Make your own Boba Tea with this simple Bubble Tea Recipe. Using 6 ingredients, this tea is super easy, tasty, refreshing and perfect for any time!
Bubble Tea and Boba Tea places have been popping up all over the place. You can find them at the malls and I’ve even seen them being sold on food trucks around the area.
With the tapioca pearls, this Bubble Tea Recipe is quite the special and interesting looking drink that is sure to capture everyone’s attention.
Of course when things surge in popularity, I find my kids wanting them, and quite frankly, I wanted to hop on the Boba Tea drink popularity train too! It’s so tasty.
I love this Boba Tea- it’s not too overly sweet even though the pearls sit in brown sugar syrup, in my opinion it’s just right! This is my go-to drink and has been for quite a while now.
I love that I can make everyone some Bubble Tea at home, don’t have to leave the kitchen and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper this way which I like, because it gets made quite often these days.
Some of our other favorite drink recipes we have on our site include: Raspberry Italian Soda, Copycat Starbucks Pink Drink and Horchata.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- You only need a handful of ingredients.
- It’s not too hard to make and packs a nice caffeine punch.
- Unique and fun to drink.
- Cheaper than buying then from a shop!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM)
Water
Loose-leaf Chinese breakfast black tea
Tapioca pearls
Dark brown sugar
Ice
Half and half
HOW TO MAKE A BUBBLE TEA RECIPE, STEP BY STEP:
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the loose tea to the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer tea for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it steep for 5 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh strainer to strain the tea into a large heat-proof bowl. Discard the loose tea leaves. Lett the tea cool to room temperature and then put it in the refrigerator to chill.
- Cook the tapioca pearls according to the directions on the packaging. When they’re finished, place them in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl and set them aside.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, add the brown sugar and water, and stir to combine. Place over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce it to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes, continuing to stir constantly. Be very careful as this can boil over easily. Remove from the heat if it starts to rapidly boil.
- The syrup should be slightly thickened before pouring it over the tapioca pearls. Stir to combine. Let it cool to room temperature, do not refrigerate.
- When ready to serve, add the tapioca pearls with some of the syrup to the bottom of four large glasses.
- Add ice.
- Then add 1 cup of the tea to each iced glass.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of half and half to each tea glass or to your taste.
- Gently stir to combine and enjoy.
WHAT IS BUBBLE TEA?
Bubble Tea is also called Boba Tea or Pearl Tea. It’s a tea based drink from Taiwan in the early 1980’s. It’s been around for quite a while, but resurged in popularity again in the U.S. over the last couple of years.
The drink is unique because it has tapioca balls, also called pearls or Boba, in the drink that make the tea look different compared to other drinks. So when you hear someone talk about Boba Tea, they’re just talking about Bubble Tea. Same thing!
Other than tea, it’s common for the drink to have things like milk or some kind of dairy base, fruit pieces, fruit juices, or some kind of sweetener, etc in it. It can be made with various flavors and ingredients, being quite customizable and very tasty!
WHAT KIND OF TEA SHOULD I USE?
For this Boba Tea recipe, I used a loose-left Chinese breakfast tea. But, if that’s not your thing, you can use any black tea.
You can even use tea bags to make this Bubble Tea Recipe! If you want to use tea bags, I suggest using 4 for this recipe.
DO I HAVE TO USE HALF AND HALF?
When making my own Boba Tea, I like to use half and half so it makes the tea a little more rich. If you don’t want to use half and half, you can use milk or heavy cream in its place.
Or, if you want to give it even more sweetness and creamy milkiness, like you get from Boba Milk Tea, feel free to use sweetened condensed milk to really bring that extra touch.
HOW TO STORE:
I don’t suggest trying to store this drink. I recommend waiting to make it until you’re ready to drink it.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can swap out the half and half for other dairy options, see my suggestion above.
- For this Boba Tea, I used dark brown sugar to really bring that extra depth of flavor, but if needed, you can use light brown sugar instead. It’ll still be delish!
- If you want more of a sweeter Boba Tea, I like to add more of the brown sugar syrup to the glass or add some simple syrup to the drink.
- I love using Chinese Black Breakfast Tea, but you can use whatever tea you prefer.
- This is super easy to double or triple to make more servings.
Ditch the store or stand bought Boba Tea with the hefty price tag and learn to make your own Bubble Tea with this delicious and easy Bubble Tea Recipe!
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Bubble Tea Recipe (Boba Tea)
Ingredients
For the tea:
- 4 cups water
- ¼ cup loose-leaf chinese breakfast black tea
For the tapioca:
- 1 cup tapioca pearls
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
To assemble:
- Ice
- 2 tbsp Half and half
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the loose tea to the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer tea for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it steep for 5 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh strainer to strain the tea into a large heat-proof bowl. Discard the loose tea leaves. Lett the tea cool to room temperature and then put it in the refrigerator to chill.
- Cook the tapioca pearls according to the directions on the packaging. When they're finished, place them in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl and set them aside.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, add the brown sugar and water, and stir to combine. Place over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce it to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes, continuing to stir constantly. Be very careful as this can boil over easily. Remove from the heat if it starts to rapidly boil.
- The syrup should be slightly thickened before pouring it over the tapioca pearls. Stir to combine. Let it cool to room temperature, do not refrigerate.
- When ready to serve, add the tapioca pearls with some of the syrup to the bottom of four large glasses.
- Add ice.
- Then add 1 cup of the tea to each iced glass.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of half and half to each tea glass or to your taste.
- Gently stir to combine and enjoy.
Notes
- You can swap out the half and half for other dairy options, see my suggestion above.
- For this Boba Tea, I used dark brown sugar to really bring that extra depth of flavor, but if needed, you can use light brown sugar instead. It'll still be delish.
- If you want more of a sweeter Boba Tea, I like to add more of the brown sugar syrup to the glass or add some simple syrup to the drink.
- I love using Chinese Black Breakfast Tea, but you can use whatever tea you prefer.
- This is super easy to double or triple to make more servings.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
N Martinez
Where do you find the chinese tea and the tapioca pearls??