Strawberry Boba Drink Recipe (Strawberry Milk Bubble Tea)

strawberry boba tea drink featured image

Strawberry Boba Drink Recipe (Strawberry Milk Bubble Tea)

Strawberry bubble milk tea pairs strawberries with creamy coconut milk and chewy brown sugar boba pearls for a delicious drink.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Taiwanese

Keyword Strawberry Boba, Strawberry Boba Drink, Strawberry Boba Tea, Strawberry Bubble Tea, Strawberry Bubble Tea Recipe, Strawberry Milk Bubble Tea, Strawberry Milk Tea, Strawberry Milk Tea Boba, Strawberry Milk Tea Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Other Time: 20

Servings servings

Calories 526kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Equipment

Ingredients

Boba:

10 cups filtered water
1 2/3 cups black tapioca pearls
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar lightly packed

Strawberry Milk Tea:

2 cups hot filtered water
4 bags strawberry infusion this is a tisane not a a tea (see Notes)
1 cup sliced fresh sliced strawberries or 1/2 cup dried strawberries
1/2 cup simple syrup (see Notes)
2 cups prepared tapioca pearls aka boba
3 cups ice
2 cups canned unsweetened full-fat coconut milk

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Boba:

Boil 20 minutes. Add the water to a 5-quart pot, and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the tapioca pearls and boil for 20 minutes. They will float to the top fairly early in the cooking process; when this happens give them a stir.
Reserve some of the liquid and drain the boba. After boiling for 20 minutes, reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid, and then rinse and drain the boba.
Soak the boba in brown sugar for 20 minutes. Put the boba back into the pot. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid and the brown sugar. Cover the pot and let the boba steep for 20 minutes. Drain the boba except for 2 tablespoons of the liquid (this small amount of liquid will help prevent the pearls from sticking together).

For the Strawberry Milk Tea:

Steep and cool. While the boba is steeping, make the tea. Steep the tea bags in the hot water until it’s brewed how strong you like it (I recommend brewing it a little on the strong side because it will be diluted). If you’re using dried strawberries, add them now and they can steep along with the tea bags. Let the tea cool to room temperature.
Strain out the dried strawberries and add fresh strawberries if desired. After cooling, you can either strain out the dried strawberries or leave them in. If you’re using fresh strawberries, now is the time to add them; you can lightly mash some of them with a fork if you want, but leave some of the slices intact for aesthetics so you can see what's in the drink.

To Assemble the Bubble Milk Tea:

To each of 4 glasses, add the following in this order: 2 tablespoons simple syrup, 1/2 cup prepared boba, 1/2 cup strawberry tea (including strawberry slices if you’re using fresh strawberries), and 3/4 cup ice, and then pour 1/2 cup coconut milk on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

How Much Boba This Makes: 1 2/3 cups of dry black tapioca pearls cooks up to be about 2 cups of prepared boba. About 1/2 cup of prepared boba is a good amount for each drink, so you will get 4 drinks from 1 2/3 cups of dry tapioca pearls.
Simple Syrup: To make about 1/4 cup of simple syrup, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup filtered water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature before using. Use this to sweeten your drink.
Other Sweeteners: If you don’t have simple syrup and don’t feel like making it, you can add regular sugar (or any granulated sweetener) to the tea while it’s still hot and stir until it’s fully dissolved.
Best Served Immediately: Cooked tapioca pearls continue to absorb liquid. This causes them to expand more and take on a gummy texture. Additionally, you may have trouble getting them through a straw (even a large bubble tea straw) if this drink sits for quite a while.
Can I Prepare Boba in Advance? For the best flavor and texture, I recommend eating boba immediately after making it. However, if you prepare extra tapioca pearls, you can store them in simple syrup in the fridge for up to 2 days.
What Type of Tea to Use: If you don’t want to use strawberry tisane, here are a few tea options that work well: Green Tea with Strawberry, Black Tea with Strawberry, White Tea with Strawberry, and Red Rooibos Tea with Strawberry.

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