This Taiwanese Milk Tea is easy to make. It's authentic and tastes just like the ones from your favorite Taiwanese tea shops. Serve it hot or cold, with or without ice cubes, and adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Can't get enough of Asian recipes? Try my Hong Kong Lemon Tea and Durian Milkshake next!

🧋 About This Recipe

Taiwan is the birthplace of bubble tea! It was invented in the 1980s when a tea shop owner casually mixed sweet tapioca pudding with her favorite milk tea. Since then, it’s become one of the world’s most popular drinks.

This recipe is inspired by my travels to Taiwan. During our two-week stay, my wife and I visited at least 10 different shops, and we saw firsthand how the Taiwanese people make it.

Authentic Taiwanese milk tea starts with hot tea. Most Taiwanese shops use their own unique blend of black tea. The tea is usually chilled, and then it's mixed with cream, sweetener, and your choice of toppings.

Traditionally, the sweetener is a syrup made from Taiwanese brown sugar. It's a bit different from regular brown sugar, but unfortunately, it's hard to find outside of Taiwan. For home cooking, regular brown sugar is fine.

Cream is a HUGE part of Taiwanese milk tea. A lot of people think milk is used for the base, but nearly every shop we visited used heavy cream or half and half. Not only does it make it creamier, but it rounds out a lot of the bitterness from the tea.

☕ What Tea To Use?

Traditionally, Taiwanese milk tea is made with a blend of black tea. I tried many different varieties, and Ceylon tea is my favorite. It's not too bitter, and it pairs really well with the creaminess of milk. You can also use Oolong or green tea if you prefer, but I think black tea tastes the best.

🧂 Ingredients

Black tea: You can use any variety of black tea, like Ceylon, Earl Gray, Orange Pekoe, Tetley, or Lipton. Tea bags or tea leaves both work.
Heavy cream: I HIGHLY recommend using heavy cream for the most authentic taste, but you can also use half and half, whole milk, or evaporated milk.
Dried Tapioca Pearls: You can buy these at most Asian grocery stores. They usually take between 30-60 minutes to cook, depending on the size or brand. Make sure you heat the water to a rolling boil before cooking the pearls. One time, I added them to cold water, and they immediately dissolved.
Brown Sugar: This is for making a syrup that the tapioca balls will sit in, but it'll also be used to sweeten the milk tea.
Water: For making the tea and brown sugar syrup.

🔪 Instructions

STEP 1: Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the tapioca pearls. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid, and let pearls rest for 30 minutes until translucent.

📋 Note
If the tapioca pearls aren't translucent, bring the water back to a boil. Turn off the heat and let it rest for another 15-30 minutes. Test the tapioca pearls to see if they're fully cooked. Sometimes, they can still be fully cooked, even if they're not fully transparent.

STEP 2: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar and ½ cup of water. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved, then transfer it to a bowl.

STEP 3: Strain and rinse the cooked tapioca pearls, then transfer to the bowl of brown sugar syrup.

STEP 4: Boil 6 cups of water in a small pot. Add the tea, turn off the heat, and let it steep for 10 minutes. If you're using tea leaves, strain the tea through a fine-meshed strainer. I like to serve my tea cold, so at this point, I will refrigerate the tea or put it in the freezer for one hour.

STEP 5: In a glass, add 1 ½ cups of tea, a couple of ice cubes, 2 tablespoons of cream, a generous scoop of tapioca pearls, and some brown sugar syrup. You can adjust the amount of cream and syrup to your liking. Enjoy!

📋 Recipe