Making Taiwanese Boba Tea Shop Drinks At Home!
Bring all those Taiwanese Boba Tea Shop Drinks home into your own kitchen! I love boba tea so much that I decided to start making them at home, and it might be the best decision! From milk tea to boba toppings, I’ve got the recipes for everything you need to make your favorite boba drinks. No matter what your favorite drink it, making boba tea at home is not as complicated as you might think!
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Boba Tea: Taiwan’s Favorite Sweet Drink
Boba Tea, or bubble tea, was invented in Taiwan in the 1980s and quickly became the national drink. Since then, the popularity of Boba Tea has expanded internationally, and now even Vancouver has tons of bubble tea shops. I LOVE boba tea. Growing up in Taiwan, I drink boba tea at least 2-3 times a week. We drank so many boba teas in my last trip to Taipei, I even shared 6 boba places to try just in Taipei!
Boba tea shop offer menus full of either pure sweetened tea, milk teas, or fruit teas served with a variety of topping options. Today, I want to share ALL the recipes I have for all kinds of tea drinks you might find at a Taiwanese boba tea shop.
Boba Milk Tea = Boba + Milk + Tea
Putting together the classic Taiwanese Boba Milk Tea actually takes 3 components: Boba , milk, and tea. Often, my biggest decision at a boba shop is how much sugar, and what kind of tea I want. At home I can change things up to my heart’s desire. For example, I love using earl grey tea instead of normal black tea for an earl grey boba milk tea.
If you’re lactose intolerant, you can make Boba Tea with just the tea or swap it with soy or oat milk. I personally love using 2% milk, as I find that it provides the perfect amount of creaminess and richness.
Brown Sugar Milk Tea
- Brown Sugar Boba
- ยฝ cup of Brown Sugar
- 2 Red Tea Bags
- 1/2 cup of Milk
- Ice
Ginger Milk Tea
- 4 tablespoons loose-leaf black tea
- 3 thin slices of ginger
- 4 tablespoons red sugar or brown sugar
- 5-8 Chinese red dates
- 6 cups of water
- ยพ cup sago or mini tapioca pearls
- ยฝ cup milk
Boba Shop Fruit Teas
Fruit teas are perfect any time of the day, because they’re light and super refreshing. There are many ways to make fruit tea, from infusing the fruit flavors to fruit syrups If you’re in a rush, making fruit tea can be as easy as crushing fresh fruit in a cup and adding them to cold Jasmine or Black tea. But, if you have some time, I highly recommend trying out some of these other fruit tea options for a different flavor.
Fruit-Infused Herbal Tea For Healthy Benefits
These fruit-infused herbal tea are brewed with herbs and fruits directly in the pot. This gives the tea a nice subtle fruity sweetness that isn’t overpowering. If you’d like, you can add extra herbs like goji berries, dates, or rose petals to boost health benefits of your tea. Serve these fruit teas over ice or straight from the pot.
Herbal Hibisicus Rose Beauty Tea
- 10 g Hibiscus Flowers
- 10 g Chrysanthemum
- 10 g Rose Buds
- 10 g Goji Berry
- Red Sugar โ to taste
- 1.5 L Water
Apple Citrus Black Tea
- 1 apples
- 1 orange
- 1 lemons
- 1/3 cup of dried black loose tea leaves
- 2-3 tablespoon Red Sugar
- 4-5 cups Water
Making Your Own Fruit Syrup
Another way to add fruit flavors into your boba tea is adding a homemade fruit syrup. With this syrup recipe, you can have any fruit flavors you’d like, from grapefruit to strawberry. For an easy grapefruit green tea, I just add a spoonful of this syrup to my Jasmine tea. You can store this syrup in the fridge, and have your favorite fruit teas anytime.
- 6 Grapefruit
- 2 cup of Sugar
Adding Yakult To Your Fruit Teas
Another flavors commonly offered at Taiwanese boba tea shops are yakult fruit teas. If youโve never had Yakult, it is a probiotic yogurt drink popular in Asia. Itโs a very light drink thatโs a bit creamy yet tart and sweet. Combined with strong tea and fruit flavors, it becomes a fruity yogurt tea drink that’s also good for your gut.
Mandarin Orange Yakult Green Tea
- 3 mandarins
- 1 bottle of yakult
- Jasmine Tea
- Ice
Bubble Tea Toppings
Once you’ve chosen your type of tea and your sweetness level, it’s time for toppings. Boba tea’s wide varieties of possible toppings adds texture into the drink, giving you something to chew on while you sip.
With fruit teas, you can always add chunks of cut fruit: apples, kiwi, watermelon, and more. It also pairs so well with the tart flavors of fruit or coconut jellies. I love adding brown sugar boba or taro balls for a milk tea, because their sweet, earthy flavors adds to the creamy goodness.
Brown Sugar Boba
The chewy brown sugar boba you know and love is actually just 3 ingredients: Tapioca starch, water, and brown sugar! I always love adding some homemade brown sugar boba into my milk tea. It’s a Taiwanese classic! The Brown Sugar Boba gives a sweet caramel flavor as you chew. Brown sugar boba goes with anything – milk tea, fruit tea, AND pure tea. If I made extra brown sugar boba, I also love using them as a dessert topping as well.
- 160g Tapioca Starch
- 60g Brown Sugar
- 80ml of Water
Chewy Taro and Sweet Potato Balls
If you follow this recipe and make the taro and sweet potato ball a little tinier, you can make taro ball boba drinks just like Meet Fresh. These chewy little balls are packed with taro flavor, and are best with milk teas.
- 400 g of Yam or Sweet Potato or Purple Yam or Taro
- 200 g of Tapioca Starch or Sweet Potato Flour
- 3 tbsp of Sugar
Caramel Pudding
Believe it or not, pudding is actually a pretty popular topping in Taiwanese boba shops. Best added to creamy milk tea, caramel pudding adds a light and delicious bounce while you’re sipping your tea. The slightly smoky bitterness of the caramel pairs so well with pure tea as well, especially a sweetened oolong or earl grey!
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Egg Yolk
- 300 ml Milk
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 1 shot Rum or Vanilla
Caramel
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 3 tbsp Water
- 3 tbsp HOT Water
You’ve got Boba Tea, now you’ll need the Boba Shop Snacks:
