13 Best Bubble Tea Recipes

Bubble tea is a drink that has skyrocketed in popularity over the years, becoming a phenomenon that has taken over the drink industry. 

But what is bubble tea, and what are some of the tastiest recipes when it comes to making your own bubble tea? Let’s find out. 

What Is Bubble Tea?

Bubble tea is a tea-based beverage that is Taiwanese in origin, created back in the 80s in Taichung, which is the largest city in Taiwan. 

The key ingredient of the drink is tapioca balls, which are chewy, sweet balls – known as boba- that float in the tea and can be sucked up and chewed on via the wide straw. 

The boba balls are the major reason for the success of the drink, making for a unique ingredient.

10 Best Bubble Tea Recipes

Now that we have a thorough understanding of what bubble tea is, let’s now go through ten particularly noteworthy recipes. Let’s get started. 

1. Classical Bubble Tea

Learning how to make traditional bubble tea is a must if you want to learn how to make other flavors in the future, and that is exactly what you get with this particular recipe.

Here is what you will need to create your own classic bubble tea at home: 

• Black Tea
• Milk 
• Tapioca Balls 
• Brown Sugar
• Water 
• Ice

To make this recipe, first steep your tea in hot water and stir in some brown sugar. Once you have stirred in your sugar, leave it to the side to cool. 

Next, start cooking your tapioca balls in water and brown sugar in a saucepan with three-quarters of a cup of boiling water. 

Allow the water to begin boiling and then add in the pearls.

Continue to boil them for around eight minutes on medium-high heat. Make sure that the tapioca is warm, as this is what makes them soft and chewy, but not too hot. 

Once the tapioca is cooked, assemble your drink by adding the tapioca balls and the sugar syrup into a cup before pouring on the milk and tea combination along with ice. 

Ensure that you have a wide straw to drink it, and then enjoy!

2. Honeydew Bubble Tea

One of the most refreshing flavors of bubble tea has to be honeydew, as it is made with fresh honeydew melon to create a perfect drink for the hot weather. 

If you enjoy light, fruity tastes with your tea, then this recipe could be the one for you. 

The ingredients needed to make your own honeydew bubble tea include:

• Milk 
• Honeydew Melon 
• Green or Black Tea Bags
• Water
• Granulated Sugar 
• Tapioca Balls

First off, steep your tea bags in boiling water. Do this for about two minutes and then remove the tea bags before stirring in a quarter of a cup of granulated sugar. Set this to the side to cool. 

Next, grab your honeydew melon pieces and put them in a blender. Once the tea has cooled, pour it into the blender alongside the melon, and then pour in half a cup of milk.

Blend it all up on high for around a minute or so. 

Add in your tapioca pearls and ice and pour the drink into a glass and there you have your honeydew bubble tea!

3. Jasmine Bubble Tea

Jasmine tea is a popular drink in its own right, so why not combine it with bubble tea to make a delicious jasmine-flavored bubble tea beverage? 

The light, floral flavor and scent of jasmine green tea combine beautifully with the sweet tapioca balls to create a delicious drink. 

Here is what you will need:

• Jasmin Tea Sachets
• Tapioca Balls
• Milk
• Sugar
• Water 
• Ice

Steep your jasmine tea in hot water for around four minutes and then discard the tea sachets. Next, stir in the sugar and put the tea to the side to let it cool. 

Once you have made your tapioca balls, strain them and then place them into your cup. 

Pour in your jasmine tea mixture along with your milk and add in some ice. 

Enjoy your delicious jasmine bubble tea. 

4. Maple Chai Bubble Tea

Combining cinnamon spiced chai tea with maple syrup and almond milk, this bubble tea flavor is a must if you are a fan of that aromatic chai tea taste but also long for something sweet. 

The ingredients are pretty sparse for this particular take on the drink:

• Chai Black Tea Bags
• Maple Syrup
• Tapioca Balls
• Almond Milk

The result of this recipe is a vegan-friendly sweet bubble tea treat. 

5. Mango Bubble Tea

Mango is another popular bubble tea flavor, and it is easy to see why. Mango adds a juicy, fruitiness to the standard bubble tea, which- much like with the honeydew melon- makes for a tasty and refreshing drink in the hot weather. 

Let’s check out the ingredients:

• Green or Black Tea Bags
• Mango Juice or Mango Nectar
• Sugar
• Tapioca Pearls
• Milk 

The juiciness of the mango combines beautifully with the aromatic tea and sweet tapioca balls to create a moreish and delicious beverage. 

6. Taro Bubble Tea

Taro is a popular flavor of bubble tea, thanks to the bright purple color of the drink along with its delicious and unique taste. 

Taro is a tropical Asian plant with a nutty flavor but a hint of sweetness that makes it well-suited for tea-based drinks. 

To make your own taro bubble tea, you will need the following: 

• Taro Powder
• Green or Black Tea Bags
• Tapioca Balls
• Sweetened Condensed Milk 
• Water
• Milk
• Ice

Though this is a similar process to the others we have mentioned, involving steeping your tea bags in boiling water before assembling the rest of the ingredients. 

