Taranaki Tea Connection is a bubble tea shop at 560 Devon Street East in Fitzroy, New Plymouth, holding a 5.0 rating from four Google reviewers. Bubble tea lives or dies on two things: the tea itself and the pearls. Good tapioca pearls are cooked in small batches through the day, so they stay soft and chewy right through rather than hardening at the centre — a sign worth watching for, and a reason regulars often time their visits for busy periods when turnover is quick. Most shops will dial back the sugar and ice if you ask, and it is worth doing on a first visit so the tea flavour comes through instead of the syrup. Milk teas are the easy starting point, fruit teas the lighter choice. For a properly chewy, well-made cup in Fitzroy, Taranaki Tea Connection sits handy on Devon Street East.