Key Ingredients of a Best-Selling Bubble Milk Tea

in Tea

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Bubble tea is a fun drink known for its wide variety of flavors, selection of sinkers, and unique taste. Although most of us already know how this drink is made, still there are avid drinkers who think, “How do they make this delicious?” If you’re asking the same question, you’re just in the right article to find out. But before we introduce the ingredients to you, here’s a quick bubble tea recipe to cool you down:

Ingredients:

  • ¾ cup of brewed tea (Green, Chai, Black, or Jasmine)
  • 1 cup of ice cubes
  • Sugar Syrup
    If you don’t have a Sweet Meter tool, you may customize your bubble tea’s sweetness according to these measurements:

    – None for healthy
    – 1 tbsp. for light
    – 2 tbsp. for medium
    – 3 tbsp. for sweet
    – 4 (or 5) tbsp. for extra sweet

  • ½ cup of milk (Soy, Almond, or Whole Milk) or fruit drink (if you choose to make bubble tea)
  • ¼ cup of sinker of your choice (Tapioca Pearls, Coconut Jelly, or Boba)

Procedure:

1. Using a cocktail shaker, combine the brewed tea, ice cubes, sugar syrup, and milk or fruit drink. Shake until the mixture becomes frothy.
2. Place the sinker in a tall plastic cup or glass. If you choose Tapioca Pearls or Boba, you can add syrup for extra sweetness.
3. Pour the mixture over the sinker and serve it with a fat straw.
4. Indulge!

Now that you know how bubble teas are made, let’s get to know more of its key components to mix-and-match the flavors – the right way!

TEA

The tea is the “spirit” of this fun drink. You can choose any kind of tea depending on how strong you want your drink will be. But according to Bubble Tea Supply, Black and Green Jasmine tea have a “refreshing” sweet taste when you add it with flavored juice or syrup.

FLAVORING

There are two types of milk tea flavoring: powder and syrup. Powder flavoring is created to provide extra flavor or sweetness to the drink. But Bubble Tea Supply adds it’s not recommended to be mixed with creamer as the drink will curdle at the top, making it look unappetizing. Plus, most of the powder flavorings are artificially made, which is bad for the health and have negative effects to the body.

Syrup flavoring, in contrast, is a strong and thick concentrate created from the juices of a real fruit. Some of its type even contains real fruit pieces such as Strawberry bits, Mango jelly, or Blueberry chunks. Unlike the powder type, syrup flavorings are healthier.

SWEETENERS

Sweeteners are the flavor enhancers in your bubble tea drink. Majority of bubble tea fans prefer their drink sweet, which is why some milk tea shops add inexpensive sweeteners such as white sugar, brown sugar, milk tea syrup or fructose to the drink of their sweet-toothed customers. If you want your sweetener to be sweet but healthy, honey will be your best pick.

CREAMER

Creamers enhance the quality of the bubble tea, making it richer and creamier in texture. There are healthy kinds of creamers you can add such as the following:

  • Soy Milk – This one is as healthy as the tea for our health. So if you want your bubble tea drink to be more nutritious, Soy milk is a great option.
  • Whole Milk – Whole milk is the suggested creamer for those who like their bubble tea to have a natural creamy taste and texture. It may decrease the thickness of the drink, but it provides a fruity milk taste when added to fruit-flavored bubble teas.
  • Almond Milk – For sweet-toothed drinkers, Almond milk is the most recommended creamers. If you don’t know what an Almond milk tastes like, try to remember the taste of the milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl.

These creamers are just part of the simple milk tea innovation. Today, tea shops blend their signature milk teas, replicating Frappuccino and milkshake by adding whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, and other additional ingredients to entice their customers. Do you want to try ours? Go to our Discover page to have a look of our blended drinks you’ll love!

SINKER

The sinker is the superstar and one of the important key ingredients of a bubble tea. There are many kinds of sinkers that will spice up your drink such as the following:

Tapioca Pearls

tapioca pearlsImage courtesy of The Wonderful World of Boba

Now don’t be confused. Tapioca pearls are not Popping Boba and likewise. This one is made of a finely grounded or pearled cassava root. Its size is smaller than Boba’s and is white in color before it was cooked.

 

Popping Boba

Popping BobaPhoto courtesy of Eat Drink One Woman

Boba Balls or Popping Boba is bigger than Tapioca pearls and has a chewy texture similar to gummy bears. Plus, it’s tan in color, and is softer and sweeter than Tapioca pearls.

 

Coconut Jelly

coconut jellyImage courtesy of Merdeka.com

Coconut jelly, also known as Crystals (a term mostly used in milk tea shops) or Nata de Coco is a chewy, jelly-like, translucent food produced by the bacterial fermentation of coconut water. It’s the best alternative sinker for fruit bubble teas when bubble tea makers run out of Boba or Tapioca pearls.

Other sinkers include:

  • Red Bean
  • Egg Pudding
  • Lime Jelly
  • Coffee Jelly (for chocolate-blended teas)
  • Assorted Jelly

With this, you can make a perfect bubble tea of your own. Just be mindful of the ingredients when you mix-match. For instance, when you make a chocolate or coffee-flavored bubble tea, don’t pair it with Coconut jelly sinker. We bet you don’t want to know what it tastes like or how mad your tummy will be after you drink it.

Turn ordinary days into memorable moments with your friends and family at Serenitea! We have the best-selling flavors of milk teas, fruit teas, and bubble teas you’ll surely indulge. Come visit our branch near you today!

 

Sources: Time Inc. Lifestyle Group, Fanale Drinks, The Kitchn, Bubble Tea Supply, eHow