Homemade: Thai Bubble Tea

Posted on by Kellie Van

I am a tea lover and Thai tea is one of my absolute favorites! You’ll usually find them at Thai restaurants for about $3/glass. Really?!! Why so expensive when you can easily make this drink at home for about a fraction of the price? I hate it when I feel gypped. That’s one problem that we often face, feeling gypped b/c we can make it cheaper & BETTER at home! Anyhow, breathing and moving on…

Besides from Thai restaurants, I’m not sure where else you can find Thai tea. That is unless you go to boba tea shops where they will usually serve Thai boba (bubble) teas as part of their extensive drink menu.

However, if you don’t live near a bubble tea joint or don’t feel like spending a few hard earning bucks to splurge on one, you can easily make this at home.

How delish does this look?!

Ingredients are simple. You can replace 1/2 & 1/2 cream with low fat milk or soy milk, depending on your preference.

You can typically find a big bag of thai tea leaves in Oriental supermarkets for a few dollars.

Tapioca pearls = tapioca starch extracted from cassava plants

I find that sugar cubes dissolve faster and are great for teas and coffees.

In a tea pot, add sugar and Thai tea leaves. Add boiling water and steep for about 15-20mins. The amount of sugar and tea depends on your preference of tea concentration and sweetness. You do not want to steep Thai tea on light surfaces or get them on your hands, the orange stain is very hard to clean off. 

The BEST part about Thai tea is when the cream is added. I LOVE the gradient color of white to orange as the cream dissolves into the tea. I absolutely HATE it when restaurants premix their Thai teas. I want to do it, that’s part of the enjoyment for me…mixing the cream into the tea. To me, it’s a HUGE deal.

After steeping the tea and letting it cool down.. blend tea, ice, and cream to make a slush. Pour over tapioca pearls and enjoy! I usually add about 1 tablespoon of cream to a glass of tea- this may also vary depending on your taste.

** To prepare tapioca pearls: Hard boil for 5-8mins. Let sit for another 5mins. Quickly rinse w/ warm water.

If you are unfamiliar w/ bubble tea, here’s an informative link about its origin and usage.

Make you own Thai tea today!

‘Til next post, Kellie.

25 thoughts on “Homemade: Thai Bubble Tea”

  1. We have Bubble tea all over my city. I love it! I guess I never really thought of making it myself. I always order my Pho and Bubble tea at the same time. It’s like a once every couple weeks treat for me. It’s awesome to think of making it but I must say I don’t want to mess with something perfect. Thanks for sharing! I just may have to try this one day and ask myself why I didn’t try it sooner!

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  5. Pingback: Homemade: Thai Bubble Tea « Tea Love

  7. I love thai iced tea; I always order it at restaurants and I wish I knew how to make it, thanks for the info!!

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  10. thank you thank you for posting this! I LOVE bubble tea and I never even thought about making it at home, I can’t wait to try this!

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  13. Yessss love this post. I am obsessed with bubble tea, especially Thai bubbles. It’s so under rated in the states. Teavana use to sell te tapioca but stopped. You got me in the mood to make some now. Thank you

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  14. Very nice! Thanks for the tips. I haven’t had thai tea before (or seem it before it’s mixed with the cream). I also had no clue that it stained. I’ll have to try this sometime. 🙂

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  20. This is really great! My boyfriend and I have been looking for some good Thai iced tea. I find what they serve outside too sweet, so maybe I can find a packet of Thai tea leaves at a local supermarket and I can try this out at home 🙂 thanks for the simple recipe.

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