The Real Tea on Bubble Tea

As I write this, I’m currently channeling my inner Korean alter ego with my Tony Moly sheet mask on and Shinee quietly playing in the background. While I discovered bubble tea through watching K-dramas, the first time I actually had it was at a local Vietnamese pho shop where I lived in high school. And it was love at first sip. Gus had his first bubble tea as authentic as they come, in a Gong Cha shop in Seoul, South Korea. You sometimes will hear bubble tea be referred to as boba tea, though I have no idea why. But the basic equation for bubble tea = your drink base of choice (it could be a tea, coffee, or even a fruity slushy) + prepared boba pearls + sweetener and ice! It’s so simple to make, and it’s crazy to me that I was too intimidated to make this myself before now.

When we went to Annandale and tried Kung Fu Tea (which is an amazing place to go to if you live close to one, btw) we tried four different flavors and found that we preferred the classic “house” tea, which is just a creamy, sweet back tea, green tea, and their milk coffee tea. Since we don’t live close to a Kung Fu Tea now, we have to DIY our boba tea fixes at home, so here’s a few ideas of what we found works.

The Boba

I currently live on an Army post right now, which are known for having a large variety of Asian markets right outside their gates, which is exactly where I found my boba pearls.

These bubbles were only $4.29, which is a deal for how long they last you. I’ve maybe around 5 *large* batches of bubble tea and I’m only halfway through the bag. The thing about bubble tea is you have to make it fresh to order, otherwise the bubbles, which are made of tapioca flour, will harden up after about 2-3 hours. So sadly, you can’t prepare a ton of bubbles all at once and keep them in your fridge to use at whim.

This brand sells several types of bubbles, which I couldn’t really help but buying. The black bubbles are your typical, go-to bubble. There isn’t a strong taste, they just taste sweet and have an a crazy addicting chewiness to them. Then the fun colored bubbles are just that, sweet like the black bubbles but just with fun colors! These are so cute in fruit slushes or juices! The last type I bought were the green tea flavor, which I haven't gotten around to testing out yet. I’m Gus’s boba supplier since he doesn’t have easy access to any place that sells these. They do sell this particular brand of boba on Amazon, so that’s always an option if you don’t have an Asian market nearby (or a boba pearl dealer).

The Bubble Tea

This is one of our go-to recipes for a classic milk bubble tea!

2-4 English black tea bags (depending on how strong you like your tea)

2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk (more or less depending on how you like your sweetness)

Around 1/3 cup tapioca pearls

3 tbsp dark brown sugar

1/3 cup hot water

ice

The first thing you’ll want to do is prepare your drink base since you want it to be chilled and cold when you drink it. In a saucepan, take 1 cup water and heat it to where it’s *just* boiling. Pour the hot water into a cup and steep your tea bags for 4 minutes. Remove the tea bags and add 2(ish) tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk and stir until it’s combined. Put the tea in the fridge until it’s completely chilled, about 35 minutes.

Next is preparing the bubbles! Get a huge pot of water at a rolling boil (you want a lot of water or else the tapioca will form a thick glue out of the water and mess everything up) and add the boba. Boil the boba, uncovered, for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, cover the pot, and boil for another 4 minutes.

Once done cooking, drain the boba in a fine mesh strainer in the sink and run cold water over them for 30 seconds. Let them rest while you prepare the sweetener syrup.

For the sweetener you can either just put the cooked boba in a bowl and add enough honey to coat each individual pearl, or you can prepare a simple syrup. For the simple syrup, take 1/3 cup hot water and pour it into a bowl, then add 3 tbsp dark brown sugar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Once you’ve decided on which boba sweetener you want to use, take the cooled boba and mix them in a bowl with the sweetener. Let them soak in this for at least 20 minutes. *DO NOT* put the boba in the fridge, otherwise they will become rock hard and you’ll be upset at this for the remainder of the afternoon.

Once the tea has chilled and the boba have absorbed the sweetener for at least 20 minutes, it’s time to put everything together! Take your favorite glass (we like to use ones you can see through because it’s so satisfying to see the bubbles floating in your drink) and add in your desired amount of boba that are soaking in that wonderful, sweet goodness. Next, add in your milk tea and add some ice to make it really cold. Then add a big fat boba straw (you can buy them here) and enjoy!!!!!!

You can always make this to your preference, it’s so easy and versatile. If you like iced coffee, make your favorite iced coffee or even just buy it already prepared and add boba! Or if you like green tea, you can buy milk green tea powder (again, sold at Asian markets or online at Amazon) and prepare it and add the green tea boba! It’s so fun and you seem so cool and trendy when you make it for your friends.