Brown Sugar Bubble Tea

4.54 from 26 votes

Make this incredibly popular bubble tea at home!

Prep Time6

Cook Time19

Total Time25

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Taiwanese

Servings: serving (16 ounces)

Author: Jee Choe

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

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.