Bubble Tea Recipe

Have you ever wanted to learn How to Make Bubble Tea? Here you’ll find everything you need to know to make creamy, delicious, and surprisingly simple bubble tea right at home using simple ingredients like black tea, tapioca pearls, and sugar.

With shops selling this hip and trendy iced beverage on practically every street corner these days, I thought it would be fun to share everything I know about Bubble Tea with you guys.

Whether you’re new to bubble tea, or you drink it all the time, in this post you’ll find everything you need to know to make simple delicious homemade bubble milk tea at home. I love this version best because it isn’t too sweet, the ingredients are super basic, and it’s ready super fast.

What is Bubble Tea?

Bubble tea is a Taiwanese tea-based beverage that goes by the names milk tea, pearl tea, tapioca tea, boba tea, boba nai cha, foam milk tea, and several others.

Invented in the 1980s, the exact story of who invented Bubble Tea is somewhat debated, however, it is believed that Ms. Lin Hsiu Hui of the Chun Shui Tang Tea Shop in Taichung, Taiwan, came up with the drink when she randomly poured fen yuan into her iced tea during a meeting in 1988. 

Fast forward three decades and this discovery of milk tea mixed with tapioca balls have evolved into hundreds of different unique bubble tea flavor combinations. Bubble tea shops are seemingly everywhere these days (I know of at least three within two miles of my house) and the color varieties, thanks to all the different flavors (like green tea, strawberry, taro, and mango!) seem to keep getting cooler and cooler.

What is Bubble Tea Made Of

1. Tea: I used a simple English Breakfast Black Tea. High in caffeine (how I like it), it’s what I had on hand and it worked perfectly. Oolong tea would also work nicely, or any other robust black tea. Don’t worry about over-steeping your tea since you will be adding milk (or cream) and some sugar.
2. Milk: I like to use whole milk or half-and-half. Heavy cream is too heavy and low-fat milk doesn’t quite add enough creaminess. Dairy milk and creamer, or full-fat coconut milk are my top picks, but other plant-based milk alternatives (soy milk, almond milk, oat milk) will work, too. For an extra creamy treat, try adding sweetened condensed milk.
3. Sweetener: The benefit of making bubble tea at home is that you can add as much or as little sugar as you like. The total amount will vary depending on the type of milk you use, how long you steep your tea, and personal preference. In this recipe, I used granulated white sugar, but simple syrup, honey, or agave would also work.
4. Ice: Of course, these days bubble tea may come either hot or cold. However, in this case, you’ll need ice. Depending on how cool your tea gets will determine how much ice you’ll need.
5. Tapioca Pearls (or boba) This is the boba that I used to make this bubble tea recipe. It is the fast-cooking kind, which means that they don’t take over an hour to cook. In fact, they take just 5-10 minutes. There is one very important thing to note about quick-cooking tapioca pearls – do not make them ahead of time. After just 1-2 hours they will start to stiffen and dry out.

How to make Bubble Tea

1. Steep the tea:

Bring approximately 6 cups of water just to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in the sugar and add the tea bags(for this recipe, I added approximately 1 tablespoon of sugar per glass of bubble tea). Allow the tea to steep and come to room temperature. 

If you’re in a hurry, you may either prepare the black tea ahead of time or transfer the steeping tea to the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.

Allow the tea to steep for at least 15-25 minutes. 

2. Prepare the boba (tapioca pearls):

Approximately 15 minutes before you plan to serve your bubble tea, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the boba and stir well to prevent them from clumping and sticking together. Allow the boba to cook for approximately 5-7 minutes (they should be floating on the surface and super chewy).

Drain and rinse under cold water – don’t worry, they won’t fall apart.

3. Assemble:

Grab four glasses (any glass will work, just make sure they’re large enough to hold approximately 2 cups of liquid) and divide the cooked pearls between them. Fill each glass with ice and pour approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups of room temperature black tea into each. Add approximately 2-3 (or more) tablespoons of milk or half-and-half to each glass and stir well to combine. 

Is it sweet enough? Add additional sweetener if needed.

Serve with fat straws and long spoons.

Bubble Tea Frequently Asked Questions

Bubble Tea Flavors

Head to your favorite boba tea shop and you’ll find countless flavor combinations and toppings. Some of the most popular include:

• Honeydew
• Lychee
• Grass jelly
• Passion fruit
• Aloe
• Coffee
• Coconut
• Taro
• Strawberry

Have you tried making this Bubble Tea Recipe?

Tell me about it in the comments below! I always love to hear your thoughts. And tag me #theforkedspoon on Instagram if you’ve made any of my recipes, I always love to see what you’re cooking in the kitchen.