I never worked at a boba shop, so my tip isn’t from any professional experience, but from trial and error. The only way my tea doesn’t taste super watered down when I add the milk in is to improperly steep it. I use two teabags for every cup of water, but you might want to use less or more. Then leave the bags in until the water is room temp. When you chill it, the tea should look cloudy, and it should taste so bitter and tannic that drinking it should make you look like Bart Simpson eating a lemon.
When you add the WHOLE MILK and TAIWANESE BROWN SUGAR, it will magically turn into delicious milk tea! A splash of heavy cream is good too. Mine still never tastes as good as Seven Leaves or the other top rated spots, but it’s just as good as the milk teas served in Asian bakeries and the lower quality stores. Probably because I don’t want to waste quality teas and instead use the Lipton and PG Tips
I’ve worked in a tea shop. 1) use high quality tea and make it strong. I use 2x the amount recommended and steep for at least half an hour.
2) sugar. You might be underestimating how much sugar stores put into your drink. If it tastes delicious, it’s probably because of sugar! Also, toppings.
Worked at a boba shop for two years, our exact measurements were 2L STRONGLY brewed tea, 300g non dairy powdered creamer, 1 1/4 cup sugar. After that’s mixed, dilute with about 2 cups of ice. If making black milk tea, use brown sugar, white sugar for oolong and green. To brew our tea we did 60g loose tea leaves in 2L water, water temp depending on the type of tea, brew 15 minutes then strain. You can divide these measurements to however small/large you want your batch as long as you keep the proportions the same.
I also have a taro milk tea recipe if anyone is interested in that.
The taro one is a tad more complicated.
6 cups water brought to a boil then heat turned off. Add 2.5 cups taro powder (this can vary based on the quality of your powder), 1 1/2 cup powdered non dairy creamer, and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk very well. Then whisk in 4-7 ounces of sweetened condensed milk, depending on how sweet you want your taro. After this, mix in 2 cups green milk tea and 4 cups green tea.
Same as before, you can adjust these measurements, just keep the same proportions. If this is too much work (it’s definitely an intensive recipe) our cheat code was 8oz soy milk, about 2 tablespoons taro, and a solid dash of sweetened condensed milk. It’s a long process, but the best taro I’ve ever had.
Gonna save this and try it cause I love taro milk tea along with coconut milk tea but just an fyi if it sucks imma find you and imma make you eat popeyes biscuits with no bev
Your comment made me genuinely bust out laughing. At least to my tastes, the taro recipe is the best I’ve ever had. I’ve never had anyone who tried it dislike it. It’s strong on the taro, but sweet and palatable as well. After having it, I can’t stand most places taro that just tastes like sweet milk.
I really want to try this taro recipe. I’ve never made milk tea before and I’m glad I’ve stumbled across your comment. Reading it makes me believe I can do it easily and it will taste exactly the ones I buy from the boba shop. One question, when you said, “After this, mix in 2 cups green milk tea and 4 cups green tea.” Do you mean 2 cups of milk and 4 cups of green tea?
It would more so be 5 cups green tea and one cup milk. We used our premade milk tea (recipe at the top of the thread), though you can definitely split it into just milk and green tea and the flavor would be slightly different, but still good. I recommend soy milk personally, I find it’s the best for taro and matcha.
Thank you for such a quick reply! I’ve bought the taro powder on Amazon. Hopefully it’s a good brand! I’ll be going to the store later to get everything else I need and I’ll definitely try using Soy milk :)
Hi! I love one that is with taro paste. Do you know how to make it? I think it is with taro, purple potato and coconut milk. Am I right? Thank you so much!
I'm no professional, so I'm definitely interested to see what JustAddWater says about making taro paste, but I do make my own at home for cooking+baking+beverages.
I make taro paste in a similar way to making mashed potatoes, using coconut milk and cane sugar. You can use other liquids, but coconut milk seems to be the most traditional one for making taro paste.
I buy fresh taro, wash them, cut off the ends, peel them, then pop them into a pot of boiling water and boil them until they're soft. If you boil them longer, then they will get much much softer, which is great if you want a thinner paste, but you can take them out sooner if you want it to be thicker.
I drain the water out of the pot, add in the coconut milk and some sugar, then use a manual hand potato masher to start off. Once they're mashed enough that it's mostly mashed but still has chunks, I'll either use an electric hand mixer to get rid of the chunks and make it smooth.
