Bubble Tea Recipe

Bubble Tea Recipe
Making bubble tea can be both fun and instructive. You will not only learn how to make healthy Chinese teas but also you will broaden your knowledge of Asian tea culture. Preparing boba tea requires some work with the approach of trial and error. If you like challenges and cooking experiments – go for it and make your own bubble tea. If you would like an easier path to follow, just skip the process and look for delicious bubble tea cup in local market.

How to Make Bubble Tea – The Classic Boba Tea Recipe

The following is the classic bubble tea recipe. I recommend using GOOD QUALITY ingredients. If you don`t like some of these components, take a look at the possible boba tea ingredients alternatives.


Bubble Tea Preparation Info

Yield: 1 x 16oz (~500ml)
Total time: ~50 min include:
Cooking time: ~40 min
Preparing time: ~10min

You can adjust the amount of bubble tea servings and/or serving size by using right multiplier, e.g. the multiplier for 10oz cup (~300ml) is 0.625. The preparation time usually does not change.

Please do have in mind, that this recipe is meant to be a guideline. These instructions are the way WE make bubble tea. When YOU make boba on your own, just follow your heart and taste… :)

Components you will need to make Original Pearl Milk Tea:

1 Cup (~250ml / 8.8oz) strong, chilled Black or Green Tea,
¾ Cup (~190ml / 6.6oz) of Milk OR ½ cup (50gr) of Creamer + 1oz (~30ml) Hot Water + 5oz (~150ml) Cooled Water,
⅓ cup black tapioca pearls,
Some Ice Cubes,
Sugar and 2 Teaspoons of Honey,
Cocktail Shaker,
16oz (500ml) Cup
Some Thick Straws (optional but cool to have ;) )

Bubble Tea Ingredients

Directions

Step [1]: The Tea Preparation Process

Depending on the tea of your choice the following guidelines may vary. In this instructions we describe Oolong tea brewing process. We have used many different techniques of preparing this tea. We found that the following method gives us the best results:

  1. For every 1 cup of tea put 3g (~1.5 teaspoon) of Oolong tea leaves into the pot; set aside,
  2. Bring water to boil and cool it to 85°C. Pour the water into the pot to cover the leaves, wait for 5 seconds and pour out the water from the pot. The goal here is to wash the tea leaves,
  3. Fill the pot with appropriate level of water to fill the cups and steep for 1 minute,
  4. Pour tea out of pot into the cup(s) or jug

You can use the same Oolong tea leaves for multiple infusions (up to 3-5 depending on the tea), just follow steps 3 and 4. Increase the stepping time for later infusions.

Some Tea Preparation Tips:

  • use fresh water every time you prepare a tea. Spring water is preferred over tap water,
  • use best quality teas you can find in the market. Visit some tea houses and health food stores to try and obtain best quality teas
Step [2]: How to Prepare Tapioca Pearls?

It is recommended to use tapioca pearls from 0.5h to 6h after preparing them, wherefore before you even start cooking boba, you would need to think about the way to store tapioca pearls for your bubble tea drink. For this purpose you can use sugar syrup to hamper tapioca spoilage (tapioca pearls don`t have apparent taste, thus they blend well with sugar syrup).

Step [2a]: Making Sugar Syrup

You would need as much sugar syrup to cover tapioca pearls completely. Use 1 : 1 proportions of water and sugar (e.g. 500ml water to 500g sugar).

  1. Put the sugar and water into the pan, turn the temperature to high
  2. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves
  3. Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat
  4. Let it cool down; pour the syrup into container (like bottle) for later use
Making Sugar Syrup
Step [2b]: Cooking Tapioca Pearls
  1. In a medium pan bring the water to boil
  2. Pour tapioca pearls carefully into the water, cook for 40 minutes, stirring constantly
  3. After 40 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, let it cool down
  4. Wash tapioca pearls under the water and soak them in the sugar syrup for at least 30 minutes
Tapioca Pearls in Sugar Syrup
Step [3]: Creamer preparation

If you use milk or other ready to use creamers in your bubble tea, you can skip this step. If you choose cream powder just follow these instructions:

  1. In the cocktail shaker add hot water and creamer,
  2. Stir with spoon until the creamer dissolves
  3. Pour cooled water into the pot/shaker, stir/shake and step aside
Step [4]: Putting it all Together – Bubble Tea Recipe
  1. Pour cooked tapioca pearls from sugar syrup and place them in the 16oz cup
  2. In the Cocktail Shaker add brewed tea, milk or prepared creamer, sweetener and ice. Give it a vigorous shake for 20 seconds, till bubbles pop up on drink`s surface
  3. Pour the mix into the cup containing tapioca pearls
  4. Insert a straw and enjoy your bubble tea!
Bubble Tea Tips
  • you can add a few teaspoons of sugar or honey to adjust the sweetness of boba tea. You can also use sugar syrup for this purpose,
  • if you want your bubble tea drink to be more refreshing, pour more ice cubes instead of using cooled water,
  • you can add some syrup to give your bubble tea drink specific flavor,
  • you can even completely remove the tea component from the bubble tea recipe and replace it with the flavor powder mixture
Bubble Tea with Taro Powder