7. Strawberry Bubble Tea

Another delicious and refreshing kind of bubble tea that is perfect for the summer, strawberry bubble tea, is a popular choice. 

This recipe has a few more ingredients than some of the others we have looked at, so let’s go through them:

• Strawberries
• Green or Black Tea
• Ice
• Milk
• Tapioca Balls
• Brown Sugar

Wash your strawberries and hull them before you chop them into little pieces and transfer them to their own bowl. Stir in around four tablespoons of brown sugar and allow the mixture to sit overnight in the fridge. 

The next day, brew your tea bags and cook up your tapioca pearls.

Once the pearls have had the water drained, add in the last tablespoons of brown sugar and let the pearls soak up the brown sugar syrup for around ten minutes. 

Once done, add the boba pearls to a glass with half a cup of the strawberries and half a cup of the black tea concentrate. 

Finish it off with half a cup of milk and your ice if you so please, and there you have some delicious and sweet strawberry bubble tea!

8. Passionfruit Bubble Tea

If passionfruit is your fruit of choice, then this next recipe is sure to catch your eye!

As well as being easy to make, passionfruit bubble tea is also incredibly refreshing. 

Here is what you will need to make it:

• Passionfruit
• Green or Black Tea Bags
• Water
• Maple Syrup 
• Coconut Drink

Simple and sweet, passionfruit bubble tea is a must-try drink for bubble tea enthusiasts. 

9. Matcha Bubble Tea

Matcha refers to powdered green tea leaves that are often used as a flavoring, and they are incredibly popular when it comes to bubble tea. 

This recipe features organic matcha powder and oat milk, making for a relatively healthy take on the drink.

Here is what you will need: 

• Matcha Powder
• Tapioca Balls
• Water
• Oat Milk 
• Maple Syrup

Matcha tea is very popular for a reason, so if you love both matcha and bubble tea, you have to try this one!

10. Brown Sugar Bubble Tea

For a sweeter take on the traditional recipe, this brown sugar bubble tea is a perfect choice! The unique thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t actually include any tea, though it is still a delicious option. 

This take on the recipe involves making your own brown sugar boba pearls, so the ingredients are as follows: 

• Tapioca Flour
• Milk 
• Brown Sugar
• Water
• Ice

To make your brown sugar boba balls, mix up the water and brown sugar in a pan and simmer it on a low heat until it completely dissolves before you add in one tablespoon of tapioca flour.

Stir in the flour until well combined. 

Switch off the heat and add in the rest of the tapioca flour and begin to stir until a dough forms. 

Transfer the dough to a flat surface and knead it until it is smooth, then cut it into small squares and roll the pieces into balls. 

Place the dough balls into a bowl with another tablespoon of tapioca flour, shaking the bowl occasionally so that the pearls are well covered and don’t stick. 

You should now have your homemade brown sugar tapioca balls! 

Make your brown sugar syrup by pouring the boba balls into boiling water and leaving them for around ten minutes whilst occasionally stirring them. 

Throw in two cups of brown sugar, stir and then let it boil for around five minutes. 

Your drink is now ready to assemble! Pour in the syrup and boba pearls along with the milk and the ice, and you’re done. 

11. Chocolate Bubble Tea

If you’re a chocoholic, you can be sure that there is a bubble tea recipe for you too!

You only need four ingredients to make this take on the classic bubble tea, with those being the following: 

• Milk 
• Ice
• Hot Chocolate Mix
• Tapioca Pearls

This recipe is a little different in that it technically isn’t tea at all, but rather bubble hot chocolate, which is a perfect drink for the winter months when the weather gets cold. 

12. Thai Bubble Tea

This recipe uses Thai tea to create a unique taste, thanks to Thai tea having a strong flavor that mixes various spices. 

Here’s what you will need:

• Thai Tea Mix
• Sweetened Condensed Milk 
• Tapioca Balls
• Black Tea
• Brown Sugar
• Water
• Evaporated Milk
• Ice

Steep both your Thai tea mix and your black tea in hot water for about five minutes and stir in some brown sugar before leaving it aside to cool. 

Cook your tapioca balls and drain them, then assemble your drink by combining the evaporated and sweetened condensed milk into a separate bowl or cup. 

Place the warm tapioca balls into a glass and add in your ice before pouring in the tea mixture. Finish it off with the milk mixture. 

13. Raspberry Peach Bubble Tea

Last but not least, we have another summery, fruity take on bubble tea that is sure to make for a refreshing drink all year round. 

The ingredients are as follows:

• Raspberry Syrup
• Peach Syrup 
• Tapioca Balls
• Black or Green Tea
• Milk 
• Water
• Honey or Granulated Sugar

Another simple and sweet bubble tea flavor, raspberry and peach bubble tea is the perfect accompaniment to a warm summers day. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts 

So there you have everything that you need to know about bubble tea as well as ten recipes that you can make easily at home!

If you haven’t tried bubble tea before, these are some great flavors to start out with.

No matter what your personal tastes are when it comes to bubble tea, you are sure to find something that you enjoy from our list of popular recipes.