Making bubble tea at home sounds far more intimidating than it really is. Bubble tea is a tea-based drink
mixed with fruit or milk, and the "bubbles" are tapioca pearls or "Boba pearls." The star ingredient in bubble tea is the tapioca
pearls. You can purchase them from many online stores, Asian grocery stores and even supermarkets.
Once you have your hands on the tapioca pearls, it's time to decide what kind of tea and milk you would like to use. The variations
are endless, and in most bubble tea cafes you can find hundreds of combinations to suit your taste. It's traditionally made with black tea, but you can also use
green tea, Oolong tea or white tea. When it comes to deciding what kind of milk or creamer you would like to use, there are no limitations.
It can vary from whole milk to flavored creamers to condensed milk. It really comes down to your personal taste preference. If you are
looking for a more exciting bubble tea, you can opt to add in other favorites such as fruit, jams or flavored syrups.
The process of making the bubble tea is quite simple once you pick through the flavoring options and settle on the perfect combination.
Many bubble tea recipes and video tutorials can be found online. But for the most part it's pretty simple. To start, you will need to prepare the tapioca pearls. You can follow the package instructions, though the general idea is to boil them in lots of water: ten cups of water to one cup of dried tapioca pearls.
• Start by bringing ten cups of water to a boil.
• Slowly stir in 1 cup of dried tapioca pearls.
• Once the tapioca beads float to the top, turn down the heat to medium, cover and let simmer for five minutes.
• Carefully scoop out the pearls into a colander to avoid tearing. Then shock them in cold water to stop the cooking process.
Tapioca pearls are best consumed within a few hours of cooking. You can store them in the refrigerator in a bowl of water or in
simple syrup. They can last several days this way but will eventually begin to dry out and harden. You can easily create a simple syrup
by reducing equal parts of sugar and water over medium heat until thickened. The same method can be used to create flavored
syrups that you can then add to your bubble tea.
Cooking times and preparation may vary by brand, so be sure to read the package instructions completely.
Assembling the bubble tea is pretty simple. You will need the following:
• ¼ cup prepared tapioca pearls
• ½ cup brewed tea of choice, chilled
• ½ cup milk (or adjust creamer of choice to taste)
• Sugar or other sweetener to taste
Combine tea, milk and sugar over ice. Place tapioca beads in the bottom of the preferred cup and then pour the tea mixture over it, straining out the ice with a spoon or colander.
You are now ready to enjoy your homemade bubble tea! Once you have mastered the basics of bubble tea there is a whole world of variations left to explore.