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.
Recipe Highlights
- Brown sugar milk tea is an iced black tea drink with brown sugar, milk, and tapioca balls (also called boba). This drink is also called brown sugar bubble tea.
- My secret to making the best bubble tea is to use warm tapioca balls. The soft and chewy texture of boba is perfect when it’s still 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. To get the tapioca balls to be nice and sweet, brown sugar is added to create a syrup.
RELATED: Easy Bubble Tea Recipes
What is Brown Sugar Bubble Tea?
Bubble tea is an iced milk tea drink with tapioca balls (also called boba that look like bubbles) created in Taiwan in the 1980s, and brown sugar bubble tea is one of the most popular flavors.
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.
The brown sugar gives the drink a rich sweetness with a touch of toffee flavor.
RELATED: Taro Bubble Tea
Ingredient Notes
- Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a mix of white sugar and molasses, giving the drink a richer flavor than white, granulated sugar. - Tapioca balls
Store-bought tapioca balls are dried, so all you need to do is boil them in water to make them soft and chewy. - 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. - 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.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
Step-by-Step Instructions
For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to see the recipe.
- Steep tea in hot water.
Strain tea leaves or discard tea bags and set aside to cool. - Cook tapioca balls in brown sugar and water.
- Add boba and line brown sugar syrup inside a cup.
- Add ice.
- Pour in black tea.
- Top with milk.
Serve immediately. Stir before drinking. Use an extra wide straw to drink.
RELATED: Jasmine Bubble Tea
Expert Tips
- This recipe makes a 16 ounces (2 cups) drink, so make sure to have a large enough cup.
- Black tea can be prepared ahead of time and stored in your fridge for up to 4 days.
- Instead of brewing black tea then cooling it down, use cold brewed tea. Make a batch and use the tea to make brown sugar milk tea with boba all week.
- Boba can’t be made ahead of time since they harden after a few hours.
- Add tapioca balls into the cup when they’re still warm and assemble the drink right away. Warm boba 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.
RELATED: Strawberry Milk Tea
Questions You May Have
Yes, there’s caffeine in this drink since it contains black tea.
After about 4 hours, cooked boba will harden, and the texture won’t be soft with a nice chew.
Bubble tea is served with a wide straw and each sip should get you some tapioca balls along with the brown sugar milk tea. The tapioca balls are to be chewed.
Related
- Strawberry Matcha Latte Bubble Tea
- Matcha Bubble Tea
- Thai Iced Tea with Boba
- Iced Brown Sugar Tea Latte
- Oolong Bubble Tea
- Iced Coffee Boba
- 17 Best Milk Tea Recipes
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Brown Sugar Bubble Tea (Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea)
INGREDIENTS
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.
- Steep tea in hot water for 5 minutes.
- Strain and discard tea leaves. Let tea cool.Set aside.
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.
ASSEMBLE DRINK
- Add warm 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.
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.
- This recipe makes a 16 ounces (2 cups) drink, so make sure to have a large enough cup.
- Black tea can be prepared ahead of time and stored in your fridge for up to 4 days.
- Instead of brewing black tea then cooling it down, use cold brewed tea. Make a batch and use the tea to make brown sugar milk tea with boba all week.
- Boba can’t be made ahead of time since they harden after a few hours.
- Add tapioca balls into the cup when they’re still warm and assemble the drink right away. Warm boba 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.