pearls with many flavors still in store…
Oh it is just undeniably the swig!”

— The song which those who order passion fruit green tea with coconut jelly, pearls, and taro sometimes sing to their cashiers and any nearby hornbills.

For the ruler it is clear: there are options to choose from and then is the best. In the circle of life we each have our roles and we each have our beverages of choice. And we savor this. There is strength and wisdom in stability, order, and world of our own making. The lovers of passion fruit green tea with coconut jelly, pearls, and taro know how to structure their lives to reach their goals while also understanding how to design their bubble tea to satisfy the desires of their taste buds.

All we would add is “hakuna matata” is part of it too. Just remember that it is sometimes important to be flexible.

7. Artist: Matcha Milk Tea with Red Beans

You enjoy seeing the world in different moments, flavors, and textures. You have projects galore and are searching for the inspired energy to lift you through their completion. You enjoy setting trends, creating culture and patterns in your own life and those around you. For all of these reasons and others, matcha milk tea with red beans is your bubble beverage of choice. Tortured creator no more! “By the prickling of the tongue something delicious this way comes” (The Wyrd Sisters amended).

“Doubt thou the pearls are soft;
Doubt that the 奶茶 is new;
Doubt the novel beverage advertisement aloft;
But never doubt 抹茶 and 红豆.”

— Billy Shakes and the Pop Rooms Team

8. Innocent: Strawberry Latte

Oh we see you, but we are not judging. You know exactly how to please your inner child and, for that, we raise our opaque cups. With naiveté of a babe and a the swagger of a rockstar, you roll up to the counter and they turn the “boss playlist up.” Your order is in many ways a power move and you may just reach nirvana well before the rest of us. Don’t loose this magic, for in your chalice is the secret, and perhaps the flavor, also contained in the fountain of youth.

9. Sage: Oolong Milk Tea with Grass Jelly

“Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.”

— Yoda

You are a traditionalist, an old soul, and “wisdom in a cup is what you order.” The roasted taste of oolong tickles your palate mixed with the sweetness of the grass jelly, and in the next moment you find your soul lofted free with the birds and clouds in the sky. You aspire to reach the deep truths and you have found the peace that comes with your ideal boba order. As the caffeine kicks in you can feel the spiraling thoughts begin to move, spinning, as Rilke would say, around a tower, a great dance hall. Are you the falcon, the symphony, or the storm? Don’t get too lost in the muse though, like all libations, it is not good to indulge in excess.

10. Explorer: Three Guys (milk tea with Pearls, pudding, and jelly)

The best explorers pay homage to those who helped forge the path before them. “We stand on the shoulders of giants” and as Newton would have also concurred, the three fundamental forces of the bubble tea universe revolve around the pearls, pudding, and jelly, also known as “The 3Guys” order at Coco. As an explorer you enjoy charting new paths, finding new horizons, trying new beverages, and we know just “how far you’ll go.” As any explorer also knows, there is a danger in leaping too far or too fast and it is always good to have a port of harbor to which to return. Pearls, pudding, and jelly is the dance partner to which you can rely on. It’s all about the journey, the pilgrimage, the long deep sips.

11. Outlaw: Mango Slushy

“I got to testify

Come up in the spot looking extra fly

Who want’s a mango slushy? Raise ’em high!” — Kanye West “Touch the Sky” (abridged).

If you find yourself measuring out ten paces, then the eleventh might as well just taste like heaven. You’re not intentionally a rebel at the bubble tea shop, or maybe you are, but you are also misunderstood. The rest of the world just operates by a different set of rules and will never truly understand the inner truths that guide you. There is a freedom to living life your own way. It’s a state of mind, and in Asia, where mango is king, the realm of rivers and lakes has never looked or tasted so good.

12. Magician: Winter Melon Juice with Pearls and Cheese Foam.

A true alchemist who has an innate understanding of the forces and flavors at work in the world around them: you have charisma and a wild tongue. You transform the world and are gifted deep insights into what motivates others. The crisp light taste of winter melon alongside the savory cheese foam also helps remind you not to go overboard with the showmanship. The charms hold for only so long and not all experiments work out so well.

Conclusion

As you come back to the present, know that in this blog post we have sought to follow Jung in his pursuit of the human condition as it connects to mankind’s pursuit of bubble tea; the boba idéal. By recounting the twelve Jungian archetypes as they are manifest and reflected in one’s choices of pearled beverage we have sought lend insight into both yourself and others. If you did not find your order or your archetype here that is okay, there are plenty of others out there waiting for their pairing. Ultimately, only you will know if it is the right fit and right taste.

Until next time,

Cheers.