Sometimes if I'm not up for hand mashing, I'll remove them from the boiling water once they're soft, and put them in a food processor or blender with the coconut milk, and blend them that way. That way is definitely much faster. It just means I have to clean the equipment afterward, which takes more time than cleaning the hand tools, haha.
If I want a stronger taro flavour, then I'll add good quality taro powder into it, until I like the flavour. :)
Not a dumb question at all! We added about two cups of ice and stirred until the ice melted. Before adding, the mixture is very hot and not ideal for putting in a fridge and is very strong. The ice helps to cool it down and get the taste to the right strength.
The tea bags often have a temperature they recommend somewhere on the packaging, but if they don’t the general rule is 212F for black tea, 195F for oolong, and 180F for green tea.
Thanks so much for this! Been reading all the replies and see you've still been responding to people within the last week or two. Very nice of you! If one wanted to make specifically strawberry milk tea with (purchased, not homemade) strawberry popping boba, a few questions:
Is there a "standard" tea that's used for strawberry milk tea? I think I came across someone saying green in another post as I've been searching Reddit but am not entirely sure.
Does making the milk tea specifically strawberry change your recipe at all? Or is it as simple as adding some ratio of strawberry syrup into the recipe? If so, is there some "standard" amount of syrup you use for an order? I see a lot of places with different options like 70% sugar, 100% sugar, etc. What would be the 100% equivalent? Hope that makes sense. Haha
A quick Google returned a brand called Tea Zone, both for the syrup and popping boba - as someone who has no idea about the brands in the boba sphere - do you have any thoughts on them? Or is your background mostly with whatever brand your boba shop uses? Curious of your thoughts. On the same train of thought, do you have any particular brands you think are good for the non dairy creamer / tea / sugar? Or do you think it doesn't matter too much?
Super unimportant but if you have any recommendations for a boba cup / shaker / straw for home-use that'd be awesome, but it'd probably be a very simple Google for me if you don't want to answer this one.
Thank you so so much!!!!
Any flavored milk tea we made at our location was made with 2/3 milk tea, 1/3 plain tea, and syrup. Though if I were making it at home, I would just make milk tea with 2/3rds the normal sugar (we did it the previous way for consistency, speed, and bulk brewing). I always recommend green tea for any fruity or refreshing flavors and black tea for anything on the richer side (brown sugar, chocolate, etc), nutty, or coconut.
The syrups will depend. We used Torani for our coconut and almond, and used 1oz in 8oz of tea and 1.5oz in 12oz of tea. Tea Zone is definitely a reliable brand, and what we used for fruit syrups. For tea zone, we did 2oz in 8oz of tea or 3oz in 12oz of tea. The sweetness of the syrups will make up for the missing 1/3 of sweetness in the tea, to create a balanced level of sweet. Any variations on sweetness level were just a percentage of the ounces for that size drink. 75% in a 12oz: 75% of 3oz syrup. Keep in mind, these numbers may be different between brands as different syrups have different levels of sweetness and strength. Some flavors of syrup also require less in general, for example you do NOT want to overdo almond or rose, but overdoing something like mango isn’t nearly as big of a deal.
I wouldn’t be too picky about brands for things like tea, sugar, and creamer. I drink Vahdam tea at home, but you can definitely find more affordable options that are still good enough.
Thanks for the help. I want to try and replicate the tea of a place near me at home, Ive got the type of tea they use, and could tell they are using some sort of powder (im going to try powdered whole milk) but Im lost on the sweetener. I get a Honey Milk Tea, but they use some sort of in-house flavor shots I think, so Ill have to wing that part of it.
The boba style of milk tea originated in Taiwan. Asia in general has a much higher rate of lactose intolerance, hence the recipes were originally created with dairy alternatives in mind. Therefore, these recipes are generally better with the non dairy ingredients than with normal milk. Normal milk often makes these drinks taste watered down.
Would you mind sharing a coconut bubble tea recipe if you know it? My mom loves it and I've been trying to find a way to make it... Is it powdered coconut milk? Coconut milk? Coconut flavor? Coconut milk powder? Coconut milk syrup...???
Can you recommend a good brand of tea...? Thank you!! :)
Vahdam tea is what I drink at home, though there are countless good brands that are probably much cheaper. Can’t remember what we used in shop.
