How to Make Bubble Tea (Boba Milk Tea) At Home

Bubble tea combines black tea, milk, simple syrup, ice, and chewy tapioca pearls. It's a delicious Taiwanese drink that's sweet, chewy, and fun - almost everyone loves it. But we're willing to bet you've never been able to make something similar to the shops at home. We know because it's taken us over 15 iterations to find the proper blend of black teas, ratio and fresh milk.

Our definitive guide will tell you everything you need to know about this moreish beverage and how to make it at home.

Don't feel like reading? Watch our quick and easy YouTube video tutorial on how to make boba tea in 5 different ways. Learn how to make the original classic milk tea, Korean strawberry milk, matcha green boba, creamy purple taro and mango boba.

Jump to:

• Bubble Tea Ingredients
• How to Make Bubble Tea | Easy Boba Tea Recipe
• How to Brew Black Tea for Milk Tea
• How to Make Bubble Tea Step-by-step
• Golden Ratio
• Cooking Tips
• How to Make Milk Tea Like Boba Shop
• Popular Boba Milk Tea Flavours
• Why Make It At Home?
• Calories
• Sustainability

Bubble Tea Ingredients

You'll need black tea, milk, sugar, ice and tapioca pearls to make the classic milk tea at home.

Tea

We'll mix loose Assam, Ceylon, and Oolong leaves for our bubble tea recipe. If you can't find Ceylon or Oolong, you can still make bubble tea with simple black tea bags made from Assam.

Every boba shop will use its mix of black loose-leaf blends, which is often a trade secret. Most recipes online will mention using Assam or Earl Grey. However, we found that these alone or mixed don't come close to the flavours from different stores.

We spent hours analysing the ingredients of popular instant boba milk tea powders and trade-use mixes. Then, we narrowed down the variety of loose-leaf blends to use. Finally, it took us 21 iterations, trialling combinations of loose leaf blends and varying the ratio to get our perfect match.

It ended up being a mix of 3 blends. Assam provides a rich, malty base. Meanwhile, Ceylon adds a refreshing floral taste, and Oolong offers sweetness. The combination gives you a lovely, strong base with a mellow, lingering floral aftertaste.

You might enjoy experimenting with Chinese loose-leaf blends if your palate is more refined (or you're a connoisseur). Try Keemun and Lapsang Souchong to find your favourite. The majority of black loose-leaf blends taste excellent in bubble tea.

Check out our YouTube tutorial below to make a fruit bubble tea at home without caffeine. Alternatively, skip to our section on popular boba milk flavours.

Tapioca Pearls

Adding tapioca pearls distinguishes this Taiwanese drink from other Asian beverages like yuenyeung, teh tarik or chai. You can buy these online or make them from scratch using tapioca starch.

Making tapioca pearls (also known as boba) at home saves money. In addition, you can customise the flavour, colour, size and firmness. On the other hand, it is more convenient to buy them online.

One of our firm favourites among our top 10 tapioca brands to use is Wu Fu Yuan because of how quickly their black sugar pearls cook. They also produce a soft yet firm texture. If you fancy making these yourself, we at Honest Food Talks have covered in-depth how to make bubble tea pearls at home. Either way, you can store homemade and store-bought tapioca pearls for an extended period if uncooked.

As mentioned above, there are several other toppings that you can add to your Taiwanese beverage. If you want to make bubble tea without tapioca starch, check out our recipe for popping boba with fruit juice. We also love crystal white tapioca pearls that use agar.

Milk

We'll use full-fat cream milk for our classic milk tea recipe. We know that boba stores use highly processed non-dairy creamers or dairy powder mixed with water in their beverages. However, we're sticking to full-fat cream milk to keep our easy bubble tea recipe relatively healthy and additive-free.

If the taste is more important, skip the fresh dairy and add 2.5 tablespoon coffee creamer per cup. It gave us almost identical results to store-made boba when we made it. Canned evaporated milk is also another great option.

You can also use semi-skimmed dairy, but the results won't be as creamy as full cream milk.

The main difference between dairy and plant-based milk is the taste and texture. Plant-based alternatives will typically be thinner in texture and add subtle flavour to the drink. Therefore, to not water it down, you should adjust the amount of ice we use in our recipe if you use a plant-based alternative.

