Sweet potato bubble tea made with homemade, hand-rolled sweet potato pearls, fragrant black tea, and cinnamon spiced sweet cream on top. This is a fun and chewy boba tea drink but with a Fall twist with the sweet potato!
This sweet potato boba has quickly become one of the best flavours for bubble tea I’ve made at home. It’s completely untraditional with the sweet potato pearls but it’s a fun way to incorporate more flavour into the drink. If you don’t have access to classic boba pearls in your local stores, you can always make your own.
Black tea is my favourite tea to use for bubble tea because of its strong flavour and aroma. The tea is sweetened with brown sugar syrup that is also used to give the pearls a bit of sweetness. The cinnamon spiced sweet cream on top slowly cascade down into the tea making for a very aesthetic bubble tea. When everything is all mixed together, this boba is a mildly sweet, creamy milk tea bubble tea that is fragrant with warming spices.
Why you’ll love this sweet potato bubble tea recipe
- It’s a fun change from your typical boba pearls.
- Rolling the sweet potato boba is kind of therapeutic and fun. Have a friend help you roll them and it’ll go by twice as fast.
- The boba pearls are soft and chewy with a hint of sweet potato flavour.
- Once you’ve made the pearls, the rest is of the drink is easy to make. Keep chilled tea on hand and you can have a fresh glass of boba any time.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Black tea - Steep your tea before doing anything else to give it time to cool down. You can use any black tea of your choice that would go well with the flavour of sweet potato. Use 1-2 teaspoons of loose leaf tea or 2 tea bags.
- Sweet potato - You’ll only need one small-medium sweet potato. They have reddish brown skin on the outside and orange flesh on the inside, not to be confused with yams that have a lighter brown skin and pale, off-white flesh.
- Glutinous rice flour - This gives boba pearls their chewy texture. Glutinous rice flour contains more protein than tapioca starch so it gives a different, more substantial chew which is why I’ve used a mixture of both. If you have access to the Thai brand of rice flours, this is the one with the green packaging.
- Tapioca starch - This also gives boba their chewy texture and prevents them from sticking together and to your hands. In the Thai brand of rice flours, this is the one with the blue packaging.
- Brown sugar - This is the main sweetener for the drink and the boba pearls are soaked in it for more flavour. You can substitute this with granulated sugar or liquid sweeteners like maple syrup but I recommend brown sugar for the taste.
- Whipping cream - This is what makes the milk tea creamy. I shake this up with cinnamon and sugar to make a sweet cream similar to Starbucks sweet cream.
- Granulated sugar - This just sweetens the sweet cream slightly. You can omit this if the brown sugar syrup is already enough sweetness for your tastes.
- Ground cinnamon - Cinnamon and sweet potato go together perfectly for that warm Fall taste.
How to make sweet potato bubble tea
Steep the tea
Steep your black tea of your choice in 300g of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Remove the tea bags or tea leaves and let it chill in the fridge while you make the pearls.
Make the sweet potato boba pearls
Peel and chop a small sweet potato into medium chunks. Add them to a pot with enough water to cover the sweet potatoes. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Remove the lid and let it boil uncovered for about 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes become soft and easily pricked with a fork.
Drain the water and use a fork to mash the sweet potatoes into a paste. Weigh out 100g of this mashed sweet potato to a small bowl.
Add glutinous rice flour and tapioca starch to the mashed sweet potato. Stir together with a spoon and then knead together with your hand until it forms a soft dough that isn't too sticky. Add a bit more tapioca starch if the dough is too wet, as needed.
In a separate small bowl, sprinkle in a bit of tapioca starch and dust your hands with it. Pinch off small bits of dough and roll into small balls with your fingers. Add the rolled pearls into the new bowl and swirl it around occasionally to coat the pearls with tapioca starch to prevent them from sticking together. Repeat with all remaining dough.
Bring a small pot of about 2” of water to a boil. Drop in your rolled pearls and immediately give them a stir.
Cook pearls for about 5 minutes until they float to the surface and are cooked through.
Drain the water from the pot and transfer the cooked pearls to a small bowl with brown sugar and a few tablespoons of cold water (or ice cubes) to keep the pearls from sticking together. Give it a stir and let the pearls soak in the brown sugar syrup while you prepare the rest of the drink.
Make the cinnamon sweet cream
In a small jar with a tight lid (mason jar works well), add the whipping cream, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Screw on the lid and shake vigorously for about 1 minute until the cream thickens but is still pourable.
Put together the drink
In each serving glass, add about 100g of sweet potato boba pearls. Fill the rest of the glass about ¾ full with ice. Pour in about 150g of chilled black tea and top with about 70g of sweet cream. Stir together before sipping with a boba straw!
Frequently asked questions
Any kind of strong black tea or red tea like oolong tea or rooibos works well with the sweet potato flavour in this drink. I used a black tea with vanilla but you could even experiment with fun flavours like cinnamon tea.
Boba pearls don’t store well and should be enjoyed within an 1-2 hours of cooking them. If you have to store leftovers, they should be kept submerged in the brown sugar syrup in the fridge for about 1 day.
Other boba recipes to try
Sweet Potato Bubble Tea
Ingredients
- 2 black tea bags, or 2 teaspoons loose leaf black tea
- 300 g boiling water
- 1 small sweet potato, or 100g sweet potato purée
- 2 tablespoons glutinous rice flour
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 30 g brown sugar
- 150 g whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Steep your black tea in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Remove the tea bags or tea leaves and set aside to chill in the fridge.
- Peel and chop a small sweet potato into medium chunks. Add them to a pot with enough water to cover the sweet potatoes. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Remove the lid and let it boil uncovered for about 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes become soft and easily pricked with a fork.
- Drain the water and use a fork to mash the sweet potatoes into a paste. Weigh out 100g of this mashed sweet potato to a small bowl.
- Add glutinous rice flour and tapioca starch to the mashed sweet potato. Stir together with a spoon and then knead together with your hand until it forms a soft dough that isn't too sticky. Add a bit more tapioca starch if the dough is too wet, as needed.
- In a separate small bowl, sprinkle in a bit of tapioca starch and dust your hands with it. Pinch off small bits of dough and roll into small balls with your fingers. Add the rolled pearls into the new bowl and swirl it around occasionally to coat the pearls with tapioca starch to prevent them from sticking together. Repeat with all remaining dough.
- Bring a small pot of about 2” of water to a boil. Drop in your rolled pearls and immediately give them a stir.
- Cook pearls for about 5 minutes until they float to the surface and are cooked through.
- Drain the water from the pot and transfer the cooked pearls to a small bowl with brown sugar and a few tablespoons of cold water (or ice cubes) to keep the pearls from sticking together. Give it a stir and let the pearls soak in the brown sugar syrup while you prepare the rest of the drink.
- In a small jar with a tight lid (mason jar works well), add the whipping cream, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Screw on the lid and shake vigorously for about 1 minute until the cream thickens but is still pourable.
- In each serving glass, add about 100g of sweet potato boba pearls. Fill the rest of the glass about ¾ full with ice. Pour in about 150g of black tea and top with about 70g of sweet cream. Stir together before sipping with a boba straw!
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