How to make bubble tea
Who else is guilty of having a bubble tea addiction? We can’t blame you, these sweet drinks are just too hard to resist! Since you can't head out to grab one during this #dudukrumah period, why not try making it yourself? Not only will you save yourself big bucks, you also won’t have to leave your house.
These make for the perfect mid-day perk while you #stayhome.
Toppings
You can’t have bubble tea without toppings, that’s like having Chicken Rice without the Chicken! We’ve included the recipe for pearls or boba from scratch as well as store-bought dried tapioca pearls.
Pearls from scratch
Ingredients
- 1 cup of Boiling Water
- 1 cup of Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 ½ cup of Tapioca Starch
Instructions
- Combine brown sugar and boiling water in a pot and stir till it dissolves
- Add tapioca starch and mix it till there are no clumps
- Cook mixture over low heat, continuously stirring it till it forms a dough
- Knead until the dough is smooth.
- Thoroughly roll the into an elongated shape.
- Cut it into a few pieces. Cover them with a damp cloth.
- Take a piece of dough and roll it into 1cm diameter.
- Then cut it into 1cm in length.
- Roll them between your palms into a round shape and you have raw boba pearls
Store-bought dried pearls
Ingredients
- ¼ cup dried tapioca pearls
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Bring ½ cup of water to a boil.
- Pour tapioca pearls and ½ cup brown sugar into a pot and cook for 15 minutes. Stir periodically.
- Remove the tapioca pearls from heat and strain out the water.
- Pour ½ cup fresh water, ¼ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar into the pot, and simmer on low heat till thickened.
- Serve immediately.
You can also opt for ready-made coconut jellies, aloe vera bits or grass jelly as the topping. These can be found easily in grocery stores.
1.Milk tea
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of black tea leaves or use teabags
- 2 ¾cups of water
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- Combine tea and 2 ½ cups of hot water in a teapot.
- Cover teapot and steep for 5 minutes.
- Strain tea leaves and let the tea cool.
- Dissolve brown sugar and remaining hot water
- Combine
Probably the staple of all bubble tea drinks, just good old’ classic milk tea is one of the easiest drinks to make. Depending on the sort of tea you prefer, you can swap out black tea leaves for oolong, green tea or earl grey!
You can then customize your drinks with flavours like hazelnut or vanilla syrup or even add a scoop of ice cream for Ice Cream Milk Tea!
2. Brown sugar fresh milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup cooked tapioca pearls
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar syrup (plus more for the glass)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup ice
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar and water over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium and let it bubble until the mixture has thickened slightly around 5 minutes.
- Transfer the syrup to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
- Pour half of the brown sugar syrup into a squeeze bottle and use it to line the sides of a milkshake glass with "stripes."
- Spoon in the cooked tapioca pearls.
- Combine the milk and 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar syrup (you can add more or less depending on your preference). Add ice and mix well
- Strain the chilled brown sugar milk into the syrup-lined glass.
Probably one of the most popular non-caffeinated drinks, Brown Sugar Fresh Milk is perfect if you’ve got a craving for something sweet. The chewy tapioca balls combined with caramel brown sugar syrup and fresh milk is something that leaves you wanting more.
3. Yakult Green Tea
Ingredients
- 65ml Yakult or preferred probiotic drink (chilled)
- 150ml sugar-free green tea (chilled)
- 2 teaspoons sugar syrup
- Ice (as desired)
Instructions
- Add ice into a cup.
- Pour Yakult, green tea and sugar syrup into the cup.
- Shake well before consumption.
If you’re looking for something light and refreshing after a heavy meal, the go-to drink is definitely Yakult Green Tea. Not only is the drink light and fresh, but the probiotic drink also helps you digest your meal.
4. Tea Macchiatos
Ingredients
- 250ml Whipped Cream
- 30g Cream Cheese
- 30g Cream Cheese Powder
- 100ml Fresh Milk (Full Cream)
- a pinch of salt
- 50g sugar
- Tea
- Sugar Syrup
Instructions
- Add the Cream Cheese, Cream Cheese powder and milk into the bowl and beat.
- Fully dissolve all the cream cheese
- Add Whipped Cream, sugar and salt and beat on low speed until all the sugar and salt have dissolved.
- Beat till medium peak.
- Cover with cling wrap and keep chilled.
- Pour tea and ice into a cup and top off with the cream foam
Can’t go out to get your cheese topped bubble teas? Make it yourself! Move over Dalgona coffee, your whipping skills are now put to the test in making cheese foam! Tea macchiatos will help you feel fancy and give your teas a rich creamy body.
5. Cold Brewed Fresh Fruit Tea
Ingredients
- 3-4 fruits of your choice
- 2 Teabags
- 1 ½ cups water
- Sugar syrup
Instructions
- Chop up 3-4 fruits of your choice.
- Make sure that 1 of those fruits is a citrus fruit
- Add 1 1/2 cups room temperature water to 2 tea bags and submerge in water so they are well moistened.
- Cover and allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Add fruit and herbs as you like.
- Cover and refrigerate 12-24 hours.
- Remove tea bags and sweeten to taste with sugar syrup or honey sweetener.
- Stir sweetener in and add ice cubes.
Trying to cut down on your sugar intake? These cold-brewed fresh fruit teas can be served without any added sugar! Make a huge pitcher and store it in your refrigerator and you can have this all day long.
P.S. If you’re looking for something for a night in, we suggest adding a splash of Gin or even Soju.