We recommend using soy or oat milk if you're vegan or lactose intolerant. Both alternatives have a neutral, complimentary flavour to our loose-leaf base. However, we suggest avoiding strong-tasting plant-based alternatives like coconut. 

If you want to make aesthetically pleasing boba drinks for social media, use single or heavy cream. The thickness of the cream will help stop the liquids from mixing so quickly. You'll get vivid layers of milk, your loose leaf base and boba.

Another way is cold whisking the milk. You can shake the dairy in the jar or use an electric whisk to froth it up. It helps aerate the fresh dairy and make it foamy. 

Sugar

We'll use equal parts of white sugar and water to make a simple syrup for our sweetener in this drink. It's the most common sweetener in bubble tea, as granulated sugar doesn't dissolve well in cold liquids.

If you want to make a classic boba that tastes like it is from the shops, then this is your best bet.

Just by changing the type of sweetener used, the taste profile of the beverage may completely change.

Another excellent sweetener is brown sugar or cane sugar. However, they have a stronger caramel flavour than white sugar. As a result, this is usually not used when the beverage contains tea.

Furthermore, shops will usually feature the sweetener as the star of the drink and only add it to plain fresh dairy. Shops will first add brown sugar syrup to a cup and rotate it. Then, the chewy soft pearls, ice and milk are added. This is called tiger boba or tiger bubble tea. Some Japanese bubble tea get their unique sweetness from using Okinawan kokuto black sugar.

So, if the base boba tea flavour isn't as important to you as the sweetness, we recommend using brown sugar syrup for its lovely toffee-like sweetness.

You can also use honey as a sweetener. However, we recommend using honey sparingly as it will add a distinct floral taste. You'll also need a considerable amount to achieve the same level of sweetness as white sugar. For this reason, we don't recommend these sweeteners for home cooking. Stick with granulated sugar for ease and low costs.

Ice

Adding ice can make your drink lighter and more voluminous. The ice helps to keep the beverage cold and bring out the sweetness further.

For other bubble tea recipes, the crushed ice can also help to create more vivid colour layers. In the end, the amount of ice used depends on personal preference.

How to Brew Black Tea for Milk Tea

Many boba shops don't focus on the quality of the infusion itself. They use blends that are cheap in bulk and forgiving regarding brew time, temperature, and reheating. For this reason, this type of drink is excellent for beginners to brew at home, too.

For our recipe, we like to brew our loose-leaf blend at 85 degrees Celsius (185 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes. Then, we strain the loose leaf and let the mixture cool further in the fridge. Our recipe has some Oolong inside. So, we're using a low temperature of 85 degrees Celsius (185 degrees Fahrenheit) rather than boiling water.

Generally speaking, if you're having plain black tea, you should steep it for 3-5 minutes. However, steeping it for only 5 minutes produced a very faint taste once we mixed the milk and simple syrup.

Brewing for 10 minutes was better, but 15-20 minutes from our tests is the sweet spot. You'll get a robust, bold brew that shines through the cream and sweetener. 

While we didn't notice any bitterness from oversteeping our loose-leaf blend, if you want to avoid any bitterness, a great alternative is cold brewing. In this type of cold brew or Japanese Mizudashi, you put leaves in cold water for an extended time.

Add your loose-leaf blend to a pitcher. Then, let it brew for at least 12 hours inside the fridge. In our experiment, leaving it overnight gave us the best results. Once this has been brewed, strain out the used leaves or bags. You will get a sweeter, less caffeinated brew as less tannin has been released.

The cold brew method is uncommon for any bubble tea recipe. However, the rarity of this method means more opportunities for creative boba drink spins.

How to Make Bubble Tea Step-by-step

You can make bubble tea in a few easy steps.

