Boba or Bubble tea
Makidotvn/iStock/GettyImages

Bubble tea becomes a popular drink on hot summer days when customers are looking for something refreshing and perhaps lightly sweet. Ordering bubble tea at a cafe or restaurant, however, does not have to be the only way to get a glass. Bubble tea, or boba milk tea, is a drink made of three primary ingredients: tea, milk and tapioca balls, which are jelly-like in texture.

Additional fruit flavors can be added to make sweeter options like strawberry bubble tea, though honeydew and mango are popular flavors as well. With these bubble tea recipes, it is possible and even easy to make bubble tea and varieties of it at home, like strawberry boba tea.

Be sure to have a means for eating the tapioca balls. Bubble tea straws are usually much larger to allow room for the tapioca pearls to pass through while drinking the beverage. For the environmentally conscious, metal straws are typically too narrow to allow the tapioca balls to pass through, so opt for a reusable spoon to drink and eat the tapioca balls simultaneously.

Bubble Tea Recipe

Total Time: 1 hour | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 6 tea bags of your choice
  • 8 cups boiled water, divided into two 4-cup increments
  • 3/4 cup tapioca pearls, fast-cooking
  • 2 tablespoons milk of your choice
  • 1 tablespoon honey or sweetener of your choice

Directions:

  1. In 4 cups of boiling water, steep 6 bags of your choice of tea, such as black, jasmine or green. Allow the tea to steep as it cools to room temperature.

  2. Bring another 4 cups of water to a boil and add the dry tapioca pearls.

  3. While stirring, allow the pearls to cook for 5 minutes, after which time the pearls should float to the top of the water.

  4. Rinse the tapioca pearls in cold water and drain. Divide them equally in 4 drinking glasses.

  5. Pour 1 cup of tea over the pearls followed by the milk of your choice. Whole milk is recommended for those who drink dairy milk because of its depth of flavor and rich quality.

  6. Stir to combine and add additional milk and honey or sweetener, if desired, to suit your taste.

  7. Enjoy the bubble tea with a spoon to scoop up the jelly-like tapioca pearls.

Strawberry Bubble Tea Recipe

Total Time: 1 hour | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 6 tea bags of your choice
  • 8 cups boiled water, divided into two 4-cup increments
  • 3/4 cup tapioca pearls, fast-cooking

  • 2 tablespoons milk of your choice

  • 1 cup fresh strawberries

  • 1 tablespoon honey or sweetener of your choice

Directions:

  1. In 4 cups of boiling water, steep 6 bags of your choice of tea, such as black, jasmine or green. Allow the tea to steep as it cools to room temperature.

  2. Bring another 4 cups of water to a boil and add the dry tapioca pearls.

  3. While stirring, allow the pearls to cook for 5 minutes, after which time the pearls should float to the top of the water.



    4. Rinse the tapioca pearls in cold water and drain. Divide them equally in 4 drinking glasses.



    5. Pour 1 cup of tea and the milk of your choice into a blender with the cup of fresh strawberries. Blend until smooth and pour over the tapioca pearls. Whole milk is recommended for those who drink dairy milk because of its depth of flavor and rich quality.

    6. Stir to combine and add additional milk and honey or sweetener, if desired, to suit your taste.

    7. Enjoy the strawberry bubble tea with a spoon to fetch the jelly-textured tapioca pearls from the bottom of the glass.