Brown Sugar Milk Tea Boba Recipe

The drink that started it all—the brown sugar milk tea. Avoid waiting in those long lines in crowded little boba shops by making your very own brown sugar milk tea at home! BONUS: You will only need 5 ingredients.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Asian Fusion

Keyword brown sugar milk tea

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 45

Servings cups

Calories 672kcal

Author Takes Two Eggs

Ingredients

Milk Tea

3 cups milk
2 tea bags of black tea
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Boba or Tapioca Pearls

½ cup boba
½ cup dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup boiling hot water

Brown Sugar Syrup

1 cup granulated sugar + 1/2 cup of water
1 cup brown sugar or muscovado sugar + 1/2 cup of water

Instructions

Milk Tea: In a small saucepan, over medium-high heat the milk and brown sugar until simmer. Turn off heat and steep black tea for 20 minutes. Pour into a large bowl or cup and refrigerate until chilled.
Boba: In a small saucepan, boil six cups of water. Add boba and stir until the boba floats to the top. Turn down the heat and simmer for 25 minutes stirring occasionally. Then turn off the heat and let the boba sit on the stove for 25 minutes, stir occasionally. Then drain the boba.
Steep boba in brown sugar bath. In a small heatproof bowl, add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup boiling water and mix. Add the cooked boba and let steep the boba for 25 minutes.
Cook the caramelized brown sugar syrup: In one small saucepan pour in 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Then turn on medium-high heat until it begins to boil. Then turn down the heat to medium and let it simmer until the sugar water is caramelized and turns brown about 15-20 minutes. DO NOT WHISK. Frequently lift up the saucepan and swirl the mixture so it doesn’t burn.
In the meantime, in a second saucepan, boil the 1/2 cup of water. When the water boils, turn off the heat and immediately mix in the 1 cup brown sugar until dissolved. Set aside.
When the white sugar pan is caramelized, add the brown sugar mixture into the white sugar saucepan and quickly whisk. Simmer for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat to cool.
Serve. Line the outside of the cup with the syrup, add the boba, ice, milk tea, add in 1-2 tbsp of the brown sugar boba bath to taste and enjoy!

Notes

Stir the boba occasionally while on the stove. This prevents the boba from clumping together and making a massive boba glob.
Watch the sugar as it caramelizes closely and do not whisk! I lifted and swirled the granulated sugar quite frequently to prevent the edges from burning. Do not whisk! This prevents the sugar from crystallizing properly. When it browns, immediately turn off the heat and add in the brown sugar water.
You can alter the sweetness. I know boba tea shops always have the option for more or less sweetness and you can now too! Simply mix in 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar boba bath at a time to taste for your desired sweetness.
Storage Instructions: You can store the milk tea without the boba pearls in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The brown sugar syrup can be stored in an airtight bottle in the pantry for up to a month. Unfortunately, the boba will not have a longer shelf life of 4 hours and must be consumed immediately when they are cooked.
Use fresh boba. Instant boba will save you time but at the trade-off of having a bit tougher boba pearls. Make this drink memorable and make your own boba from scratch.

Nutrition