1. Add equal parts of water and sugar to a pot and turn the stove on to medium heat. Once the sugar has completely dissolved, let your simple sweetener cool before using it. You can also store a batch in a clean jar inside the fridge.
2. In a separate pot, cook the instant tapioca pearls in boiling water for 5 minutes. If you're making homemade tapioca pearls, cook these on medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes. Then, for another 5 minutes under low heat. For a softer texture, cook these for 10-15 minutes instead and then 5 minutes under low heat.
3. Once cooked, remove the pearls from the hot water. Transfer them to a bowl of iced cold water for 1-2 minutes. Remove your boba from the water and set aside.
4. Add 4 g of Assam, 1 g of Ceylon, and 1g of Oolong to a mug. If you can't find these, replace these with 3 black tea bags. Steep the loose leaves in hot water (around 85 degrees Celsius, or 185 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes. Remove the loose leaves to stop brewing according to your desired strength. Let this cool entirely in the fridge or shake over ice before mixing in your simple syrup and milk.
5. In a tall glass, add ice and liquid mix. Then, add your tapioca pearls on top of the drink. Serve your sweet Taiwanese concoction with a thick straw, and enjoy.

We combined the fresh dairy with the loose-leaf base to make an aesthetic drink. Then, we added more tapioca pearls at the top. However, this is entirely optional and there are many other ways to combine your drink.

Refer to our easy boba tea recipe below for more information.

Golden Ratio

Our team at Honest Food Talks have done thorough research and experimentation to develop the ratios below. Or, as we like to think, we've made and enjoyed a lot of boba tea at home.

We've figured out the best starter golden ratio for all boba lovers.

Before any of our readers get too excited, we'd like to clarify something: there is no single golden ratio to make bubble tea. Everyone likes their drinks differently, so there is no formula for the perfect cup.

Here are a few general guidelines on how to make a brew that's right for you. The following ratios are a good starting point if you're making bubble tea at home for the first time. 

Measurements

The measurements below indicate a good ratio between the brew, milk, simple syrup, ice and tapioca pearls. Each ratio adds up to 1 cup (approx. 250ml-300ml), with a 200ml base. We use the balanced bubble tea ratio as the standard.

Type	Base	Milk	Syrup	Ice	Pearls
For a strong brew (focused on the base flavour)	240ml	1.5 tbsp	1.5 tbsp	4 tbsp	3 tbsp
For a sweet but not-so-milky beverage	200ml	2 tbsp	4 tbsp	4 tbsp	3 tbsp
For a milky but not-so-sweet beverage	200ml	4 tbsp	2 tbsp	4 tbsp	3 tbsp
For a balanced bubble tea that is sweet and milky	200ml	3 tbsp	3 tbsp	4 tbsp	3 tbsp
For a less icy beverage	Any of the above	Any of the above	Any of the above	2tbsp	Any of the above
For a drink with more toppings	Any of the above	Any of the above	Any of the above	Any of the above	4-5 tbsp

For the ice, we assume that 1 ice cube is equivalent to 2 tablespoon of ice. So, 2 ice cubes would be around 4 tablespoon crushed ice.

So, use your judgment when it comes to these ratios. Prioritise your taste above anything else when making this recipe. That's the beauty of home cooking, after all.

Cooking Tips

Can't taste the brew

If you can't taste the Assam and you're using black tea bags, we suggest switching to loose-leaf Assam first. The loose leaves will have a more pungent taste.

You can try doubling the amount if you're already using our suggested loose-leaf blend of Assam, Ceylon and Oolong. Then, brew it in the same amount of water. However, this may increase the levels of caffeine in your drink over the recommended daily amount. 

As a general guide, the FDA recommends that an adult shouldn't consume more than 400mg of caffeine a day. Our suggested loose-leaf blend totals 6g with roughly 75mg of caffeine.

Another option is to use higher quality loose leaf Assam, Ceylon and Oolong. Although this may be a bit more expensive, it will produce a more fragrant taste without increasing the caffeine levels.

Not creamy enough

Add 3 teaspoon of coffee creamer to the fresh milk if your bubble tea doesn't taste creamy or thick enough. Adding more fresh dairy won't add further creaminess and will most dilute the taste of the loose-leaf blend.

Alternatively, if you want to avoid using non-dairy creamers, you can add 1 teaspoon of whey protein powder. We found this hack after looking at the ingredients used in Instant Taiwanese brands Xiang Piao Piao, 3:15 pm and Deer Alley.

