Video
How to make Bubble Tea Milk Tea
Learn how to make delicious homemade milk tea bubble tea that tastes just as good (if not better) than what you buy in the shops! You only need a few simple ingredients and this delicious boba milk tea recipe is inexpensive to make at home.
Ingredients
Boba in Brown Sugar Syrup:
- ½ cup plus 1 tbsp (125g) packed dark brown sugar, divided
- ½ cup (120ml) water
- ½ cup (75g) instant black tapioca pearls
**NOTE: I have developed another method that bypasses the need to make a separate syrup if you're in a hurry. See recipe notes below.
Tea:
- 3 black tea bags (I use orange pekoe)
- 1 tablespoon loose leaf jasmine tea or oolong tea depending on your taste preference (or 2 jasmine tea bags)
- 2 cups (475ml) boiling water
For serving:
- 4-6 tablespoon (60-90ml) half & half cream or up to 1 cup (237ml) milk
- 3 cups ice
Instructions
- Make strong tea. Place black tea bags and loose jasmine tea into a large jug or tea pot. Bring at least 2 cups of water to a boil in a kettle, then pour 2 cups of hot water that is just off the boil over the tea bags. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes to make a strong tea. Strain tea with a very fine sieve (especially if you are using loose leaf tea) and set aside to cool to room temperature or refrigerate until cold. If you taste the tea at this point, it will be very bitter and actually it won't even taste pleasant. That's correct! It needs to be very strong.NOTE: My preference is to make the tea the day ahead as I find the flavor is better after the strong tannins have mellowed. That the tea will become cloudy once it is chilled from the concentrated tannin content.
- Make the syrup. Add ½ cup (110g) brown sugar and water to a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside. Keep it warm – there’s no need to cool it before adding the pearls.**In a pinch, I skip making a separate syrup and instead make the syrup directly in the pot with the pearls after they are finished cooking. To do this, cook the pearls as per Step 3. below. After they are done sitting in the hot water for 5 minutes, drain and quickly rinse as instructed and then place them back in the warm pot. Add brown sugar and just 4 tablespoons of water directly into the pot over the pearls. Turn the heat on medium-low and stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Once the mixture comes to a simmer, let simmer for 5 seconds and then turn off the heat, cover and let stand for 15 minutes as instructed.
- While the tea is cooling, make the boba tapioca pearls. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the instant tapioca pearls and wait until they float to the top, then boil for about 7 minutes until very soft. Turn off the heat and leave them in the pot for another 5 minutes, covered. They should be very soft to the point where you can push them to the roof of your mouth with your tongue and that alone is enough to break them up. They will firm up as they cool in the drink so it is important that they are very soft at this point.
- Drain the tapioca pearls in a fine mesh sieve and quickly rinse under warm water only for a few seconds. Add them back to the warm pot and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and stir until it dissolves. Then a ⅓ cup of the brown sugar syrup. I like to bring the boba in the syrup back up to a simmer for 30 seconds to cook the sugar into the boba for the best flavor, but this part is option. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let marinate for at least 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes at most.
- Assemble the bubble tea. Add about ¼ cup of the tapioca pearls along with the brown sugar syrup to the bottom of each serving glass. It’s best to use a tall narrow glass for bubble tea. Add as much ice as you want (I like to fill it up to the top). Pour in about ¾ cup of the black tea. Add 2-3 tablespoons of cream or up to ½ cup of milk according to your taste. Stir to mix before drinking, then adjust the sweetness by adding more syrup.
