SaurabhIf you never had a Boba drink, you might be wondering how it tastes, where it originated from, and so on.
For starters, Boba tea is also known as bubble tea and comes in many different flavors. And you can notice that this delicious drink gets more popular with each passing year.
The taste of the Boba tea is sweet and milky, with a texture that can be chewy due to the Boba pearls that are an important ingredient in this drink.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about Boba tea and why you should give it a try next time the occasion arises!
Different Types of Boba Tea
Before we get into the different flavors of this tea, we will mention that you will also find it under the name pearl tea or tapioca tea.
The basic recipe is fairly simple. It includes a type of brewed tea, milk (which could be any type of milk), a sweetener, Boba pearls, or tapioca pearls.
It has a thicker texture compared to regular tea. However, it’s more watery than a smoothie. This type of drink is served with thick straw and a lot of ice.
Bubble tea can come in hundreds of flavors since many ingredients in the recipe like the type of tea or milk you use are flexible and will have an impact on the drink’s taste. But among the most common types of Boba tea you can find the following:
Milk Tea
This type contained brewed tea of your choice, milk, and tapioca pearls.
Thai tea
It is made of black tea mixed with condensed milk and Boba pearls. For this tea, you can use tapioca pearls as well.
Taro Boba Tea
This type of bubble tea includes, besides milk and brewed tea, a taro puree that gives it a sweeter but also a creamier texture.
Fruit Bubble Tea
The only difference between this type of Boba tea and the original recipe is that it contains fruit tea that comes with no caffeine.
As for the type of tea that you can use in Boba tea you have a wide range of options.
Black tea and green tea are some of the best choices if you want to get as close as possible to the original recipe. But besides these popular and classic options, you can use Oolong tea, white tea, or regular fruit tea.
Note that white tea is a popular choice in Western countries. But it is not the first choice if you want to make a traditional bubble tea. Oolong tea is traditional in China and it is made of the Camellia sinensis leaves, which is the same plant as green tea.
Where Did Boba Tea Originate?
Boba or bubble tea comes from Taiwan, where it was made in the 1980s. Despite its short history, this type of tea gained popularity all over the world.
It is easy to prepare at home and you can find it at most tea houses in major cities. However, the recipes vary a lot and nowadays we have hundreds of types of this tea that we can enjoy.
Even if milk and sugar were common ingredients in tea in the Taiwan region since the 17th century, it took a couple more hundreds of years to get to the recipes of bubble tea we know today.
In the 1990s, this type of tea spread in many parts of Asia and soon it reached Western countries where it became extremely appreciated.
What is Boba Tea Made of?
Most likely you are curious to try this bubble tea at home. We put together the best recipe to try and you will be amazed at how easy it is to prepare this drink.
Don’t be surprised if Boba tea might become your favorite summer drink!
You will need tapioca pears, a type of milk of your choice (it can be non-dairy milk if you prefer it), a type of leaves tea (we recommend green tea or black tea but if you don’t want any caffeine you can settle for any type of tea), and sugar (you can use honey or any other type of sweetener but the traditional recipe calls for plain sugar).
Step 1: Prepare the Tea
Prepare your tea as you normally would by placing the teabags in boiled water and letting it sit for two minutes. After these two minutes passed, remove the teabags from the tea and put the mug aside.
Step 2: Cook the Tapioca Pearls
Boil about four cups of water and add the tapioca pearls to the boiled water. Cook them for about five minutes or until they are soft enough.
You don’t want the pearls to be crunchy or have a hard texture at all. When your pearls are done, remove them from the water and let them cool down.
Step 3: Put Your Drink Together
Putting your Boba drink together is probably the best part.
Start by adding a cup of tea to a lass. Then, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar. You can add more or less, according to your preference.
Add a tablespoon of tapioca pearls and a few cubes of ice too, also by taste. Stir everything and enjoy!
Step 4: Serve or Store
You can serve your Boba tea as you put it together or you can store it in the refrigerator for two to four days.
However, this type of drink will taste the best fresh. And considering how easy it is to make you will most likely want to have it fresh as often as possible. We encourage you to try making this tea at home so you find the perfect combination for your taste.
You can play around with the recipe as you please. In fact, you might be surprised at how many combinations of bubble tea you can create by changing the ingredients.
Does Boba Actually Taste Good?
This type of drink is sweet and milky. However, you can control the sweetness depending on how much sugar or sweetener you add to it.
Besides this general taste, you will have different flavors as well. So, your bubble tea will taste differently according to what tea you use, what milk you use as well as how much sweetener you add.
Regardless of the recipe though, you will notice that Boba is creamy, very addictive, and extremely smooth!
Do Boba Balls Have Flavor?
Boba balls are the tapioca pearls after they are cooked. In their plain state, these pearls have a jelly texture and a smooth fruity taste.
However, many people marinate the tapioca pearls in different syrups which can change their flavor significantly. Also, in their plain state, these pearls are not extremely sweet, even if they tend to have a mild, natural sweetness to them.
What is the Best Flavor of Boba?
It is difficult to decide which flavor of Boba is the best as it depends on individual preferences. You can find them in coconut flavor, fruity flavor, or simply sweet flavor.
Some Boba balls also have different herbal flavors, depending on what type of syrup they were marinated in. We think that the coconut flavor is one of the options you have to try.
This flavor adds an exotic accent to everything you make with these Boba balls and it combines perfectly with sugar and milk.
Can You Eat the Balls in Boba?
You can eat Boba pearls plain if you like them. However, these balls are usually used as ingredients in teas or other types of drinks and smoothies.
They have also been used in yogurts and creams as well as desserts and you will love their chewy texture. Unless you prepare your Boba balls somehow, they can be rather blunt and lack flavor.
So, many people prefer to combine them with other ingredients to create the perfect dish.
What is Boba Made of?
Boba balls are made of tapioca pearls that are boiled and flavored with different syrups or simply with sugar. Moreover, tapioca pearls are made of tapioca starch, which is an extract from the cassava plant in South America.
You will find tapioca pearls already made in stores though. So, you will be able to prepare your Boba by simply using those pearls, boiled water, and a sweetener of your choice.
Conclusion
We are sure that once you make Boba tea, you will want to try it in different recipes and with different ingredients.
It is important, however, to use tapioca pearls and a type of tea if you want to maintain a drink that is as close to the original recipe as possible.
Also, note that serving this type of drink is best with a glass of milk next to it so your guests can add more milk to their drink if they so desire
In most cases, there are not two people that like their bubble tea the same way since the recipe is so flexible.
