I was first introduced to Bubble Tea back in college while exploring Philadelphia’s Chinatown and was pretty much addicted from that point on. The little tapioca pearls mixed with an already yummy drink made it the perfect little treat, and I always made it a point to grab one whenever I was around that part of the city. But it never crossed my mind that I’d be able to make it at home…
As someone who’s not particularly savvy in the kitchen, instead of breaking down the ingredients, I right off the bat assumed bubble tea would be complicated to make. That is, until I came across a few Bubble Tea recipes online. Soon enough, I was on Amazon ordering the tea and tapioca, and a few days later, I was experimenting with my own recipe.
I ended up going with something simple to start out – Boba Milk Tea. It uses black tea for the base (but you can also use green, chai, earl grey, rooibos teas, flavored mixes, or even coffee), along a sweetener, milk, ice cubes, and of course, boba (aka tapioca pearls, or ‘bubbles’)! And don’t forget the bubble tea straws, which are the perfect size for tapioca pearls.
Bubble Milk Tea Ingredients
(Makes 1 drink)
- 3 to 4 black tea bags (depending on how strong you want your tea)
- 1/4 cup quick-cook tapioca pearls
- 2 TBS honey, simple scrub, agave nectar, or whichever sweetener you prefer (for soaking the tapioca pearls)
- 1-2 TBS of sweet condensed milk, sugar, honey, agave nectar, or simple syrup (used for sweetening your drink)
- 1/3 cup milk (soy, coconut, almond, whole, etc)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- ~10-12 ice cubes
Other: mason jar with a screw top lid, boba straws
How to Make Boba Milk Tea
Step 1: Make the tea
- bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil
- steep 3-4 black tea packs for 5 minutes
- remove tea bags and let the tea cool slightly (you can put it in the freezer if you’d like, until you’re ready for step 3)
Step 2: Prepare the tapioca pearls
- add 1/4 cup of uncooked tapioca into 3 cups boiling water
- cook on high until they float (should take ~30 seconds)
- turn to medium heat, cover, and let sit for 2 minutes
- turn down to low, cover, and let sit for another 2 minutes
- drain pearls with strainer
- rinse with cold tap water or put the tapioca in a bowl of ice water bath for 30 seconds
- put boba into small bowl with 2 TBS honey, simple syrup, or agave nectar (I use agave nectar)
- let sit 5-10 minutes
Step 3: Put everything together!
- grab your tea
- add 1-2 TBS of your preferred sweetener (I use agave nectar)
- add 1/3 cup of your choice of milk
- add ice cubes
- screw the lid on your jar and shake vigorously
- drop in your ‘bubbles’!
If you do step 1 and 2 at the same time, the whole process takes about 15 minutes. You can easily make this in the morning, during your lunch break, or really anytime you want a sweet, refreshing bubble tea treat! Enjoy! 🙂
Have you tried Bubble Tea? If so, what’s your favorite bubble tea flavor?