Use the whey powder sparingly; too much will give you a protein shake aftertaste.

Another great alternative is adding 2 tablespoon of canned evaporated milk to thicken your mixture. The taste is similar to when non-diary creamers are added. However, we recommend halving the simple syrup you use instead, as canned evaporated milk adds sweetness.

Not sweet enough

If your bubble tea doesn't taste sweet enough, don't add more sweetener immediately. This is because the tapioca pearls in syrup will add sweetness. Add more syrup if your drink needs to be sweeter after adding tapioca pearls.

Sugar levels

For our recipe, 3 tbsps of simple syrup tastes like 50% sugar level from what we would order from a boba shop. Here's the equivalent sugar levels:

• 100% sugar level is 5 tbsps of sweetener
• 75% sugar level is 4 tbsps of sweetener
• 50% sugar level is 3 tbsps of sweetener
• 25% sugar level is 2 tbsps of sweetener
• 0% sugar level is 0 tablespoon of sweetener

The sugar levels above are just guidelines. Different boba shops will use different concentrations and types of sugar in their drinks. If you're worried it'll be too sweet, we suggest you start with 1-2 tablespoon of simple syrup and slowly add more to your taste.

Different blends of loose-leaf

Every boba shop will use varying qualities of black loose leaves and blends. It's why a classic milk tea from Chatime tastes different from one from Gong Cha, Tiger Sugar, Xing Fu Tang and YiFang.

Our mix of Assam, Ceylon and Oolong got us the closest to our favourite bubble tea store in London. Here are some other blends we liked from our testing. You can use these to help you find your perfect blend.

• Low caffeine: 2g Assam, 1g Ceylon, 1g Oolong
• Dark chocolate aftertaste: 2g Assam, 2g Ceylon, 2g Oolong
• More bitterness: 4g Assam, 2g Ceylon, 2g Oolong

How to cool it faster

Depending on your room or fridge temperature, your drink may take a while to cool down before assembly. To cool your hot brew beverage faster, shake it over ice in a shaker for 10-15 seconds. However, you can use a large tumbler with a secure lid if you don't have a shaker at home.

Can you prepare beforehand?

You can prepare most ingredients in advance to make the perfect boba to save time on the day. 

You can make raw, uncooked tapioca starch pearls up to 6 weeks in advance. Store them in a clean, dry, airtight container at room temperature. If you refrigerate them, they may harden in texture. But if this is what you prefer, go ahead. If using store-bought instant tapioca, keep them in their original packaging.

After cooking, keep the tapioca in cold water or the cooking syrup to preserve the texture until adding them to the bubble tea. You can store tapioca pearls this way for a few hours. Your tapioca starch pearls might become soggy any longer, so try to avoid this. However, they might stick together once you remove them from cold water. In addition, it becomes tougher in texture over time. In general, try to cook the tapioca only when you need them.

You can easily prepare simple syrup and refrigerate it a few days before. It's a practice that bartenders will often make this sweetener in bulk. 

You can also store your cold brew base in the fridge for up to 36 hours. Just make sure to strain the leaves after the recommended time. However, we suggest briefly keeping your loose leaf base in the refrigerator, not overnight, as it will lose its flavour.

How to Make Milk Tea Like Boba Shop

How boba shops make milk tea differs from how you would make it at home. Besides their industrial boba mix, they will likely use a shaker to cool the drink instantly and make it frothier. In addition, they use large amounts of non-dairy creamer.

You'll need black tea leaves, a non-diary creamer, simple syrup, and ice to make milk tea like at boba shops.

1. Add your loose leaf blend to a cup and pour 200ml of hot water at 85 degrees Celsius. Brew this for 15 minutes.
2. After 15 minutes, strain the leaves and pour the liquid into a shaker.
3. Add 2.5 tablespoon of non-dairy creamer and shake well. Then, add simple syrup and ice to the shaker. Shake well to cool down the drink.
4. Add tapioca pearls to a plastic cup, add ice and then pour over your classic Taiwanese drink.

Popular Boba Milk Tea Flavours

Versions of milk tea without boba are becoming popular, thanks to the classic Taiwanese drink. Classic versions are roasted Oolong milk tea and Jasmine milk tea, which have dominated the menus of boba shops across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.

