Chinese Bubble tea is one of those things that was a distinct part of my childhood. I remember the very first time I had a strawberry smoothie with chewy “bubbles,” or tapioca pearls and that awesome fat straw (my tiny little kid brain could barely handle the awesomeness of having a straw triple the size of what I got on my Capri Sun pouch. I would actually steal extra ones and horde them in our kitchen…Don’t judge me.).
Eventually it got to a point where I was constantly on the prowl for bubble tea.
Going to have lunch with the grandparents in Flushing? I was scanning for bubble tea.
Having lunch in Chinatown with cousins? Who wants bubble tea?!!
Spending an afternoon in the city with my mom? How far is Chinatown anyways? Because…you know…we could grab some bubble tea.
Of course, bubble tea has had a bit of an explosion in popularity, so it’s not as hard to find as it was when I was 10 years old, but it is harder to find the high quality stuff that’s not entirely made of some mystery powder sluice juice and cloyingly sweetened with artificial sugars. Plus, my discovery a few years back that you could actually BUY the black tapioca pearls at Asian grocery store makes this recipe a must for any ardent bubble tea lover.
Over the years I’ve cycled through preferences for different flavors–strawberry smoothies, taro, and citrusy green tea, and while I do enjoy those, nothing quite compares with the original black milk tea–strong black tea and a hit of creamy milk, slightly sweetened to perfection.
You’ll need:
- 4 1/2 cups boiled water
- 1/4 cup good black tea leaves (black tea is technically translated as “red tea” in Chinese; this’ll help if you’re fumbling with Chinese tea packages, as we were!)
- 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- Black tapioca pearls aka Bubbles aka “Boba”s (1/4 cup per glass)
- 3/4 cup half and half
First, boil your water. After it reaches a rolling boil, turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes or so. Apparently, Chinese tea gurus say that intensely hot boiled water zaps all the nutrients out of the tea leaves, ergo the short cooling process prior to brewing the tea. (As with most things related to Chinese cooking that my mother says that other people say, I can’t really confirm whether or not this is actually true, but better safe than sorry…)
Put the tea in your favorite kettle (or a large mixing bowl), making sure that it’s either in a tea bag (you can actually buy these disposable tea filter bags and fill them with your own selection of teas!) or a few metal tea infusers. (If you haven’t got any of this equipment, you can also just strain the tea prior to adding the half and half.) Add the hot water and let steep for 15 minutes.
Now you’re ready to add the sugar. Mix the tea and sugar thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Then add the half and half. For anyone who’s squeamish about higher fat dairy, it’s really not a lot per serving, as this serves four. If you want to sub in regular milk, go right ahead, but the flavor of the finished product is truly authentic with the half and half!
Put the tea in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. This is preferred over adding ice, so that the tea doesn’t get diluted. Also, more authentic! When your tea is close to the optimal temperature, break out your bubbles. Preparing the bubbles entails boiling them in water; you can follow the package instructions. Spoon out 1/4 cup of bubbles per glass and pour the finished tea for a delightfully sweet and refreshing drink!
- 4½ cups boiled water
- ¼ cup good black tea leaves (black tea is technically translated as "red tea" in Chinese; this'll help if you're fumbling with Chinese tea packages, as we were!)
- 4½ tablespoons sugar
- Black tapioca pearls aka Bubbles aka "Boba" (1/4 cup per glass)
- ¾ cup half and half
- First, boil your water. After it reaches a rolling boil, turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes or so. Apparently, Chinese tea gurus say that intensely hot boiled water zaps all the nutrients out of the tea leaves, ergo the short cooling process prior to brewing the tea. (As with most things related to Chinese cooking that my mother says that other people say, I can't really confirm whether or not this is actually true, but better safe than sorry...)
- Put the tea in your favorite kettle (or a large mixing bowl), making sure that it's either in a tea bag (you can actually buy these and fill them with your own selection of teas!) or a few metal tea infusers. (If you haven't got any of this equipment, you can also just strain the tea prior to adding the half and half.) Add the hot water and let steep for 15 minutes.
- Now you're ready to add the sugar. Mix the tea and sugar thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add the half and half. For anyone who's squeamish about higher fat dairy, it's really not a lot per serving, as this serves four. If you want to sub in regular milk, go right ahead, but the flavor of the finished product is truly authentic with the half and half!
- Put the tea in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. This is preferred over adding ice, so that the tea doesn't get diluted. Also, more authentic! When your tea is close to the optimal temperature, break out your bubbles. Preparing the bubbles entails boiling them in water; you can follow the package instructions. Spoon out ¼ cup of bubbles per glass and pour the finished tea for a delightfully sweet and refreshing drink!
Lydia says
I made this and scaled it up for about 150gallons of tea! People loved it. I used 2 tea bags (Mix of Tetley and Stassen Ceylon) and 1.5 tablespoons sugar per cup of tea and used water at 205F. Half and half really was a perfect balance against the sweet, strong tea
Kaitlin says
Sounds awesome, Lydia! :)
Wendy says
Hi :) ! I’m trying to work out what “half and half is.” Is it an American ingredient?? I’m in Australia, so have no idea what that term means.
Saraa says
Half and half is a milk/cream that we put in our coffee/tea/other drinks. When I look up substitutes of half and half it says “single cream”. I also read on Reddit that you can make half and half by equal parts of milk and cream.
Hope that helps some though I am not the author of this post. :)
Amy Live Large says
I became addicted to the campus bubble tea shops while teaching in China. And, I’m just as crazy, I mean, adamant about finding a bubble tea (ok, what’s with “boba” anyway…sounds like boba fet from Star Wars) place when in a larger city (I live in a smaller mountain town and there are places that make bubble tea, but beware of the powdery junk like you mentioned) – I’m on the prowl for the Real McCoy. And while I occasionally go for a Taro tea or Thai tea, the original is still my favorite – the best. I’ve made my own bubble and Thai tea before, but this helps to have another recipe on hand! Thank you! Oh, and BTW, have you ever used sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar + half-n-half?
Judy says
We hear you, Amy, many recipes are the result of making do with what one has. :-) Also, condensed milk is a good alternative to sugar and half-n-half.
Élisabeth says
Hello! I drank a lot of «milk tea» when I was in China. (in the Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces in my case) and I have been craving for it ever since. I tried hong kong style milk tea, but that wasn’t it at all. The closest I had in Canada was a nature bubble tea. Do you think if a do you recipe of bubble tea but without the tapioca pearls it will be similar to chinese milk tea?
Judy says
Hi Elisabeth, I searched for Shaanxi, Sichuan, or Xi’an milk tea on baidu, but nothing came of it. Maybe you can try this milk tea recipe and leave the bubbles out. Hope it’s close to what you had :-)
Owaish Umar Khan says
nice drink loved its recipe and would surely try it
Judy says
Thank you!
Angela F says
Hi! I went to an Asian grocery the other day and I was trying to find black tapioca pearls but I couldn’t! I looked through the frozen section especially the ice cream section but I didn’t find anything! I got home frustrated and was craving for bubble tea lol. Hope you can help me! ?
Judy says
Hi Angela, also check the refrigerated section. If you still can’t find it, show the store staff the package image that we shared in this post.
Amy Live Large says
It took me a while to find black tapioca pearls as well. Once I settled for the clear variety. They work as well, just don’t show as clearly in the glass.