Kapai Puffle is a bubble tea shop in the foodcourt at 84 The Square, Palmerston North Central, holding a 3.9 rating from seven Google reviews. Customers single out the passionfruit and mango tea with popping bubbles, creamy taro and brown sugar, non-dairy options and the chance to set their own sweetness and ice levels.
Bubble tea rewards a little know-how. Most shops mix their drinks sweet by default, so regulars start at half sugar and adjust, and the same goes for ice, which dilutes the flavour as it melts. Tapioca pearls should be chewy all the way through rather than hard at the centre, while popping bubbles give a lighter, fruitier burst. Fruit teas are the lighter choice on a warm afternoon, while milk-based ones run richer.
For a sweet break in central Palmerston North, Kapai Puffle makes an easy stop on The Square.