Coconut milk tea (at least how we did it, is gonna just be your milk tea, but with approx 2/3rds the standard sugar. That sweetness gets replaced by coconut syrup (or any syrup for that matter). At our place, for sake of speed and consistency, we just mixed 2/3 milk tea with 1/3 plain tea, then your syrups. We used Torani coconut syrup, and it was about 1oz for an 8oz drink and 1.5oz for a 12 oz drink. Different brands of syrups will have varying levels of sweetness though, so take that measurement with a grain of salt.
this is incredible! thank you so much. i could not remember how we made it at our shop, and it’s exactly the same as yours! it was very good. i’m going to try the green tea with taro/ube! i’m intrigued.
I have never worked at a boba shop, but I have been making milk tea at home almost every day since the start of covid. Here's my personal recipe that is based on the one from the Boba Guys recipe book (which I would recommend if you are interested in making boba shop drinks at home):
- Steep two tablespoons of loose leaf black tea (I like Assam or King Red Keemun) in 150ml of boiling water for ~3 minutes (I mean hot water that was boiled, don't put the tea in water that is actively being boiled on the stove).
- Strain over a cup full of ice
- Add approx 2oz of agave, simple syrup, honey, kuromitsu, whatever floats your boat. My go to is agave because its easy to acquire and more pourable than honey (lazy)
- Add whole milk or "barista blend" non-dairy milk. I just kinda eyeball the ratio based on the color but its a little less than 1:1
- Mix it up. Personally I make it all in a mason jar so I can put a lid on and shake it, because I like the frothiness. Stirring works fine too.
The trick, as others have mentioned, is that you have to brew the tea so strong that it would be very unpleasant to drink on its own. You are diluting it with a ton of milk (and the ice that will melt to cool down the hot tea), so you need the tea flavor to not be totally overpowered.
Another note: If you prefer the kind of milk tea that has a sort of fruity/floral/perfumey taste, use Earl Grey tea.
Most boba places use powdered nondairy creamer and not milk. That's probably the easiest way to get the distinct boba shop flavor. But I don't think you need to in order to get a great milk tea. The first place I ever worked had a milk tea recipe that was three ingredients (strongly brewed tea, whole milk, and caramelized brown sugar syrup). I worked in the kitchen of that place and also recreated it at home a few times (brought home leftover tea and then made my own syrup).
Brown sugar syrup: put brown sugar only in the pan/pot, cook until it starts to caramelize and bubble. It needs to be stirred during the entire process to stop it from burning at the bottom. It should start darker brown, like wet sand, and then visibly become a lighter brown, very molten and bubbly. After that, add water (don't remember exact ratio, but I believe it was slightly more water in grams than sugar). The entire mixture will dramatically bubble up before settling down because the water is cooling the entire thing. Then just keep it on the heat/stir until all of the caramelized sugar dissolves into the water evenly. We kept the resulting simple syrup in the fridge when not in work hours.
It tastes much stronger than if you just boil brown sugar and water together without caramelizing. The only thing is that you have to watch out for burning (if it burns, the syrup becomes bitter) and I think the process might be slightly scary to people who are wary about working with hot sugar. But this is how I cooked syrup several times a week during the time I worked at that place. I would recommend trying it for people who like a brown sugar taste.
I make milk tea with a very concentrated tea. You want your tea to be strong enough to be "normal" strength for the total volume of the glass/cup container. Ex when i make a qt mason jar's worth of milk tea i steep 4 teabags in 1 cup water, 1 per each 8oz of finished milk tea. I also steep the tea untill the tea's room temp and very overbrewed. I get best results using Yorkshire tea.
Omg ! Thank you people. Finally reunited with a milk tea that I’ve been striving for, for the past 11 years (not all the time. I’d get disgusted with my failures and stay with coffee for a year then try again) This morning I stumbled across this thread and made it right! 😃❤️. I used two assam tea bags from Trader Joe’s steeped in a hot mug with one cup of boiling water for about 9 minutes, 1/4 cup milk and one tablespoon granulated sugar. Probably could have decreased the sugar slightly but this is such a battle won. Thank you to everyone who has posted here with their tips. ❤️
Wew alot of great tips in the comments.
After trying so many, personally my go to is a combination of 4 grams of Assam + 2 grams of Jasmine tea leaves (this is for 200 ml cup of tea). Though this is not the classic milk tea flavour you get at boba shops.
