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Skip the specialty shops and make your own Boba Tea Recipe at home. Quick, easy, and absolutely flavorful, this will quickly become a favorite.
If you have never tried Boba Tea before, you are absolutely missing out. It is super flavorful, has a nice texture pop from the tapioca pearls, and is just refreshing.
Using minimal ingredients and time, you can save your money and a trip and make this Boba Tea Recipe at home. It will be a great morning or afternoon pick-me-up.
Sweetened with brown sugar, it really gives this tea a great flavor without being too sweet, and everything balances out nicely.
With the trend of the stores popping up these days that sell Boba Tea, you can easily find the ingredients at the local grocer or even easier on Amazon.
Once you try this Boba Tea Recipe, you may not want to turn back, it’s super unique, fun, flavorful, and absolutely easy. Everything we look for in a recipe.
Some of my other favorite drink recipes that we have on our site include: Creamy Peach Tea, Lemonade and Strawberry Banana Smoothie.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Only 6 ingredients are needed.
- You can easily double this to make more.
- It is great any time of day.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):
- Water
- Loose-leaf Chinese breakfast black tea
- Tapioca pearls
- Dark brown sugar
- Ice
- Half and half
HOW TO MAKE A BOBA TEA RECIPE:
- In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the tea then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer the tea for 2 minutes then take off the heat and let steep for about 5 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the tea into a large heat-proof bowl, discard the leaves. Let cool to room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill.
- Next, cook the tapioca pearls per the directions on the packaging. Place them in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl, set aside.
- Add the brown sugar and water into a medium-sized saucepot, stirring to combine. Place the mixture over medium heat making sure to stir constantly. Bring mixture to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes, again stirring constantly. This can boil rapidly so make sure to remove from heat if it starts to boil over.
- Pour the slightly thickened syrup over the tapioca pearls, stir to combine. Let this cool to room temperature on the countertop (do not refrigerate).
- To serve, add the tapioca pearls and some of the syrup to the bottom of four larger glasses. Top the pearls with ice and add 1 cup of the cooled tea to each glass.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of half and half to each glass or more or less to your preferred taste. Gently stir to combine everything together and serve.
WHAT ARE TAPIOCA PEARLS?
Tapioca pearls, balls, or boba are round and can be colorless or a darker brown ball made from tapioca which is a starch, hence the name. Usually for Boba Tea, you will get the brown/black pearls for the appearance and contrast in color.
They are usually soaked in a liquid that then absorbs the liquid and flavors them, for this recipe, it is brown sugar and water that we used.
They have a jelly-like popping texture when bitten into that releases the flavor that it soaks up. You can flavor them in many different flavors and liquids to your desire.
DO I HAVE TO USE DARK BROWN SUGAR?
We used dark brown sugar to get a more depth of flavor and color into the pearls themselves, if you want a lighter flavor, then you can absolutely use light brown sugar for this recipe.
CAN I MAKE THE BOBA TEA SWEETER?
The tea itself is not overly sweet, it has a nice balance of flavor that we enjoy. If you do, however, want to make it a little sweeter, you can add some more of the syrup to the glass, or you can add some simple syrup as well.
HOW TO STORE:
We do not recommend storing this recipe, only make it when ready to serve.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- If you want this sweeter you can add more of the syrup to each glass or use simple syrup.
- You can easily double this recipe to serve more people.
- Instead of half and half you can use milk or heavy cream.
- You can use other teas for this, black tea is recommended and you can use tea bags.
- Light brown sugar can be used for a lighter flavor in place of the dark brown sugar.
Love a good tea? Want to hop on the train and fall in love with a delicious drink that is easy and super tasty? Then you need this Boba Tea Recipe in your life.
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If you’ve tried this BOBA TEA RECIPE let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Boba Tea Recipe
Ingredients
For the tea:
- 4 cups water
- ¼ cup loose-leaf Chinese breakfast black tea
For the tapioca:
- 1 cup tapioca pearls
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water
To assemble:
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the tea then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer the tea for 2 minutes then take off the heat and let steep for about 5 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the tea into a large heat-proof bowl, discard the leaves. Let cool to room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill.
- Next, cook the tapioca pearls per the directions on the packaging. Place them in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl, set aside.
- Add the brown sugar and water into a medium-sized saucepot, stirring to combine. Place the mixture over medium heat making sure to stir constantly. Bring mixture to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes, again stirring constantly. This can boil rapidly so make sure to remove from heat if it starts to boil over.
- Pour the slightly thickened syrup over the tapioca pearls, stir to combine. Let this cool to room temperature on the countertop (do not refrigerate).
- To serve, add the tapioca pearls and some of the syrup to the bottom of four larger glasses. Top the pearls with ice and add 1 cup of the cooled tea to each glass.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of half and half to each glass or more or less to your preferred taste. Gently stir to combine everything together and serve.
Notes
- If you want this sweeter you can add more of the syrup to each glass or use a simple syrup.
- You can easily double this recipe to serve more people.
- Instead of half and half you can use milk or heavy cream.
- You can use other teas for this, black tea is recommended and you can use tea bags.
- Light brown sugar can be used for a lighter flavor in place of the dark brown sugar.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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