Bubble Tea Recipe, A Chinese Favorite

4.88 from 8 votes

Bubble Tea Recipe, A Chinese Favorite

Homemade bubble tea is a real treat and does not contain load of artificial ingredients you find in powdered versions at retail places. our bubble tea recipe is made with only five simple ingredients: water, tea, sugar, half and half, and tapioca pearls.

Prep Time1 45

Cook Time10

Total Time1 55

Course: Beverages

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings: servings

Calories: 247kcal

Author: Kaitlin

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups boiled water
1/4 cup good black tea leaves (black tea is technically translated as "red tea" in Chinese; this'll help if you're fumbling with Chinese tea packages, as we were!)
4 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Black tapioca pearls aka Bubbles aka "Boba" (1/4 cup per glass)
3/4 cup half and half

Instructions

First, boil your water. After it reaches a rolling boil, turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes or so. Apparently, Chinese tea gurus say that intensely hot boiled water zaps all the nutrients out of the tea leaves, ergo the short cooling process prior to brewing the tea. (As with most things related to Chinese cooking that my mother says that other people say, I can't really confirm whether or not this is actually true, but better safe than sorry...)
Put the tea in your favorite kettle (or a large mixing bowl), making sure that it's either in a tea bag (you can actually buy these and fill them with your own selection of teas!) or a few metal tea infusers. (If you haven't got any of this equipment, you can also just strain the tea prior to adding the half and half.) Add the hot water and let steep for 15 minutes.
Now you're ready to add the sugar. Mix the tea and sugar thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add the half and half. For anyone who's squeamish about higher fat dairy, it's really not a lot per serving, as this serves four. If you want to sub in regular milk, go right ahead, but the flavor of the finished product is truly authentic with the half and half!
Put the tea in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. This is preferred over adding ice, so that the tea doesn't get diluted. Also, more authentic! When your tea is close to the optimal temperature, break out your bubbles. Preparing the bubbles entails boiling them in water; you can follow the package instructions. Spoon out 1/4 cup of bubbles per glass and pour the finished tea for a delightfully sweet and refreshing drink!

Nutrition

Bubble Tea Recipe, A Chinese Favorite by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/bubble-tea/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-29921":{"type":"food","name":"Bubble Tea Recipe, A Chinese Favorite","slug":"wprm-bubble-tea-recipe-a-chinese-favorite","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/bubble-tea-6-1.jpg","rating":{"count":8,"total":39,"average":4.88,"type":{"comment":8,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"amount":"4 1\/2","unit":"cups","name":"boiled water","notes":"","id":3185,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"4 1\/2","unit":"cups","timestamp":1774155463000},"type":"ingredient","uid":0,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"4 1\/2","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","name":"good black tea leaves","notes":"(black tea is technically translated as "red tea" in Chinese; this'll help if you're fumbling with Chinese tea packages, as we were!)","id":3186,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774155463000},"type":"ingredient","uid":1,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"amount":"4 1\/2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"sugar","notes":"","id":273,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"4 1\/2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774155463000},"type":"ingredient","uid":2,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"4 1\/2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Black tapioca pearls aka Bubbles aka \"Boba\"","notes":"(1\/4 cup per glass)","id":3187,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"","unit":"","timestamp":1774155463000},"type":"ingredient","uid":3,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cup","name":"half and half","notes":"","id":2466,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774155463000},"type":"ingredient","uid":4,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}}],"originalServings":"4","originalServingsParsed":4,"currentServings":"4","currentServingsParsed":4,"currentServingsFormatted":"4","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}