Bubble Tea

Ingredients

Tapioca pearls

• 100 gdried black tapioca pearls, the 5 mm size
• 1.5 litreswater, for boiling
• 60 gdark brown sugar and 60 ml water, for the syrup

Tea base

• 15 gstrong black tea leaves, Assam or Taiwanese Sun Moon Lake red tea
• 500 mlwater at 95°C (205°F)

To assemble

• 150 mlwhole milk, evaporated milk or non-dairy creamer
• 40 mlsugar syrup, or to taste
• plenty of ice cubes
• a cocktail shaker or a sealed jar
• 2wide bubble tea straws, 12 mm

Directions

1. Bring the 1.5 litres of water to a hard rolling boil and drop the pearls in, stirring once so they do not stick to the base.
2. Boil 25 to 30 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally, until the pearls have swollen and gone translucent through to the middle with only a pinpoint of white left.
3. Turn the heat off and leave them to sit in the covered pan for another 20 to 30 minutes. This resting step is what makes them chewy rather than chalky at the core, and it is the one most home cooks skip.
4. Drain the pearls, rinse briefly in cool water to stop the cooking, then steep them in the brown sugar syrup while still warm so they take on colour and sweetness. Use them within 4 hours; refrigerated pearls go hard and cannot be revived.
5. Brew the tea strong: 15 g of leaf in 500 ml of water at 95°C (205°F) for 5 minutes. It should taste unpleasantly astringent on its own, because the milk and ice will knock it back.
6. Strain the tea and cool it quickly over an ice bath so it stays clear and does not go cloudy.
7. Fill a shaker with ice, add 250 ml of the cold tea, the milk and the sugar syrup per serving.
8. Shake hard for 15 to 20 seconds. The foam this raises is the original bubble in bubble tea, from the days when Chun Shui Tang served shaken iced tea.
9. Spoon the syrupy pearls into the bottom of each tall glass, add ice, then pour the shaken tea over so it layers over the dark pearls.
10. Serve immediately with a wide straw, and stir before drinking so the pearls come up with each mouthful.

Technique

• Two Taiwanese shops claim the invention: Chun Shui Tang in Taichung, where a manager is said to have tipped tapioca dessert into iced tea in the 1980s, and Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan. A ten-year lawsuit ended without either winning exclusive rights, and both claims are still made.
• The bubbles in the name refer to the foam from shaking, not the pearls, though almost everyone now assumes otherwise.
• The classic shop version uses non-dairy creamer rather than fresh milk, which is why commercial bubble tea tastes rounder and slightly sweeter than a home version made with milk.

Substitutions

• Quick-cook pearls (5 minute type) exist and are fine on a weeknight, but they lose their chew within an hour.
• No black tea: roasted oolong or jasmine green make the two other standard bases, brewed slightly cooler at 85°C (185°F).
• Evaporated milk gives the closest texture to the shop standard if you do not want to use creamer.

Variations

• Zhen zhu nai cha, the classic pearl milk tea described here.
• Brown sugar boba milk, where the syrupy pearls are streaked up the inside of the glass and topped with cold milk, no tea.
• Taro, matcha and winter melon versions, all standard on Taiwanese shop menus.

History

Claimed by both Chun Shui Tang in Taichung and Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan in the mid-1980s; a decade-long lawsuit ended without a winner.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bubble Tea?

Bubble Tea is a drink from Taiwan: sweet milk tea shaken with chewy tapioca pearls, invented in Taiwan. Claimed by both Chun Shui Tang in Taichung and Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan in the mid-1980s; a decade-long lawsuit ended without a winner.

How long does Bubble Tea take to make?

Bubble Tea takes 15 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 2 large glasses. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bubble Tea?

Yes, within limits. Quick-cook pearls (5 minute type) exist and are fine on a weeknight, but they lose their chew within an hour. No black tea: roasted oolong or jasmine green make the two other standard bases, brewed slightly cooler at 85°C (185°F). Evaporated milk gives the closest texture to the shop standard if you do not want to use creamer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bubble Tea?

Bring the 1.5 litres of water to a hard rolling boil and drop the pearls in, stirring once so they do not stick to the base.