If I had my everything my way, it’d still be summer vacation and Bioshock 2 would already be out. Unfortunately, the world is cruel on both those counts, so to console myself, I made some bubble tea.
Ingredients
For the bubbles
- 3 tsp sugar
- 1 cup of tapioca pearls (I used WuFuYuan pearls I bought from GrandMart, and they’re fairly common in Asian grocery stores)
- 6 cups of water
For the black milk tea
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 4 tbp sugar
- 3 cups of brewed black tea
(Modified for 3 servings from this recipe on AllRecipes. The quantities for making bubble tea for a single person are kinda annoying!)
Bring the water to a boil, then stir in 3 teaspoons of sugar until it dissolves. Slowly pour in your tapioca pearls, and cook them on high for 15-20 minutes while slowly stirring throughout. This is kind of boring, but delightfully easy! The bubbles should be soft yet chewy at the end. Rinse and drain the bubbles, then chill them in the fridge.
For the tea, I bought a pack of Lipton Pearl Black tea and just steeped about 6 tea bags in 3 cups of water I boiled. The tea should be pretty strong to keep the flavor. (If anyone knows a better way to brew tea in large quantities then feel free to share with the class~) Pour in the milk and sugar and stir until they’re pretty well incorporated. Let the tea cool and chill it in the fridge as well.
After both the tea and bubbles are cold to your liking, scoop some bubbles into a cup, pour in the tea, and throw in some ice cubes. Note: when storing, keep the bubbles separate from the tea. They sit and store better that way. They lose some of their texture after about a day, but I’m told that if they get harder, you should microwave them for about 2 minutes to soften them up again. I haven’t verified this for myself yet soooo just sayin’. Edit: reheating works. Hoorah!
Also! I got fat bubble straws from Teavana for about $2.50. You should buy them, because bubble tea isn’t as fun if you’re scooping the bubbles out with a spoon!