At-Home Boba Tea Recipe

Boba tea, also known as bubble tea, is a hot topic these days and you've no doubt seen this fun-looking drink popping up on your Instagram or TikTok feed. So, what is it? It's a popular Taiwanese drink that originated in the '80s and consists of chewy tapioca pearls, tea, sweetener, and milk. The tapioca pearls are typically dark colored and have a texture like gummy candies. You can suck them through an oversized straw or scoop them up with a long spoon.

Recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe and says, "As a full-time recipe developer and avid follower of food and drink trends, I of course had to get on the bandwagon and make some boba tea for myself. This recipe is easy to make and once you have the base concept down, you can get creative with all kinds of fun flavorings." Now you can learn how to make this fun drink at home.

To make this recipe, we only need a handful of ingredients. Our main ingredient is black tapioca pearls, or boba. "You most likely will need to order these online if you can't find them in the international section of the grocery store," Hahn remarks. Then we'll need some filtered water, black tea bags, brown sugar, and creamer or milk. "Even though it's most common to use black tea in boba tea, it will work well with other tea selections also," Hahn shares.

Our first step is to make the tea as you might have guessed. Just heat up heat up the water and combine it with the black tea bags and sugar. "I typically use an electric tea kettle to heat up the water but boiling it in a pot works just fine," Hahn shares. Stir to dissolve the sugar and let it steep for 10 minutes, then put it into the fridge to cool for 15 to 30 minutes. If the tea is too hot, it will melt the ice too quickly and water down the finished product.

When the tea has cooled, we can go ahead and cook the black pearls. Bring a pot of water to boil, then add the black pearls. Stir and reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse them well with cold water. "We want to make sure to give them a good rinse or they will become sticky and clump together," Hahn explains. "If you want to make the boba ahead of time, after draining cover with lots of cold water until you are ready to use," Hahn goes on to say.

Distribute the pearls into 2 to 3 tall glasses. You want about 3 inches of black pearls at the bottom of each glass. Then pour in the cooled tea leaving some room at the top for milk or cream. Top with the creamer and your boba tea is ready to enjoy. Now that you know the basic recipe you can mix it up by combining fruit with the tea and blending it before combining it with the boba or you can pick up flavored syrups to add for a sweeter version. So now you are in the know on the ins and outs of making boba tea!