Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know just how popular bubble tea has become these past few years. The popular Asian refreshment is making a huge splash here in the United States and Canada – and for good reason. Unlike overly sweet milkshakes and coffee-blended beverages, bubble tea has just the right amount of sweetness and flavor. So, if you’re looking for a dessert that’ll also quench your thirst, bubble tea is the answer. And if you want to be a boba connoisseur, this list of bubble tea recipes is just what you need. We’ll cover a wide array of bubble tea flavors for you today, so there’s tons to choose from. They range from the traditional milk+tea combo to fruit-infused and so much more. Thirsty yet? Me too! So, let’s get to it!
What is Bubble Tea (Boba)?
Bubble tea (boba milk tea) is a cold refreshment made with sweetened milk, tea, and chewy tapioca pearls, also known as boba, served with ice. It originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. Over the years, its popularity has spread to neighboring Asian countries and eventually to the US and Canada. Fun fact: in Asia, the drink is actually called milk tea, not bubble tea or boba. I don’t recall exactly when the bubble tea phenomenon began here. All I know is that I was hooked the moment I first took a sip! Besides the milk-and-tea combo, what also makes boba so delightful are the tapioca pearls. Perfectly soft and chewy, they’re an excellent addition to the sweet refreshment. Fortunately, you can make both the drink and the tapioca pearls easily at home!
How To Make Bubble Tea
For the base, all you’ll need is to combine any kind of milk and tea. That’s it, you’re halfway done. As for the pearls, you can either make them from scratch or buy one of those boba tea kits available in grocery stores and online. Then just layer everything in a tall glass with ice and enjoy! Don’t worry, you don’t have to do all of this on your own. Let this collection of bubble tea recipes be your guide!
10 Best Ways To Make Bubble Tea
1. Traditional Bubble Tea
Traditional bubble tea only has four main ingredients: milk, tea, boba, and a sweetener. To say it’s easy to make is an understatement! There’s no specific kind of tea required for making milk tea. But, as it will be diluted in water and ice cubes, you’ll want to use a kind of tea with a robust flavor. That said, jasmine and black tea work really well here. I highly recommend you use whole milk because it’s where most of the drink’s flavor will come from. As for the sweetener, you can use either granulated sugar or honey. Just be sure to mix it with the hot tea so that it dissolves easily.
2. Strawberry Milk Tea
This boba is like a combination of a strawberry milkshake and bubble tea. It’s a fun mash-up that’ll make your taste buds sing with joy. This fruity beverage combines green tea, milk, strawberry syrup, and tapioca balls. You’ll love the well-balanced combination of bittersweet tea, creamy milk, and sweet-tart strawberry in this summer refreshment. This drink is sweet because of the strawberry syrup, but the green tea balances it well. And there’s no need to make tapioca balls from scratch here! Just get dry tapioca from the grocery store and cook them in hot water to soften.
3. Mango Bubble Tea
This mango bubble tea is the ultimate tropical drink! A combination of mango juice, green tea, milk, sweetener, and boba, this bubble tea is nothing short of sensational. It’s wonderfully sweet and creamy with a subtle nutty bitterness from the green tea. It’s so refreshing you’ll want a second glass. The best part? This bubble tea tastes just as good as the ones from boba shops but is so much more affordable.
4. Brown Sugar Milk Tea
Brown sugar milk tea is another classic boba flavor that never disappoints. After all, how can you go wrong with milk tea sweetened with brown sugar? To be clear, brown sugar tea doesn’t contain tea. Instead, it’s just milk, sugar, and boba. Aside from its sweetness, the brown sugar also lends a deep caramelized flavor to the beverage. The brown sugar is also added to the pearls at the bottom for added flavor. Then, the glass is then tipped sideways to create brown sugar stripes on the sides. That’s why this drink is also called tiger boba!
5. Thai Bubble Tea
If you like boba with bold flavors, go for this amazing Thai bubble tea recipe. Aside from its signature reddish hue, Thai bubble tea is also known for its deep nutty and floral taste. Infused with star anise and cloves, Thai tea is definitely one of the most robust teas out there. Together with milk and tapioca pearls, Thai tea creates a wonderfully creamy and aromatic drink. You can use granulated sugar to sweeten this bubble tea, but I highly recommend sweetened condensed milk. It’s a classic Thai addition that brings fantastic richness to the mix.
6. Cookies and Cream Bubble Tea
Cookies and cream milkshake plus boba? Sign me up! Just like tiger boba above, this bubble tea doesn’t contain tea. It’s just cookies and cream ice cream, milk, and cooked tapioca pearls. You can imagine how thick and creamy this boba is! Of course, it’s easy enough to adjust the thickness by adding more milk. Plus, if you like to stay true to the essence of bubble tea, you can definitely add tea to the mix. I haven’t yet tried it but I imagine it’ll work. Let me know how it turns out!
7. Lychee Boba
In case you’re not familiar, lychee is a small round fruit with scaly red skin originating from China. It can be enjoyed on its own but it’s also commonly used to flavor Asian desserts and drinks. It only takes one sip of this boba to know why. Thanks to lychee, this boba has a wonderfully sweet and floral flavor. Muscovado sugar also adds another layer of sweetness that makes the boba even more delightful. Lychee is pretty hard to come by here, but don’t worry, you don’t need the real fruit to make this boba. Just get store-bought lychee powder and you’re all set.
8. Chai Boba Tea
If your go-to Starbucks drink is a chai tea latte, I bet you’ll enjoy this chai boba tea. The two are basically the same: a blend of chai tea, milk, and sweetener. The only difference is, the boba! And who doesn’t love those chewy pearls? Another difference is that this boba tea is sweetened with honey for a deeper flavor. It’s also enriched with coconut milk instead of regular milk. You’ll love how the nuttiness of the milk mixes with the sweet-n-spicy tastes of chai. They blend wonderfully together without overpowering the other.
9. Taro Milk Tea
Did you know you can use taro in drinks? Neither did I. In fact, I was so flabbergasted the first time I saw taro bubble tea on the menu of a boba shop. As a fan of all things unusual, I had to give it a try. Since then, it’s become my personal favorite boba! First of all, the color is just so pretty. Its light pastel purple hue makes it all the more mouthwatering. The flavor also exceeds expectations too. It’s sweet with a wonderfully thick consistency. And it’s all thanks to pureed taro root.
10. Honeydew Bubble Tea
The charming pastel green should be enough to make you want to try this bubble tea recipe! Flavored with sweet and juicy honeydew, it’s no wonder this boba tea is incredibly delish. You’ll use green tea here, which adds an extra depth of flavor. Pro-tip: be sure to remove all the seeds from the honeydew! No one wants to bite into a bitter seed. Click on a star to rate it!
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