Fair warning.
This might be the easiest drink you’ll make in your lifetime next to instant coffee.
Seriously. That’s exactly what it’s like.
From the ingredients down to the actual process. We’ll try to keep this article read straight to the point Talk Boba style of course! How does that sound?
Before we continue, we have a bubble tea recipe without powder, full of premium ingredients, and more. You can read that version here, how to make bubble tea at home.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Bubble Tea with Powder
Since we’re highlighting how to make bubble tea with powder, the ingredients you’ll need are less than expected. Plus the tools and equipment you’ll need are quite less too!
Overall, when you make bubble tea with powder, it doesn’t require much. Which is the nice part. It all works out if we’re having a lazy Sunday right?
The ingredients you’ll need for bubble tea or boba with powder are the following. You’ll need the bubble tea powder of course, tapioca pearls (boba pearls) and maybe a sweetener like honey. This is in case you don’t think it’s sweet enough.
And that’s it!
How to Make Bubble Tea or Boba with Powder in 4 Steps
Step 1— Cooking the Boba Pearls
In this first step, you’ll want to cook your tapioca pearls. This step will take the longest time.
Cooking time depends if you make fresh tapioca pearls from scratch, buying it from your local store, or online.
If you bought it from a place like Amazon, you’ll want to cook the tapioca pearls based on the instructions on the packaging.
Generally, you’ll want to boil a pot of water to start. So with that said, grab your go-to pot and fill it with about 4-6 cups of water (use a measuring cup like this if you don’t have one).
Bring this pot of water to a boil on your stove and then add your boba pearls once it has a rumbling boil. Follow your package’s instructions or cook until softened.
Typically a bouncy and chewy texture is what you’re looking for. If you have a chalky or grainy texture you might need to cook it a bit longer to soften up.
If you want to make your own tapioca pearls from scratch try to follow our guide here. The cooking time may differ with your homemade tapioca pearls than store-bought boba pearls.
Also, one thing to note. Cooking time frozen tapioca pearls are significantly longer than those in airtight packaging.
Step 2— Straining Your Boba Pearls
After your boba pearls are completely cooked and full of bouncy textures, you’ll want to strain the water with a colander or strainer like this. Then place your boba pearls into a bowl.
In this bowl, you can add honey or brown sugar syrup to allow the tapioca pearls to soak up that sweet taste as it cools down to room temperature.
If you want to learn how to make brown sugar syrup at home, go ahead and read our guide here and then come back to this guide!
Step 3— Shake Up Your Bubble Tea Powder
Once your boba pearls are cooled down to room temperature add them into your serving cup or glass.
Now, grab a shaker cup preferably metal so that when you shake up the contents it will mix well with ice! Having a metal shaker like this makes the drink ice cold very fast!
You’ll want to put the shaker cup down within seconds because of how fast it gets extremely cold.
In your shaker cup, you’re going to put the bubble tea powder that you got your hands on. Scoop in the recommended measured amount into your serving cup. Shortly after you’ll want to add a cup of ice into the metal shaker cup too. Now add about a cup of water and a 1/4 cup of your preferred milk.
You won’t need that much milk because the bubble tea powder should have some type of dairy creamer in it already.
Some kinds of milk we prefer to use for bubble tea are oat milk, 2% milk, almond milk, and even sweetened condensed milk. See all the other kinds of milk that are popularly used in bubble teas here.
Once everything is in place, place the lid and cap back on and go ahead and shake it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. By now you’ll have a very cold refreshing liquid base for your bubble tea.
Step 4— Bringing it All Together
Once you’re done shaking your cup, remove the lid and pour the contents into your serving cup with boba pearls. From here, give it a quick stir to mix the boba pearls thoroughly and you’re all done!
You now have a bubble tea made with powder ready to drink!
How Does Your Bubble Tea Taste?
Go ahead, give it a taste.
Is it the same as the real deal from your local boba cafe? Maybe not, but it’s pretty darn close right? Even though it’s not quite exactly the same, your boba craving will still be satisfied.
Let us know how this recipe for making bubble tea with powder tastes for you. Simply join the conversation below and leave us a comment, we’re here to talk about boba right?
If you’re still here, feel free to read one of our most popular articles on how to make oolong milk tea. It’s a great recipe guide for sure!
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