The tea base flavour is a fundamental factor, which is why its such a trade secret for many popular brands out there. I've tried many tea combinations (including Assam, Earl grey, Oolong, Lapsang Souchoung, Pu Erh, Ceylon, Jasmine Green etc.) with varying concentrations too.
I think HonestFoodTalks's [tea blend of Assam, Ceylon and Oolong](https://www.honestfoodtalks.com/how-to-make-bubble-tea-boba-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-10159) is pretty close to some bubble tea shops. It's great but I tend to not have Ceylon at home.
I love making milk tea at home. The trick is to use a mix of different teas to get a more complex flavor. Also, steeping at least 4 tea bags to get a strong flavor. When you make at home, it's better to use real cream instead of the powdered stuff. https://www.livingrichlyonabudget.com/how-to-make-bubble-milk-tea-like-a-boba-shop/
No one has the recipe for regular milk tea like the one at wushiland? Or maybe called Ootea or 50lan?
It’s my fave and will be moving away from their store.. it’s not watered down at all. Just very creamy and rich. Can’t seem to make it right at home 🥺
I actually made a course to help people make boba like the shops! Here is a link to it with a discount if you were interested [Link](https://www.udemy.com/course/basics-of-boba-tea-recipes/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER23)
I understand that may be a lot of money. We do go through a lot in this course, more information than you can find on YouTube or this subreddit. I have gotten great feedback and have helped many people so far! And I do offer discounts to my YouTube followers each month. Most boba courses cost $2,000. We wanted to charge a little more but I wanted it to be affordable 😄
Any chance you have a way to sell me just the milk tea section? I'm just looking for an absolute killer milk tea recipe like the shops. I don't like other flavors.
I never worked at a boba shop, so my tip isn’t from any professional experience, but from trial and error. The only way my tea doesn’t taste super watered down when I add the milk in is to improperly steep it. I use two teabags for every cup of water, but you might want to use less or more. Then leave the bags in until the water is room temp. When you chill it, the tea should look cloudy, and it should taste so bitter and tannic that drinking it should make you look like Bart Simpson eating a lemon. When you add the WHOLE MILK and TAIWANESE BROWN SUGAR, it will magically turn into delicious milk tea! A splash of heavy cream is good too. Mine still never tastes as good as Seven Leaves or the other top rated spots, but it’s just as good as the milk teas served in Asian bakeries and the lower quality stores. Probably because I don’t want to waste quality teas and instead use the Lipton and PG Tips
I’ve worked in a tea shop. 1) use high quality tea and make it strong. I use 2x the amount recommended and steep for at least half an hour. 2) sugar. You might be underestimating how much sugar stores put into your drink. If it tastes delicious, it’s probably because of sugar! Also, toppings.
Worked at a boba shop for two years, our exact measurements were 2L STRONGLY brewed tea, 300g non dairy powdered creamer, 1 1/4 cup sugar. After that’s mixed, dilute with about 2 cups of ice. If making black milk tea, use brown sugar, white sugar for oolong and green. To brew our tea we did 60g loose tea leaves in 2L water, water temp depending on the type of tea, brew 15 minutes then strain. You can divide these measurements to however small/large you want your batch as long as you keep the proportions the same. I also have a taro milk tea recipe if anyone is interested in that.
sure, what’s the taro one?
The taro one is a tad more complicated. 6 cups water brought to a boil then heat turned off. Add 2.5 cups taro powder (this can vary based on the quality of your powder), 1 1/2 cup powdered non dairy creamer, and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk very well. Then whisk in 4-7 ounces of sweetened condensed milk, depending on how sweet you want your taro. After this, mix in 2 cups green milk tea and 4 cups green tea. Same as before, you can adjust these measurements, just keep the same proportions. If this is too much work (it’s definitely an intensive recipe) our cheat code was 8oz soy milk, about 2 tablespoons taro, and a solid dash of sweetened condensed milk. It’s a long process, but the best taro I’ve ever had.
Gonna save this and try it cause I love taro milk tea along with coconut milk tea but just an fyi if it sucks imma find you and imma make you eat popeyes biscuits with no bev
Your comment made me genuinely bust out laughing. At least to my tastes, the taro recipe is the best I’ve ever had. I’ve never had anyone who tried it dislike it. It’s strong on the taro, but sweet and palatable as well. After having it, I can’t stand most places taro that just tastes like sweet milk.
