DIY Boba Pearls and Bubble Tea

Creamy, sweet, and chewy, this is a drink you'll want to enjoy over and over again! Boba, also known as bubble tea, is a sweet beverage that originated in Taiwan. During my honeymoon trip to Taiwan, I saw that the streets were lined with tea shops offering various flavors of boba. The options were endless!

The most popular boba drinks you'll find in Taiwan are brown sugar boba and milk tea boba. Brown sugar boba is noncaffeinated and is served with milk. It includes tapioca pearls cooked in brown sugar syrup. It's just as delicious as milk tea boba, which is essentially brown sugar boba with tea added. While visiting Taiwan is an amazing experience (and one I highly recommend!), you can learn how to make the famous brown sugar boba at home with just a few ingredients.

Add 5 teaspoons of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of tapioca starch (or use 2 spoonfuls), and 2 tablespoons of water to a pot.

Cook the tapioca mixture until it becomes sticky; it doesn't have to be smooth. Turn off the heat.

Add the rest of the tapioca starch and mix. If needed, add small amounts of water until it comes together.

When the tapioca dough is cool enough to touch, dust a clean surface with tapioca starch. Pour the dough onto the table and knead until smooth. Wrap the tapioca dough in plastic wrap now as you brew the tea.

For a milk tea boba, brew 1 to 2 tea bags with 4 ounces of hot water. Leave the tea on the side to let it cool.

First, take the tapioca dough and split it in half for easier rolling.

Roll one half of the tapioca dough into a thick rope.

Fold the dough in half and pinch the ends so you have two separate skinny ropes.

Do this again with the other half of the tapioca dough until you have four long ropes. Roll the four ropes in tapioca starch until lightly covered so they don't stick to each other when cutting.

Line the ropes next to each other and cut them into 1/2-inch pieces. If it's sticking together, dust with more tapioca starch.

Roll the cut pieces into little round pearls (you can also cook them as is without rolling into pearls).

Heat a pot of water to a rapid boil (you want a vigorous boil so the pearls don't stick to the bottom). Drop the tapioca pearls into the water and cook until they float. You can eat a pearl to test for doneness: it should be soft and chewy, not powdery or hard. Remove the cooked pearls with a slotted spoon or strainer and transfer to a plate.

Empty the water from pot. Add the pearls back to the pot along with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Cook until the sugar is melted. Turn off the heat the moment the sugar is dissolved so you don't overcook the tapioca pearls (they will get hard when overcooked). Let the pearls cool before adding them to your cup.

Add the tapioca pearls to a cup along with ice and milk. Enjoy!

Add the cooled tea (if desired) for a milk tea boba.