Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea
If there is anything I like drinking other than coffee and tea is boba milk tea. I remember drinking milk tea every time Iโm out shopping with my mom or with friends. Although now there are so many different flavours and stores selling boba tea, my favourite is always the classic boba milk tea. Recently they have this brown sugar boba milk tea which is my go to when Iโm in a bubble tea shop!
In the past my mom has tried making tapioca pearl at home and it never seems to work. I also imagined that it would be difficult to make tapioca at home. I avoided for the longest time. However, since the price of bubble tea has gone up significantly, I thought this would be a good time to make some boba milk tea so I don’t have to buy it when I’m craving it.
Brown Sugar Boba Milk tea
When I was young, I didn’t have the option of brown sugar tapioca, it’s usually just brown sugar tapioca pearls (no syrup) and milk tea. The flavour teas are usually made with a powder. Nowadays, there are so many options and so many different flavours made with different teas, fruits and different cold foams. The possibililties are endless! One of the most recent toppings I’ve seen in bubble tea shop is brown sugar boba. The tapioca pearl is cooked with a brown sugar syrup and can be either with milk tea or just plain milk. I love both versions. For this recipe, I’m going to make a milk tea with the brown sugar boba.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Milk tea
- 1/4 cup loose black tea leaves
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 cups hot water
- 1 cup milk
I used oolong tea leaves, you can use Assam or ceylon. You can also used English Breakfast as well!
Brown sugar boba
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar tapioca pearl (roughly 200g)
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1/3 cup of water
Ingredients adjustment/substitution
If you prefer a sweeter milk tea, add 1/2 tbsp more sugar or if you prefer a more tea flavour, add 1/2 tbsp more tea leaves.
If you prefer more milky flavour, adjust the amount of milk and water ratio. Also if you donโt drink tea, you can just add milk of your choice.
If you are using milk only, I would increase the amount of brown sugar (2 tbsp more) in the brown sugar boba to prevent diluting the taste.
This brown sugar boba goes best with milk tea or milk. The brown sugar flavour will mix with other fruit teas and itโs not good.
Instruction for brown sugar boba milk tea
Milk tea can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge.
- In a pot, add in oolong tea and sugar and turn the heat to medium high
- When the sugar has melted and turn a golden colour, add in hot water, turn the heat to medium high. Wait until the water is boiling.
- Once the water is boiling, add in milk and turn heat off. Let it steep for about 5 minutes
- Remove the loose tea leaves with as strainer. Then pour the tea into a container with a strainer to catch any remaining tea leaves.
- Store in the fridge. Consume within 5 days.
Brown sugar boba
- In a pot, boil water on high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the tapioca (should be 1 part of tapioca to 6 parts water, ideally by weight)
- Let it boil for until itโs floating. Stir often.
- Turn the heat to medium and simmer for another 15 minutes on medium heat.
- Then turn off the heat, cover for 10 minutes.
- Take the tapioca out of the water and into a bowl of cool water. Discard the water used in boiling the tapioca.
- In the same pot add in water and brown sugar.
- Then turn the heat onto high and let it come to a boil.
- Once the brown sugar has melted and boiling add the tapioca back in.
- Reduce heat to medium. Stir the tapioca constantly and once the mixture becomes more syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
To assemble:
- Put the tapioca pearls into a cup and serve with your milk tea or just serve it with milk.Serve with ice.
It’s bes to eat the boba the day you make it as it gets hard as it sits. If you do have to store the boba, store in the fridge and warm it up in the microwave for about 20-30s.
Pro-tip
- When melting the sugar in the milk tea, donโt walk away. Once the sugar melts, it quickly turns golden brown and you want to add the water right away.
- Usually store bought tapioca pearls will have instructions on how much tapioca to water ratio. Rule of thumb, you can always put more water.
- Ideally if you are buying tapioca pearls, try to find the brown sugar ones instead of the white or multi-colour ones. The brown tapioca usually has brown sugar in it. It tastes better too!
- Try to consume the tapioca the day itโs made, it will change once you let it sit in the fridge.
Brown Sugar Boba Milk tea
Ingredients
Milk Tea
- ยผ cup loose black tea leaves Oolong, Assam, Ceylon, English Breakfast
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 ยฝ cups hot water
- 1 cup milk
Brown sugar boba
- 1 ยฝ cups brown sugar tapioca pearl 200g
- ยฝ cup of brown sugar
- โ cup of water
- 1.2 L water (boiling tapioca)
Instructions
Milk Tea
- In a pot, add in oolong tea and sugar and turn the heat to medium high
- When the sugar has melted and turn a golden colour, add in hot water, turn the heat to medium high. Wait until the water is boiling.
- Once the water is boiling, add in milk and turn heat off. Let it steep for about 5 minutes
- Remove the loose tea leaves with as strainer. Then pour the tea into a container with a strainer to catch any remaining tea leaves.
- Store in the fridge. Consume within 5 days.
Brown Sugar Boba
- In a pot, boil water on high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the tapioca (should be 1 part of tapioca to 6 parts water, ideally by weight)
- Let it boil for until itโs floating. Stir often.
- Turn the heat to medium and simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Then turn off the heat, cover for 10 minutes.
- Take the tapioca out of the water and into a bowl of cool water. Discard the water used in boiling the tapioca.
- In the same pot add in water and brown sugar.
- Then turn the heat onto high and let it come to a boil.
- Once the brown sugar has melted and boiling add the tapioca back in.
- Reduce heat to medium. Stir the tapioca constantly and once the mixture becomes more syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
To assemble
- Put the tapioca pearls into a cup and serve with your milk tea or just serve it with milk. Add some ice.
