What is oolong tea?
Many have seen it in the menu of popular boba cafes and bubble tea shops but can you describe what it actually is? Is oolong tea similar to black tea? Or is oolong tea similar to green tea? Without going too heavily into the details here is what makes oolong tea so special.
It’s both! Oolong tea can taste very earthy or florally depending on the processing of the tea leaves. One of the biggest factors in what changes the flavor profile of oolong tea is the oxidization process. The less oxidized your oolong tea is, the more it will taste like green tea. And of course, the more oxidized it is, the more it will have a robust flavor like black tea.
With the wide spectrum of flavor oolong tea contains, it makes every cup of oolong milk tea very interesting and different! Depending on how your local boba cafe processes their oolong tea (assuming it’s fresh loose leaf oolong tea) you may taste more of a sweet flavor or deep tea flavor.
Without a doubt, oolong milk tea deserves more attention as it can satisfy the taste buds of many bubble tea fanatics, let’s dive into how to make oolong tea at home below!
Prep Time
3 Minutes
Cook Time
10-15 Minutes
Total Time
15-20 Minutes
Yield
1-2 Servings
Ingredients you'll need
for making
Oolong Milk Tea
- Loose leaf oolong tea
- 1/4 cup of creamer (Almond milk, soy milk etc)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- Pinch of cinnamon
How to Make Oolong Milk Tea
Step 1
Like any great cup of tea, the first thing you have to do is brew it fresh! Let’s begin by grabbing a pot filled with water, around 3-4 cups of water and bring that to a boil. Be sure to add your authentic and fresh oolong loose leaves. You can also use an electric kettle to decrease the cooking time greatly.
We recommend getting an electric kettle similar to this one from Miroco.
If you cannot find any loose leaf oolong tea around you, you can always buy some tea online or even use oolong tea bags. Whatever you can find works! We just like to use the authentic oolong tea leaves as it excites our taste buds more with a robust flavor profile.
Once your water is at a rumbling boil, make sure to tone it down to medium-high heat for a simmering boil and let your tea brew for about 5-8 minutes. After you’re satisfied with the taste and profile of the tea, remove it from the heat and set it aside to cool.
Step 2
Shall we keep it moving? While you’re waiting for your tea to cool down, let’s prepare your cup with the other ingredients. We’ll need your choice of creamer (generally we love to use almond milk with this), 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and your pinch of cinnamon.
Add all these ingredients into your cup that you will use to eventually pour your cooled tea into. You can also make this in a heat safe tumbler or thermos like this bamboo one too, this is what we use in the office sometimes. View other really great thermoses for travel here.
Step 3
The finale! Now that your freshly brewed oolong tea is cooled down a bit (it shouldn’t be cold but just cooled to a preferable drinking temperature) you may bring everything together.
Using the ingredients we mentioned above pour about 1/2 a cup of water into your teacup that already has the almond milk (if this is your creamer), 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and pinch of cinnamon.
Stir everything together until it’s all incorporated and thoroughly mixed in. From here you can take a sip and satisfy your taste buds while saying “ahhhhh”.
Variations
The above steps are for making a warm and soothing oolong milk tea. But here are some additions you can incorporate for an even better bubble tea or milk tea experience.
Of course, you can begin to add the boba pearls that you thought were missing! If you want to find out how to make tapioca pearls at home be sure to read our full in depth guide and article.
If you want to make this a cold bubble tea or milk tea, be sure to cool down the tea completely to room temperature before bringing everything together. Here’s the steps. Cool down the freshly brewed oolong tea, follow step 2 above, add ice into your cup and then pour the remaining cooled down oolong tea.
Super simple, super delicious and super satisfying! Let us know if you tried this at home and what you thought of it. If you want to talk more about boba, be sure to join our facebook group. We have people asking questions about bubble tea, suggesting boba flavors and more everyday, join the conversation!
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