Butterfly Pea Flower Bubble Tea (Butterfly Pea Flower Milk Tea with Boba)
on Nov 11, 2022, Updated Apr 21, 2023
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A pretty, caffeine-free blue colored bubble tea you can easily make at home. Get tips and easy step-by-step instructions.
Recipe Highlights
- Butterfly pea flower tea bubble tea (also called butterfly pea flower milk tea) is a cold drink made with butterfly pea flower tea and tapioca balls. This recipe makes it sweet and extra creamy with brown sugar, and half & half.
- Butterfly pea flower tea is a flowery, vegetal tea that naturally colors water blue. It’s sometimes called blue tea.
- The bubbles, or boba, are the tapioca balls at the bottom of the drink. This recipe uses dried, store-bought tapioca balls that you just have to cook in hot water to soften them up.
- My secret to the best boba is to make the drink with warm (not hot) tapioca balls. This will make the difference between a good bubble tea and a great one.
RELATED: Strawberry Bubble Milk Tea
Ingredient Notes
- Butterfly pea flower tea: Use tea bags instead of loose tea since you don’t need high quality tea for this recipe.
- Tapioca balls: Store-bought tapioca balls are the easiest way to make boba at home. They just need to be cooked in water to make them soft and chewy.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar has a slight toffee, caramel flavor that works really well with tea. You can use white sugar if you that’s what you have.
- Half & half: Any milk can be used in the drink, but you won’t get the pretty swirls as you would pouring the half & half into the blue tea.
- Water: Using filtered water, when possible, to cook the boba and steep the tea will make your drink taste better.
- Ice: Make ice using filtered water if you can for a cleaner taste.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Steep tea in hot water. Discard tea bags and stir in brown sugar.
Set aside to cool.
Step 2: Cook tapioca balls in brown sugar and water. Boil water and brown sugar together then add tapioca balls.
Step 3: Put warm tapioca balls and brown sugar syrup into a cup.
Step 4: Add ice.
Step 5: Pour in cooled tea. Make sure the tea isn’t too hot since it’ll completely melt the ice.
Step 6: Slowly pour in half & half. Watch the blue and white swirls. Serve immediately. Stir before drinking and use an extra wide straw.
RELATED: Taro Bubble Tea
Recipe Notes
Make bubble tea using warm tapioca balls.
Slight cooled, very warm tapioca balls have the perfect soft and chewy texture. Just make sure the tapioca balls aren’t too hot to eat or you’ll burn your mouth.
Use tea bags instead of loose tea.
Bubble tea is made with sugar and milk, so the subtle qualities of high quality loose tea gets lost in the sweet drink. Tea bags are also easier to clean up.
Half & half vs milk.
Any kind of milk can be used in this drink, including plant-based milk like oat milk or almond milk. But, I’ve found that if you want to create the pretty swirls, nothing creates them in the blue tea like half & half. Plus, they make the drink a lot creamier.
RELATED: Earl Grey Bubble Tea
Expert Tips
- Butterfly pea flower tea can be steeped then stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Don’t add the sugar until you’re ready to make the drink.
- It’s not recommended to make boba ahead of time since tapioca balls start to harden after 4 hours. It’s best to make it right before you want to serve it.
- Don’t make more tapioca balls than needed since they can’t be stored for later use.
- Top this bubble tea with butterfly pea flower cold foam.
- Bubble tea is always served with a wide straw because that’s the only way to get a few tapioca balls with each sip of the milk tea.
RELATED: Thai Bubble Tea
Questions You May Have
It has a mild woody and vegetal flavor. In my opinion, it’s not the best tasting tea.
Nope. Butterfly pea flower tea is a caffeine-free herbal tea.
Yes, you can use any milk you like but it will be creamier and create prettier swirls with half & half.
Add in less of the brown sugar syrup that is cooked with the tapioca balls to reduce the sweetness.
Related
- Brown Sugar Milk Tea
- Jasmine Bubble Tea
- Matcha Bubble Tea
- Easy Bubble Tea Recipes
- Butterfly Pea Flower Matcha Lemonade
- Black Sesame Bubble Tea
- Purple Sweet Potato Bubble Tea
- 17 Best Milk Tea Recipes
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Butterfly Pea Flower Bubble Tea
Ingredients
Butterfly Pea Flower Milk Tea
- ¾ cup water
- 2 butterfly pea flower tea bags
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ cup half & half
- ¾ cup ice
Tapioca Balls
- ¾ cup water
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup tapioca balls
Instructions
MAKE TEA
- Steep butterfly pea flower tea bags in ¾ cup of hot water for 5 minutes.Set the temperature to 175°F if you're using an electric kettle with a temperature setting. Use filtered water if possible.
- Discard tea bags and stir in brown sugar.Set aside to cool.
COOK TAPIOCA BALLS
- Boil water and brown sugar in a saucepan. Add tapioca balls.Combine ¾ cup of water and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once you see big bubbles (2-4 minutes), add tapioca balls. Keep boiling for 8 more minutes on medium-high heat. Cool slightly, until tapioca balls aren't too hot to eat. They should still be very warm.
ASSEMBLE DRINK
- Put warm tapioca balls in brown sugar syrup into a cup. Add ice, then the cooled down butterfly pea flower tea.
- Slowly pour in half & half.Serve immediately and stir before drinking. Use an extra wide straw to drink.
Notes
- Slight cooled, very warm tapioca balls have the perfect soft and chewy texture. Just make sure the tapioca balls aren’t too hot to eat or you’ll burn your mouth.
- Use tea bags instead of loose tea. Bubble tea is made with sugar and milk, so the subtle qualities of high quality loose tea gets lost in the sweet drink. Tea bags are also easier to clean up.
- Any kind of milk can be used in this drink, including plant-based milk like oat milk or almond milk. But, I’ve found that if you want to create the pretty swirls, nothing creates them in the blue tea like half & half. Plus, they make the drink a lot creamier.
- Butterfly pea flower tea can be steeped then stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Don’t add the sugar until you’re ready to make the drink.
- It’s not recommended to make boba ahead of time since tapioca balls start to harden after 4 hours. It’s best to make it right before you want to serve it.
- Don’t make more tapioca balls than needed since they can’t be stored for later use.
- Bubble tea is always served with a wide straw because that’s the only way to get a few tapioca balls with each sip of the milk tea.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
