We love our bubble teas, as much as some love their coffees, and because we love our bubble teas so much, we go through a lot of plastic straws. We’re not hardcore “save the planet”, “save the environment” type people, but we do think about the number of straws we’re throwing away. There’s also the big plastic cup, but we’re not going to worry about that, yet (see, not hardcore). So, we started searching on reusable straws and came across stainless steel straws and then glass straws.
The moment we saw glass straws, we were sold! The reason we chose glass is firstly because of the idea of seeing the milk tea through the straw. Second, if we bought stainless steel straws and used it in a hot beverage like a purple rice drink, we worry the conductivity of metal might make the straw uncomfortable to drink through if the drink is made too hot. Third, glass allows us to see its insides and see how dirty it is.
We did think about how glass is not as durable as stainless steel straws. It can break unlike stainless steel straws, but we went with glass straws anyway. Our verdict, love the glass straws!
We got two sizes, a thin one for milk tea and a wide straw for milk tea with bubble/pearls. You can get the straws in varying outer diameters between 6mm and 14mm in the standard length of 210mm. We think you can get longer straws, but they aren’t easy to find. We chose the straws with the outer diameters of 8mm and 14mm.
The exact measurements for the thin straw are as follows:
- Internal diameter: 5mm
- Outer diameter: 8mm
- Length: 210mm
The 8mm straw work well in thin liquids like milk tea and a runny smoothie, but in a thick smoothie or frappe with chunks, the drink gets stuck. So, for drinks with a thick consistency, the wider straw is best.
The exact measurements for the wide straw are as follows:
- Internal diameter: 11mm
- Outer diameter: 14mm
- Length: 210mm
We tested the wide straws in milk tea with the tapioca pearls and the pearls go up the straw perfectly. The pearls in the drink were roughly 9mm in diameter so there’s plenty of room for the pearls to go up the straw.
We went and measured the inside diameter of the wide plastic straw and it turns out to be around about the same inside diameter of the glass straw! So the 14mm outer diameter wide straw is the perfect size.
You might have noticed that these glass straws (and it is the same with the stainless steel straws) have a flat base. Unlike the plastic straws that have a point at the end, the glass straws don’t have that pointed end which allows the straw to poke the plastic film on the bubble tea cup. We’d imagine it wouldn’t be easy to create a glass straw with a pointed end sharp enough to poke without it being dangerous.
So this is a downside of the glass straw. To use a glass straw in a cup with that film over the top, we have to use a chopstick to create a hole for the straw to go through. So, using these glass straws for drinking bubble tea in these takeaway cups will need an accompanying chopstick or something that pokes. Other than that, the glass straw is awesome. We love it!
We have an image of the glass straws in action in cups of bubble tea! It’s going to be hard work drinking these later. Yeah right!
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