What size bubble tea straws to use for stacking cake and where is the best place to buy them. Any help would be really welcome, thanks

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HTH K'ly

It seems like these straws come in one basic size no matter where you buy them...1/2" diameter and about 8" long. You have to cut them to the height you need for your cake. You can do so with regular scissors.

I bought mine on-line for (I think) 3 bucks, and close to 7 in shipping .

Here's a better deal if you can't get them locally: http://cgi.ebay.com/40-STRAWS-Bubble-Tea-Boba-Big-Fat-8-NEW-ITEM_W0QQitemZ160314600342QQihZ006QQcategoryZ38181QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Yah, I googled mine and found a tea company that sells them for $3 a bag.

Will these straws work?

They're $1.50 for around 50 straws on this site:

http://www.tentea.com/jumbubteastr.html

I think the shipping is $4.95 for priority mail.

I'm really confused about this too. I saw some straws at a store and they were the large straws like mentioned, but they are still flexible when bent, are they the right kind or should they be hard plastic? thanks

I bought mine at a local Asian grocery story for $1 for 50. They do not have a bend in them.

I haven't used them yet, but from what I can tell in pictures, they aren't the "bendy" straw. the kind that have an accordian fold in them. they look similar to the straws the Panera Bread uses with their smoothies or frozen drinks. So if you were drinking with them, you can chew on them etc., but no accordian fold. They are not hard plastic like pillars, etc. from what I can tell from pictures and seeing them being cut on Ace of Cakes.
-Michelle

You should be able to get them at any Asian store, they are very cheap $1-1.50 for 50 straws. That's a bit much $3 plus 7 for shipping? I hope you have a local store you can go to.

The ones I bought have one side that is cut on an angle and the other is normal. Their about half an inch wide. They do not bend easy that is why their good for stacking. Your barely able to squeeze them, thats how stiff they are! You have to use scissors to cut them and the excess piece will "fly" so make sure you dont have family standing near you or you will poke their eye out!!!
And yes, if you order them online at a specialty tea store your going to be overcharged! I think almost every city has some type of Asian store, even out in the boondots where I live has one! So I would suggest looking there first!

What are bubble tea straws used for?

For cake stacking. Sharon Zambito aka Sugarshack uses them along with Charm City Cakes and a few others. Its a great way to stack cakes are actually cheaper than using some of the systems that are out there. Also, you dont have to worry about getting any plates back which I found quite annoying with the expensive ones! (I would get weird looks from the venue when I told them I wanted my stress free support system back. I had to explain EVERY time that they were not disposable, but stainless steel and cost more than the damn cake!)

I couldn't find them in any local stores and didn't have time to order them. I called a local smoothie and boba tea shop(that's the real name, it's a drink with tapioca pearls in it)and they were very nice sold me a bag of 50 for a few bucks. They worked great.

Are they better than the wooden dowels

I think their just easier to use than wooden dowels. And they dont splinter!

They're certainly much easier to cut!

My sister had a specialty drink cafe a few years ago and she had bubble tea and if she has some left, I would sure like to use those. The wooden dowels are really the pits for me. I can't 'saw' or cut them straight for the life of me!

I bought some today from a local Chinese/Asian grocery store. I googled asian grocery stores in MI and called some of the places on the list close to my area. I called 5 before I found one that had them (and understood what I was talking about). I bought 5 packets for 99c each - each pack contains about 40 straws.

I also found a great new cake decorating supply store one block away which is great as the one I usually go to is really limited in their selection. I bought 1lb of gumpaste for $3.15!!!

Yah that was my problem too! And I would always have cut one too long by only an inch and I would have to try to saw off this tiny little piece of wood without sawing off my fingers! I would get fed up and try breaking it off with my hands then they would splinter! What a pain in the arse!

LOL...a big pain !!

I bought them on ebay and the shipping was superfast. I sure enjoyed cutting those more than the dowels. Would I use them on a large wedding cake? No way no how. I'll use my SPS but for small birthday cakes and such...these are in the cards.

Ive used them on three tiered wedding cakes and have had no problems!

My sister and I have just used regular straws for years. Never even heard of 'bubble tea' straws until I came on here.
I will keep my regular straws though, cause they are cheaper and much easier to find.

I found some at a asian market, asked for bubble tea straws and she directed me to some. They were the large 1/2" straws 8"'s long, but I could easily bend them, they felt just like an ordinary straw, only bigger around, so i'm guessing that these were not the correct straws, I would be too afraid to use them, so still not sure what to use

These straws are generally used when drinking bubble tea, an asian/oriental drink that has large balls of tapioca in it. If you have ever been at a mall and seen others drinking a smoothie looking drink with a fat huge straw in it, that is bubble tea. I haven't actually used these for cakes, but I do use straws. I get mine for free...everytime I go to Starbucks I grab an extra straw...after a while I have a little stash. (Those green straws are pretty useful! I only use them for 2 tiered cakes (I haven't done three tier yet), but they work excellent. P.S. I only do a few cakes a year (for my kids and family), so I am not in use of a ton of straws!

I buy mine at bed bath and beyond!  $1.50  per pack! 

Most asian(chinese/vietnamese) shops have the bubble tea staws. I get about a 100+ for $3/=. i have used them on 3 tier cakes. havent had a disaster yet. they are good and easy to use too.