Brown Sugar Bubble Tea

Make this popular milk tea with boba at home! Deliciously rich and sweet brown sugar is balanced with a robust black tea and creamy milk. Plus, get my secret to making the best bubble tea.

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Brown Sugar Bubble Tea

Bubble tea is an iced milk tea drink with tapioca balls (also called boba that look like bubbles) and brown sugar bubble tea is one of the most popular flavors. The brown sugar gives the drink a rich sweetness with a touch of toffee flavor.

The cup is lined with brown sugar syrup and the drink has tapioca balls in a brown sugar syrup, black tea, and milk. It’s a fairly simple drink that’s completely delicious.

RELATED: 17 Bubble Tea Recipes

Note from Jee

I promise, this drink tastes as good as it looks! It’s sweet, creamy, and so delicious.

I’ve made this drink without the tapioca balls and it was just as good, so if you want to skip the boba part and make it a milk tea instead of a bubble tea, go for it.

I’ve tried a few different kinds of tapioca balls and the one that’s the most authentic and bubble tea shop-like quality were the tapioca balls that are sold dry, in vacuum sealed bags.

Recipe Summary

• Brown sugar bubble tea is an iced black tea drink with brown sugar, milk, and tapioca balls.
• My secret to making the best bubble tea is to use hot, but not too hot tapioca balls. The soft and chewy texture of boba is perfect when it’s still quite warm.
• Using store-bought tapioca balls is the easiest way to make bubble tea at home. All you need to do is cook the tapioca balls in hot water for a few minutes.

Ingredient Notes

• Black tea: Use any kind of black tea you like. The black tea for this drink doesn’t need to be the highest quality, so feel free to use tea bags.
• Brown sugar: Brown sugar is a mix of white sugar and molasses, giving the drink a richer flavor than white, granulated sugar.
• Tapioca balls: I get dried, vacuum-sealed tapioca balls, so all I need to do is boil them in water to make them soft and chewy.
• Milk: Although you can use any kind of milk, whole milk makes the drink rich and creamy.
• Water: As always, use filtered water to make the best tasting tea.
• Ice: If possible, use filtered water to make ice.

For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Steep tea in hot water. Strain tea leaves or discard tea bags and set aside to cool.

Step 2: Cook tapioca balls in brown sugar and water.

Step 3: Add boba and line brown sugar syrup inside a cup.

Step 4: Add ice.

Step 5: Pour in black tea.

Step 6: Top with milk. Serve immediately. Stir before drinking. Use an extra wide straw to drink. 

Expert Tips

• Black tea can be prepared ahead of time and stored in your fridge for up to 4 days.
• Boba can’t be made ahead of time. After about 4 hours, cooked boba will harden, and the texture won’t be soft with a nice chew.
• Add tapioca balls into the cup when they’re still warm and assemble the drink right away. Warm boba that’s almost hot has the best texture.
• Bubble tea is always served with a wide straw is so that you get a few boba with each sip of the milk tea. The tapioca balls should be chewed.

Related

• Strawberry Matcha Latte Bubble Tea
• Matcha Bubble Tea
• Thai Iced Tea with Boba
• Iced Brown Sugar Tea Latte
• Oolong Bubble Tea

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4.54 from 26 votes

Brown Sugar Bubble Tea

By: Jee Choe

Make this incredibly popular bubble tea at home!

Prep Time: 6 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 19 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Yield: 1 serving (16 ounces)

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

Iced Milk Tea

• ▢ ½ cup water
• ▢ 1 tablespoon black tea, or 2 tea bags
• ▢ ¾ cup milk
• ▢ 1 cup ice

Tapioca Balls

• ▢ ¾ cup water
• ▢ 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup tapioca balls

Instructions 

• Make tea. Boil ½ cup of water. Take off heat.

  Set the water temperature to 195°F if you're using an electric kettle with a temperature setting. Use filtered water when possible.
  ½ cup water
• Steep tea in hot water for 5 minutes.
Strain and discard tea leaves.

  Set aside to let tea cool.
  1 tablespoon black tea
• Cook tapioca balls. Boil ¾ cup of water and sugar in a saucepan. Add tapioca balls.

  Combine brown sugar and ¾ cup of water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. When you see big bubbles (2-4 minutes), add tapioca balls and lower heat to medium-low. Cook for 15 minutes.

  Cool slightly, until tapioca balls aren't too hot to eat. They should still be warm.
  ¾ cup water, 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, ¼ cup tapioca balls
• Assemble the drink. Add hot, but not too hot, tapioca balls in brown sugar syrup into a cup. Add ice, tea, and milk.

  Use a spoon to line brown sugar syrup inside the cup.

  Serve immediately and stir before drinking. Use an extra wide straw to drink.
  1 cup ice, ¾ cup milk

Notes

• Use any kind of black tea you like. The black tea for this drink doesn’t need to be the highest quality, so feel free to use tea bags.
• Although you can use any kind of milk, whole milk makes the drink rich and creamy.
• Black tea can be prepared ahead of time and stored in your fridge for up to 4 days.
• Boba can’t be made ahead of time since they harden after a few hours.
• Bubble tea is always served with a wide straw is so that you get a few boba with each sip of the milk tea.

Nutrition

Calories: 246Carbohydrates: 42gProtein: 6gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 97mgPotassium: 284mgFiber: 1gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 296IUCalcium: 249mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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