Matcha bubble tea

I tasted matcha for the first time many years back when someone from my office ordered a matcha cake for our ex-boss, who loved matcha. I hated that cake and really couldn't understand how could someone enjoy the matcha flavor.

But then I started drinking matcha tea because of its exceptional health benefits and developed a taste for matcha.

Now I am obsessed with matcha and have started using it in a lot of my recipes, not just the matcha tea. I have already shared some other matcha recipes on my blog like matcha yogurt and matcha mug cake. If you also love matcha, don't miss to check out these recipes.

Today I am sharing the recipe for a refreshing matcha drink called matcha bubble tea or matcha boba tea.

It's a fun drink in which two contrasting flavors i.e. the earthy flavor of matcha milk tea is combined with sweetened chewy boba pearls. This interesting combination makes matcha bubble tea very enjoyable.

If you also love matcha, you will definitely enjoy this green tea boba.

What is bubble tea?

Bubble tea also called boba tea is a Taiwanese drink with a milk base and large chewy, sweetened tapioca pearls. The drink is flavored with different ingredients to create a lot of delicious versions.

This fun drink has become so popular that now will find bubble tea cafes all over the world.

However, making your own bubble tea at home is so easy that you don't need to buy it from outside.

Ingredients needed

To make bubble tea with matcha, you will need the ingredients shown below:

Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions

• Dried boba: Don't use the regular small tapioca pearls that are used in recipes like mango sago dessert or sabudane ki kheer. For bubble tea, you need to use large tapioca pearls that come especially for this drink. I have used dried boba which you need to cook and sweeten before using in the drink. However, you can also use instant tapioca pearls that are already cooked and sweetened. If using instant tapioca pearls, don't use one with a contrasting flavor. Try to use a flavor that will go with every boba tea like brown sugar flavor.
• Matcha powder: It's a very fine Japanese green tea powder that's made with shadow-dried young tea leaves. Use good quality organic matcha powder for the best result.
• Soy milk: I prefer using soy milk or almond milk with matcha but you can use your choice of milk like coconut milk or oat milk to make matcha bubble tea. Both plant-based milk and dairy milk are fine to be used.
• Sweetener: Use liquid sweetener like maple syrup or honey, to sweeten boba tapioca pearls. If you want to use dark brown sugar to sweeten them, first make a brown sugar syrup and then use it.

How to make matcha bubble tea (step-by-step reactions)?

To make matcha bubble tea follow the steps given below:

Step 1: Put matcha powder in a bowl. Add hot water and whisk. Keep it aside.

Step 2: Boil water in a deep pot and add dried boba to hot water. Stir boba until they start floating on the surface of the pot.

Steps 3 and 4: Cover the pot and cook for around 35 minutes. Keep checking and stirring after every 10 minutes to ensure that the pearls are not sticking to the bottom of the pot. Turn off the heat and leave the tapioca pearls in the pot covered for another 30 minutes.

Step 5: After 30 minutes, strain the tapioca pearls.

Step 6: Rinse them with running water.

Step 7: Transfer to a bowl. Add liquid sweetener.

Step 8: Mix and leave for a few minutes i.e. until they reach room temperature.

Step 9: Put sweetened tapioca pearls into a glass.

Step 10: Add ice cubes.

Step 11: Add chilled milk.

Step 12: Add matcha tea. Stir.

Your refreshing drink- matcha boba tea is ready to be sipped!

Serving tips

Serve matcha bubble tea chilled. Use transparent, see-through glasses to serve it so that tapioca balls also remain visible in the glass, making the drink look more appealing.

You can add some whipped cream or ice cream on top of matcha boba tea if you want.

Don't use a regular straw to drink it as the tapioca pearls are quite large and won't be able to pass through them. You get special boba tea straws in the market, use them.

Never drink it directly from the glass without a straw because all the pearls remain at the bottom of the glass. If you drink it without a straw you will not be enjoy the tea and chewy tapioca pearls together.

Always, stir this bubble tea before drinking because only the pearls are sweetened not the tea. Stirring the tea will distribute the sweetness. Also, cooked tapioca pearls stick to each other, stirring helps in separating them.

How to store?

Bubble tea doesn't last for a long time. You can store it for a maximum of 24 hours in the fridge.

It's best to consume it as soon as possible.

Make ahead tips

If you want to do some preparation in advance, cook tapioca pearls, sweeten them, and then transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 2 days, maximum.

When you want to enjoy boba tea, put some sweetened boba in a glass, add ice cubes, add any chilled flavored milk tea, stir, and enjoy.

Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions

• Use a deep cooking pot to cook tapioca pearls so that they don't stick to the bottom of the pot.
• If you are using instant boba, it won't take this long to get cooked. Follow the package instructions to use it.
• Don't leave the cooked tapioca pearls without sweetener otherwise, they will stick to each other.
• If the sweetness of this drink is not enough for you, drizzle some more sweetener on top. However, matcha drinks taste better without any sweetener or with very little sweetener.
• If you have leftover cooked tapioca, store them with sweetener in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
• Don't serve bubble tea with regular straws. You need to drink it with special broad bubble tea straws. You can find them by the name boba straw or bubble tea straw in the market.
• Don't drink it directly without the straw as then you won't be able to enjoy the tea and pearls together.
• You can create different versions of bubble tea by flavoring milk with different ingredients like mango bubble tea, strawberry bubble tea, blueberry bubble tea, etc.

More refreshing non-alcoholic summer drinks

Looking for more refreshing summer drink recipes that are alcohol-free? Don't miss checking out the following links:

• Virgin pina colada
• Watermelon lemonade
• Orange iced tea

More matcha recipes

If you liked this matcha bubble tea recipe and want to try more recipes using matcha then don't miss to check out the following easy matcha recipes:

• Matcha yogurt
• Matcha mug cake