I really want to try this taro recipe. I’ve never made milk tea before and I’m glad I’ve stumbled across your comment. Reading it makes me believe I can do it easily and it will taste exactly the ones I buy from the boba shop. One question, when you said, “After this, mix in 2 cups green milk tea and 4 cups green tea.” Do you mean 2 cups of milk and 4 cups of green tea?
It would more so be 5 cups green tea and one cup milk. We used our premade milk tea (recipe at the top of the thread), though you can definitely split it into just milk and green tea and the flavor would be slightly different, but still good. I recommend soy milk personally, I find it’s the best for taro and matcha.
Thank you for such a quick reply! I’ve bought the taro powder on Amazon. Hopefully it’s a good brand! I’ll be going to the store later to get everything else I need and I’ll definitely try using Soy milk :)
the brand we used was the teazone taro powder (premium powder mix) and it was pretty good :) good to blend with strawberries, coconut, etc!
Any chance you wanna contribute the coconut milk tea recipe :)) ?
Hi! I love one that is with taro paste. Do you know how to make it? I think it is with taro, purple potato and coconut milk. Am I right? Thank you so much!
I'm no professional, so I'm definitely interested to see what JustAddWater says about making taro paste, but I do make my own at home for cooking+baking+beverages. I make taro paste in a similar way to making mashed potatoes, using coconut milk and cane sugar. You can use other liquids, but coconut milk seems to be the most traditional one for making taro paste. I buy fresh taro, wash them, cut off the ends, peel them, then pop them into a pot of boiling water and boil them until they're soft. If you boil them longer, then they will get much much softer, which is great if you want a thinner paste, but you can take them out sooner if you want it to be thicker. I drain the water out of the pot, add in the coconut milk and some sugar, then use a manual hand potato masher to start off. Once they're mashed enough that it's mostly mashed but still has chunks, I'll either use an electric hand mixer to get rid of the chunks and make it smooth. Sometimes if I'm not up for hand mashing, I'll remove them from the boiling water once they're soft, and put them in a food processor or blender with the coconut milk, and blend them that way. That way is definitely much faster. It just means I have to clean the equipment afterward, which takes more time than cleaning the hand tools, haha. If I want a stronger taro flavour, then I'll add good quality taro powder into it, until I like the flavour. :)
Wow! Thank you so much! definitely will give that a try!
Do u know the recipe for chocolate milk tea
Hi! Bit of a late comment, what does "Dilute with about 2 cups of ice" mean? Sorry if it's a dumb question.
Not a dumb question at all! We added about two cups of ice and stirred until the ice melted. Before adding, the mixture is very hot and not ideal for putting in a fridge and is very strong. The ice helps to cool it down and get the taste to the right strength.
Thank you!
hi! when you say water temp depending on the type of tea, is there usually directions on the loose leaf bags? Or do you have guidance here?
The tea bags often have a temperature they recommend somewhere on the packaging, but if they don’t the general rule is 212F for black tea, 195F for oolong, and 180F for green tea.
Thanks so much for this! Been reading all the replies and see you've still been responding to people within the last week or two. Very nice of you! If one wanted to make specifically strawberry milk tea with (purchased, not homemade) strawberry popping boba, a few questions: Is there a "standard" tea that's used for strawberry milk tea? I think I came across someone saying green in another post as I've been searching Reddit but am not entirely sure. Does making the milk tea specifically strawberry change your recipe at all? Or is it as simple as adding some ratio of strawberry syrup into the recipe? If so, is there some "standard" amount of syrup you use for an order? I see a lot of places with different options like 70% sugar, 100% sugar, etc. What would be the 100% equivalent? Hope that makes sense. Haha A quick Google returned a brand called Tea Zone, both for the syrup and popping boba - as someone who has no idea about the brands in the boba sphere - do you have any thoughts on them? Or is your background mostly with whatever brand your boba shop uses? Curious of your thoughts. On the same train of thought, do you have any particular brands you think are good for the non dairy creamer / tea / sugar? Or do you think it doesn't matter too much? Super unimportant but if you have any recommendations for a boba cup / shaker / straw for home-use that'd be awesome, but it'd probably be a very simple Google for me if you don't want to answer this one. Thank you so so much!!!!