Aside from loose-leaf blends, other drink bases can have boba pearls added to them. Although not using this means it's technically not a type of tea, it's still delicious.

The varieties of bubble tea flavours are endless and often don't even include tea. Some examples are fruit juices, milk, smoothies, and coffee. Think coffee boba, chocolate, fruit blends and fresh dairy, sometimes with fruit purees or juices mixed in. 

The most popular milk tea flavours are strawberry, matcha, mango, taro and brown sugar boba. These are also some of our favourites. Here's how you can make it at home.

Korean Strawberry Milk

One of the most popular alternative drinks containing boba is strawberry milk. When strawberries are in season, you'll find this more in Asia. It's also a great bubble tea recipe with popping boba as an additional topping.

Matcha Bubble Tea

Using matcha instead of black tea is a great way for many people to start enjoying green tea. Earthy matcha in this form is sweet and creamy when combined with sweetened boba.

Mango Boba (Fruit bubble tea recipe without milk)

Mango boba is a fan favourite for refreshing bubble tea drinks without milk. However, adding dairy will add creaminess.

We also added Chinese green tea bags to give the drink more depth. We like to top this with homemade mango tapioca pearls and fresh mango. You can get creative at home with different topping combinations. However, we recommend adding at most 3 toppings in one go.

Our other favourite fruit versions that work well with this base recipe include lychee and peach.

Purple Taro

Taro milk tea and taro fresh milk have always been popular for their vanilla, sweet, and nutty taste. Besides chewy pearls, our favourite boba toppings are cream cheese foam and crystal boba.

Brown Sugar Boba

Brown sugar boba is almost synonymous with the classic flavour. It's even simpler to make than making the classic, as no brewing to do. You combine brown sugar, milk and tapioca pearls.

In addition to these, there are countless toppings besides tapioca pearls that you can use to avoid tapioca starch. Some classic boba toppings include sago, taro balls, egg pudding, popping pearls, crystal pearls, grass jelly, coffee jelly, and rainbow jelly.

Why Make It At Home?

For us, there are 3 main reasons you should make bubble tea at home: cost, nutrition and variety.

Making boba pearls and the drink at home is much cheaper than buying them from shops, especially if you're making regular visits.

According to experts from Healthline and WebMed, store-bought tapioca beverages contain synthetic food flavourings and high levels of sugar and caffeine.

However, the most convincing reason is that you can control the calorie count in your cup of beverage. When you're your own barista, you can fine-tune the ingredients and the amounts to fit your taste buds best.

Calories

Our dedicated research found that the average large cup of boba tea contains around 460 calories. You can reduce or increase the calories based on the drink's sugar levels or tapioca starch pearls. This is by no means a low-calorie drink. So, you should see it as an occasional treat rather than a day-to-day drink.

One of the reasons people cook at home is for health reasons. To control the additives and calories in the food they eat. However, even the most cautiously prepared bubble teas are high in calories.

So, how can you reduce the calories in your boba drink? If it's the chewy pearls you're after, add them to fresh juice or black tea. You can also add lower amounts of creamer and sugar if you like the taste of classic bubble tea but not the calories.

New boba businesses are producing low-calorie bubble tea kits. However, they are scarce in today's boba tea industry landscape. The best way to control calories in your drink is to make it yourself.

Sustainability

If you're a fan of this drink, you should carry reusable tumblers and straws to shops to reduce your usage of single-use plastic. These straws can be used while making and serving this bubble tea recipe at home.

Boba straws are wider to allow the pearls to fit through the straw. Reusable ones are better for the environment and more hygienic and stylish. See our pick for the best reusable boba straw and the best boba cups.

We've also tried boba home kits that are very useful in easing the boba-making process at home. Admirably, many of these boba tea shops recognise the need to provide more sustainable tools in their bubble tea home kits. In addition, they are more cost-effective than buying single-use ones if you make them frequently.

We hope you enjoyed this comprehensive guide to everything bubble tea. If you haven't made it yet give it a try. It's cheaper and better than store-bought. Enjoy.

Next up, try our Thai tea recipe with canned evaporated milk or rose milk tea recipe.