Homemade Brown Sugar Bubble Tea Recipes

Steps:

• Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add tapioca pearls and stir gently until they begin floating to the top of the water. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until softened and dark, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea leaves. Let steep for 15 minutes. Strain out tea leaves and refrigerate the tea.
• Drain pearls. Bring 1/4 cup of water to a boil in the empty saucepan. Stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Immerse the pearls in the syrup and let sit until room temperature, about 15 minutes.
• Divide the pearls and desired amount of syrup between 2 tall glasses. Pour in tea. Add ice, milk, and sweetened condensed milk to both glasses. Stir before drinking.

Steps:

• Whisk 1/3 cup water with 1 cup of the tapioca starch in a small bowl. The slurry may look separated but will come together in the next step.
• Add the brown sugar and 2/3 cup water to a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium high and whisk in the tapioca slurry until the mixture begins to just tighten and the water fully incorporates, about 30 seconds.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup tapioca starch using a heatproof spatula until it forms a ball of shaggy dough, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Dust a work surface with tapioca flour. Gather the dough together from the saucepan, transfer it to the surface and let cool, 3 to 4 minutes. Knead the dough until it is smooth, springy to the touch and no longer sticky, adding tapioca starch as needed, about 7 minutes. If the dough feels too dry, wet your hands and knead in water from your hands.
• Divide the dough into 6 pieces and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch with a rolling pin. Use a 1/2-inch-wide bubble tea straw with the tip dusted in tapioca starch to cut pieces from the dough, making sure to dust the straw occasionally to prevent sticking. Gather the dough scraps into a ball and repeat the process. Discard any leftover dough after this step as it will be too dry to use again. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough.
• Lightly dust a baking sheet with tapioca starch. Roll the boba pieces into pea-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. If the dough feels too dry or is cracking, dampen your fingers with a little water and knead it. Use immediately or freeze the boba in a single layer until hard, about 2 hours. Transfer to a resealable freezer bag and freeze until ready to use.

Steps:

• For the syrup: Stir the brown sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture is the consistency of a loose maple syrup, about 8 minutes. Add the syrup to a heat-safe jar to cool while cooking the boba.
• Place the boba in a fine sieve and shake off any excess cornstarch.
• Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the boba, stirring to prevent them from sticking together, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the boba float to the top and darken in color with translucent edges, about 4 minutes if the boba are fresh and about 7 minutes if they are frozen. Drain the boba and rinse with cold water (they will be chewy but will firm up as they cool).
• Add the boba to the brown sugar syrup and let sit until the syrup is at room temperature, about 20 minutes.
• For the tea: Divide the boba among 4 glasses using a slotted spoon and add 1 tablespoon of the syrup to each glass, letting the syrup streak and coat the inside of the glass. Divide the tea and milk evenly among the glasses and serve.
• Whisk 1/3 cup water with 1 cup of the tapioca starch in a small bowl. The slurry may look separated but will come together in the next step.
• Add the brown sugar and 2/3 cup water to a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium high and whisk in the tapioca slurry until the mixture begins to just tighten and the water fully incorporates, about 30 seconds.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup tapioca starch using a heatproof spatula until it forms a ball of shaggy dough, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Dust a work surface with tapioca flour. Gather the dough together from the saucepan, transfer it to the surface and let cool, 3 to 4 minutes. Knead the dough until it is smooth, springy to the touch and no longer sticky, adding tapioca starch as needed, about 7 minutes. If the dough feels too dry, wet your hands and knead in water from your hands.
• Divide the dough into 6 pieces and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch with a rolling pin. Use a 1/2-inch-wide bubble tea straw with the tip dusted in tapioca starch to cut pieces from the dough, making sure to dust the straw occasionally to prevent sticking. Gather the dough scraps into a ball and repeat the process. Discard any leftover dough after this step as it will be too dry to use again. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough.
• Lightly dust a baking sheet with tapioca starch. Roll the boba pieces into pea-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. If the dough feels too dry or is cracking, dampen your fingers with a little water and knead it. Use immediately or freeze the boba in a single layer until hard, about 2 hours. Transfer to a resealable freezer bag and freeze until ready to use.

Steps:

• In a medium pot over high heat, combine the water and tea bags. Bring to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat and let the tea cool to room temperature.
• Bring a medium pot of water to boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the tapioca pearls and boil until softened, about 20 minutes.
• Drain the pearls through a strainer.
• Set the strainer with the pearls over a medium bowl. Add the brown sugar to the strainer and pour the hot water over.
• Stir to dissolve the brown sugar. Soak the pearls in brown sugar syrup for 30 minutes, then store the bubbles and syrup separately until ready to serve.
• Assemble the tea: Divide the pearls and ice between 2 glasses, then add the brown sugar syrup, tea, and half and half.
• Stir with a wide-opening straw, then serve.
• Enjoy!