Bubble tea, where have you been all of my life? How did I actually miss all this?! My new fave delight, bubble tea is so refreshing … a cold tea brew laden with ice and sweet, chewy tapioca pearls. Skip the queue and learn how to make bubble tea at home – it’s easier than you think!
All the bubble tea goodness at a fraction of the retail price!
You can make bubble tea at home for all the family at a FRACTION of the cost of buying it from a store. AND it really is a super easy process, especially if you have a bag of ready-made tapioca pearls.
Super easy to source at your local Asian supermarket, we paid $10 for 1kg of tapioca pearls, which is enough for 25 or more cups of bubble tea! Short story: A BUDGET WINNER! Plus, don’t think you have to use them all up at once, you can store leftover tapioca pearls in the fridge to use later.
Tapioca pearls in hand, now you just need a few pantry basics and you’re ready to get brewing! Make sure you have bubble tea drinking straws, or straws big enough to suck up the pearls too) or it’s going to get very frustrating!
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Serves 2
Ingredients
- ½ cup tapioca pearls
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 4 – 6 tea bags
- 4 tablespoons condensed milk
- 4 tablespoons milk
- Water
- Ice and large glasses to serve
Method
1. Make the sugar syrup first!
Over medium heat, combine ¾ cup of water and the brown sugar in a small saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Let it simmer and reduce a little, for around 5 minutes. Transfer the syrup to a medium size bowl.
2. Prepare the pearls!
Boil a large pot of water (around 3 litres) and add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water. Cook for around 5-10 minutes or until the pearls are at your preferred level of chewiness. The longer you cook them, the softer they become.
3. Drain the pearls!
Drain into a sieve, rinse with cold water, drain again and then add them to the sugar syrup bowl. Stir the pearls and syrup together and let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
4. Make the black tea.
In a saucepan over high heat, combine the teabags and two cups of water. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat, letting the tea cool to room temperature. If you only like weak tea, use fewer tea bags.
5. Add sweetness!
To make the bubble tea’s sweet milk mixture, combine the milk with the condensed milk, whisking together with a fork until combined. If you want to cut back on the sugar content, you can use just plain milk or milk and cream instead.
6. Time to dish it up!
Divide the elements between the two glasses. First add the brown sugar syrup and pearls to the glasses, followed by ice cubes.
7. Add tea and serve!
Add the cool black tea and then the milk mixture. Give it a stir with your straw and drink straight away. Delicious and just like the real deal!
So if you’ve ever wondered exactly how to make bubble tea, this is it! This perfectly sweet brew is a brilliant choice for beginners. Let us know if you try making this bubble tea recipe yourself, it’s a fun activity for the whole family.