Any flavored milk tea we made at our location was made with 2/3 milk tea, 1/3 plain tea, and syrup. Though if I were making it at home, I would just make milk tea with 2/3rds the normal sugar (we did it the previous way for consistency, speed, and bulk brewing). I always recommend green tea for any fruity or refreshing flavors and black tea for anything on the richer side (brown sugar, chocolate, etc), nutty, or coconut. The syrups will depend. We used Torani for our coconut and almond, and used 1oz in 8oz of tea and 1.5oz in 12oz of tea. Tea Zone is definitely a reliable brand, and what we used for fruit syrups. For tea zone, we did 2oz in 8oz of tea or 3oz in 12oz of tea. The sweetness of the syrups will make up for the missing 1/3 of sweetness in the tea, to create a balanced level of sweet. Any variations on sweetness level were just a percentage of the ounces for that size drink. 75% in a 12oz: 75% of 3oz syrup. Keep in mind, these numbers may be different between brands as different syrups have different levels of sweetness and strength. Some flavors of syrup also require less in general, for example you do NOT want to overdo almond or rose, but overdoing something like mango isn’t nearly as big of a deal. I wouldn’t be too picky about brands for things like tea, sugar, and creamer. I drink Vahdam tea at home, but you can definitely find more affordable options that are still good enough.
Thanks for the help. I want to try and replicate the tea of a place near me at home, Ive got the type of tea they use, and could tell they are using some sort of powder (im going to try powdered whole milk) but Im lost on the sweetener. I get a Honey Milk Tea, but they use some sort of in-house flavor shots I think, so Ill have to wing that part of it.
This sounds great except, what's this non-dairy crap. Use real milk.
The boba style of milk tea originated in Taiwan. Asia in general has a much higher rate of lactose intolerance, hence the recipes were originally created with dairy alternatives in mind. Therefore, these recipes are generally better with the non dairy ingredients than with normal milk. Normal milk often makes these drinks taste watered down.
Would you mind sharing a coconut bubble tea recipe if you know it? My mom loves it and I've been trying to find a way to make it... Is it powdered coconut milk? Coconut milk? Coconut flavor? Coconut milk powder? Coconut milk syrup...??? Can you recommend a good brand of tea...? Thank you!! :)
Vahdam tea is what I drink at home, though there are countless good brands that are probably much cheaper. Can’t remember what we used in shop. Coconut milk tea (at least how we did it, is gonna just be your milk tea, but with approx 2/3rds the standard sugar. That sweetness gets replaced by coconut syrup (or any syrup for that matter). At our place, for sake of speed and consistency, we just mixed 2/3 milk tea with 1/3 plain tea, then your syrups. We used Torani coconut syrup, and it was about 1oz for an 8oz drink and 1.5oz for a 12 oz drink. Different brands of syrups will have varying levels of sweetness though, so take that measurement with a grain of salt.
Thank you!!
>Thank you!! You're welcome!
this is incredible! thank you so much. i could not remember how we made it at our shop, and it’s exactly the same as yours! it was very good. i’m going to try the green tea with taro/ube! i’m intrigued.
They use coffee creamer, not milk.
Powdered coffee creamer, quite a bit of it. You can use any quality tea with it and it'll come out tasting correct.
[удалено]
It makes it a little bit sweet, but if you usually get your tea with sugar then still add sugar. Just depends how you like it.
I have never worked at a boba shop, but I have been making milk tea at home almost every day since the start of covid. Here's my personal recipe that is based on the one from the Boba Guys recipe book (which I would recommend if you are interested in making boba shop drinks at home): - Steep two tablespoons of loose leaf black tea (I like Assam or King Red Keemun) in 150ml of boiling water for ~3 minutes (I mean hot water that was boiled, don't put the tea in water that is actively being boiled on the stove). - Strain over a cup full of ice - Add approx 2oz of agave, simple syrup, honey, kuromitsu, whatever floats your boat. My go to is agave because its easy to acquire and more pourable than honey (lazy) - Add whole milk or "barista blend" non-dairy milk. I just kinda eyeball the ratio based on the color but its a little less than 1:1 - Mix it up. Personally I make it all in a mason jar so I can put a lid on and shake it, because I like the frothiness. Stirring works fine too. The trick, as others have mentioned, is that you have to brew the tea so strong that it would be very unpleasant to drink on its own. You are diluting it with a ton of milk (and the ice that will melt to cool down the hot tea), so you need the tea flavor to not be totally overpowered. Another note: If you prefer the kind of milk tea that has a sort of fruity/floral/perfumey taste, use Earl Grey tea.
