This earl grey bubble tea is a staple drink for boba lovers! It features a strongly brewed earl grey milk tea sweetened with brown sugar syrup and chewy tapioca pearls. With this recipe, you can make your own bubble tea at home that tastes just like the ones from your favourite bubble tea shop or better.
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This earl grey bubble tea recipe is one that I make at least once a month. It’s simple to make and so satisfying to sip on when I’m craving boba. This is also the base recipe that I use to make all kinds of variations on. The process of cooking the tapioca pearls always stays the same while the flavours of the drink are completely customizable and as easy as switching up the kind of tea.
Ever since I starting making bubble tea at home, I rarely feel the need to buy it from bubble tea shops unless there’s a unique flavour that would be too much work to make myself. Plus, they’re almost $10 for a drink nowadays! Crazy. To be honest, I like mine better as the ones in store can be hit or miss.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s easy to make! Once you know how to make it, it’s mostly just waiting around for things to steep, cook, and cool.
- It has a strong tea flavour. One of my pet peeves is weak or watered down milk tea so I make sure to use multiple tea bags and squeeze every last bit of flavour out of them.
- The recipe is customizable. Choose your milk and tea and sweeten to your tastes.
Origins of bubble tea
Bubble tea or boba is a drink that originates from Taiwan. From the direct translation and traditionally, it is an iced milk tea drink with tapioca pearls.
You can find endless variations of bubble tea though, not necessarily with either one of those components. There are slushes, fruit teas, and even hot bubble teas. In addition to boba pearls, you can add in all kinds of jellies, red beans, pudding, and other tapioca pearl variations.
Ingredients
- Milk - You can use any dairy or non-dairy milk you prefer. I always make mine with oat milk because it’s naturally very creamy and slightly sweet.
- Earl grey tea bags - If you’re using loose leaf tea, use about 4 teaspoons in a steeper instead of 4 tea bags.
- Tapioca pearls - You’ll want the black tapioca boba pearls that you know and love. You’ll find them dried and in a light brown colour. My favourite pearls are from a local shop that imports tapioca pearls from Taiwan but you can buy them online. The exact ones I use is from the brand Chainly. You may have to experiment with different brands if this one is not accessible for you. Some pearls are softer, some are chewier. It depends on what you prefer!
- Brown sugar - You can make bubble tea without the flavour of brown sugar syrup. This sweetens the drink and also gives the tapioca pearls their flavour after soaking.
- Ice
How to make earl grey bubble tea
Infuse the milk: In a small pot, add in the milk and tea bags. Bring to a simmer, turn off the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes. Use the back of a spoon to press the tea bags against the side of the pot to squeeze out all of the tea-infused milk before discarding the tea bags. Transfer the milk tea to a glass with a spout, cover, and let chill in the fridge.
Cook the pearls: Rinse out the pot and fill with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a rolling boil. Add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water and immediately give it a stir to prevent the pearls from sticking together. Boil uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for another 15 minutes.
Make brown sugar syrup: In a small bowl, add the brown sugar. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked pearls to the bowl of brown sugar, draining most of the liquid. Stir together, using the heat of the pearls to dissolve the brown sugar into a syrup. If it’s too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.
Put together the drink: In each serving glass, add about 100g of pearls with syrup. Fill the glass about ¾ or full with ice. Pour in about 300g of earl grey milk tea. Stir together well. Add any leftover brown sugar syrup to taste, if needed.
And then enjoy! Don’t forget a bubble tea straw!
Variations
- Milk - Switch up the milk you use depending on your preference or dietary needs. Store-bought bubble tea is usually made with dairy milk. I personally prefer making mine with oat milk because it’s so creamy and dairy-free. You can also use almond milk or even coconut milk, both of which will change the taste and consistency. Or skip the milk altogether and brew your tea with water for a light, iced tea kind of drink.
- Tea - The easiest variation you can make is simply to use a different tea! Any kind of black tea works best like oolong tea or assam tea. I’ve also used hojicha powder. You can also use fruit teas and experiment with making milk tea with them or just brewing with water.
- Flavour ideas - I recently made this recipe by adding some muddled fresh strawberries and it worked really well with the earl grey flavour. If you need some ideas to experiment with, look at the menu from any bubble tea shop and try to recreate one that you like.
- Layered drink - Instead of steeping the tea in milk, I love making this drink with a layered look like in my sweet potato bubble tea recipe. The taste is about the same but the look is different. Here’s what to do:
- Steep the tea in hot water instead of milk and let chill
- Make the pearls and brown sugar syrup in the same way as this recipe
- Fill your serving glass with pearls, ice, and the chilled tea
- Add about 150g of whipping cream (for 2 servings) with a spoon of sugar and vanilla (optional) to a small jar with a tight lid and shake it vigorously for about 30 seconds until it thickens
- Pour the sweet cream on top of the tea and watch as it slowly cascades down
Frequently asked questions
Bubble tea should be enjoyed right away as the texture of the pearls will change over time. You can store it in the fridge for up to a few hours.
Bubble tea and boba are names that are often used interchangeably for the same drink and both are correct. As a Canadian, I’ve always called it bubble tea but the term ‘boba’ is more often used in the USA. In Cantonese, the direct translation of the drink’s name would be ‘boba milk tea’. Technically, boba refers to the tapioca pearls themselves. In the end, they all essentially mean the same thing.
More bubble tea recipes to try
- Sweet Potato Bubble Tea
- Taro Milk Bubble Tea
- Bubble Tea Crème Brûlée
- Boba Milk Tea Popsicles
- Brown Sugar Milk Boba
Recipe
Earl Grey Bubble Tea
Ingredients
- 625 g dairy or non-dairy milk, I always use oat milk
- 4 earl grey tea bags
- 100 g tapioca pearls
- 50 g brown sugar
- ice
Instructions
- In a small pot, add in the milk and tea bags. Bring to a simmer, turn off the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Use the back of a spoon to press the tea bags against the side of the pot to squeeze out all of the tea-infused milk before discarding the tea bags. Transfer the milk tea to a glass with a spout, cover, and let chill in the fridge.
- Rinse out the pot and fill with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a rolling boil.
- Add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water and immediately give it a stir to prevent the pearls from sticking together. Boil uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for another 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, add the brown sugar. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked pearls to the bowl of brown sugar, draining most of the liquid. Stir together, using the heat of the pearls to dissolve the brown sugar into a syrup. If it’s too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.
- In each serving glass, add about 100g of pearls with syrup. Fill the glass about ¾ or full with ice. Pour in about 300g of earl grey milk tea. Stir together well. Add any leftover brown sugar syrup to taste, if needed.
Hope
Loved this recipe! I made it for some friends and they thought it was amazing.