I use them exclusively too. Here is a four tier cake with only bubble tea straws as supports:

I use the straws in all of my tiered cakes. I can't get the bubble tea straws locally so I use wide milkshake straws. Yes, they "fill up" with cake rather than displace it like wooden dowels. I've used them in every tiered cake I've made. I have never had one to slip or collapase two tier or 5 tier.

Yes Pankake, pretty much every 3 and the one 4 teir I've made I did not use a center dowel.

It really does depend on how you feel about the cake... how it held when you built it, how dense, how hot is it going to be, who is transporting it, how long of a transport. All these factors and more come into the decision whether I would center dowel or not.
But no, you dont have to.

I LOVE your cake, Loucinda!!! Great color combo, and I see you've managed to make a cake decorated with - of all things - cake balls! You're a woman after my own heart! It's good to see that you can actually construct a tall, sturdy cake with bubble straws. Now all I have to do is find some where I live!

Price update - Restaurant Depot carries bubble tea straws. 500 for $12.42. Case - 8 pkgs of 500 - $79.48 - manufacturer is Solo. Can't beat that price - less than 3 cents a piece. Definitely can't buy & cut dowels for that price. Also, check out www.instawares - they carry a different brand but are still reasonably priced.

So do you put the straws in before or after you ice the cake? Also, to clarify, do you cut the straw after inserting it?

I get mine at a local Asian mart, 79cents for a pack of 50.
I use them in all my cakes even TT.
I have pink, yellow, blue, clear, red,orange, purple,white and green so I can pretty much match the straw to the colors of the cake so it's less tacky.
I use 2 less then the size of the cake, so if it's a 10" cake I use 8 straws, and 8" cake I use 6 straws and so on.
Never had a problem...knock on wood.

I got my straws off of eBay. At $5 for 50 (including shipping,) it was more expensive than a restaurant supply store, but it saved me a trip to the city just for straws. If you have a Joanne's craft store in your area, they have the bubble tea straws in the ice cream themed summer merchandise. I believe they are $1 for 20.

I just became a convert to the bubble straws. I got mine at Joann's in the seasonal section- but I found them at a local Asian market for much cheaper! Live and learn.

I read in one of my cake books to never use straws so I don't. After reading this forum I think I am going to try them. I just found them on Amazon 40 for $1. Does the brand matter?

There is a big difference between regular and bubble straws - including diameter and strength. Since many professionals use bubble straws, I don't think your books contain current information. Not sure if brand matters - since I have only ever purchased them at Restaurant Depot.

I use Bubble straws, and like others said more straws is not always better it can weaken the structure of the cake .

I use a minimum of five and a maximum of 7. I sometimes dowel through the center but not very often. Depends on the cake and the transport, but I usually stack on site.

They are very stiff and once filled with cake (since they don't displace any cake) are near imposible to collapse.

Look in your local yellow pages for Asian markets they are the best place to get them and usually come in different colors.