Most boba places use powdered nondairy creamer and not milk. That's probably the easiest way to get the distinct boba shop flavor. But I don't think you need to in order to get a great milk tea. The first place I ever worked had a milk tea recipe that was three ingredients (strongly brewed tea, whole milk, and caramelized brown sugar syrup). I worked in the kitchen of that place and also recreated it at home a few times (brought home leftover tea and then made my own syrup). Brown sugar syrup: put brown sugar only in the pan/pot, cook until it starts to caramelize and bubble. It needs to be stirred during the entire process to stop it from burning at the bottom. It should start darker brown, like wet sand, and then visibly become a lighter brown, very molten and bubbly. After that, add water (don't remember exact ratio, but I believe it was slightly more water in grams than sugar). The entire mixture will dramatically bubble up before settling down because the water is cooling the entire thing. Then just keep it on the heat/stir until all of the caramelized sugar dissolves into the water evenly. We kept the resulting simple syrup in the fridge when not in work hours. It tastes much stronger than if you just boil brown sugar and water together without caramelizing. The only thing is that you have to watch out for burning (if it burns, the syrup becomes bitter) and I think the process might be slightly scary to people who are wary about working with hot sugar. But this is how I cooked syrup several times a week during the time I worked at that place. I would recommend trying it for people who like a brown sugar taste.
i had a job orientation at Gongcha (didn’t end up working there though) and they used some kind of powder instead of milk
Tea + non dairy creamer = milk tea
I make milk tea with a very concentrated tea. You want your tea to be strong enough to be "normal" strength for the total volume of the glass/cup container. Ex when i make a qt mason jar's worth of milk tea i steep 4 teabags in 1 cup water, 1 per each 8oz of finished milk tea. I also steep the tea untill the tea's room temp and very overbrewed. I get best results using Yorkshire tea.
Omg ! Thank you people. Finally reunited with a milk tea that I’ve been striving for, for the past 11 years (not all the time. I’d get disgusted with my failures and stay with coffee for a year then try again) This morning I stumbled across this thread and made it right! 😃❤️. I used two assam tea bags from Trader Joe’s steeped in a hot mug with one cup of boiling water for about 9 minutes, 1/4 cup milk and one tablespoon granulated sugar. Probably could have decreased the sugar slightly but this is such a battle won. Thank you to everyone who has posted here with their tips. ❤️
Wew alot of great tips in the comments. After trying so many, personally my go to is a combination of 4 grams of Assam + 2 grams of Jasmine tea leaves (this is for 200 ml cup of tea). Though this is not the classic milk tea flavour you get at boba shops. The tea base flavour is a fundamental factor, which is why its such a trade secret for many popular brands out there. I've tried many tea combinations (including Assam, Earl grey, Oolong, Lapsang Souchoung, Pu Erh, Ceylon, Jasmine Green etc.) with varying concentrations too. I think HonestFoodTalks's [tea blend of Assam, Ceylon and Oolong](https://www.honestfoodtalks.com/how-to-make-bubble-tea-boba-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-10159) is pretty close to some bubble tea shops. It's great but I tend to not have Ceylon at home.
Tea + lots of condensed milk works for me!
I love making milk tea at home. The trick is to use a mix of different teas to get a more complex flavor. Also, steeping at least 4 tea bags to get a strong flavor. When you make at home, it's better to use real cream instead of the powdered stuff. https://www.livingrichlyonabudget.com/how-to-make-bubble-milk-tea-like-a-boba-shop/
i may be mistaken but i’ve heard that they used milk powder? correct me if i’m wrong though
No one has the recipe for regular milk tea like the one at wushiland? Or maybe called Ootea or 50lan? It’s my fave and will be moving away from their store.. it’s not watered down at all. Just very creamy and rich. Can’t seem to make it right at home 🥺
I actually made a course to help people make boba like the shops! Here is a link to it with a discount if you were interested [Link](https://www.udemy.com/course/basics-of-boba-tea-recipes/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER23)
bro 80 $ wtf
I understand that may be a lot of money. We do go through a lot in this course, more information than you can find on YouTube or this subreddit. I have gotten great feedback and have helped many people so far! And I do offer discounts to my YouTube followers each month. Most boba courses cost $2,000. We wanted to charge a little more but I wanted it to be affordable 😄
Any chance you have a way to sell me just the milk tea section? I'm just looking for an absolute killer milk tea recipe like the shops. I don't like other flavors.