Brown sugar boba, or brown sugar bubble tea, is one of those drinks that can be made a few different ways based on where you are buying it or, if making at home, your preferences. Here’s my version: boba pearls sweetened (stored) in brown sugar, black tea milk, brown sugar syrup. That’s it—simple and delicious! I have seen this made without tea added to the milk as well.

If you’ve never had boba tea before (also called bubble tea), it’s an iced drink usually made with sweet tea and often milk with tapioca pearls floating in the drink that you consume through a large straw while drinking. It’s popular all over the world and Elsie and I used to serve bubble tea at our local store back when it first opened over a decade ago, so I’m a longtime fan.

Related: Use this boba pearls recipe to prepare your own at home for any bubble tea.

Ingredients

• Boba pearls
• Black tea
• Water
• Milk – dairy or an alternative like soy or oat milk
• Brown sugar syrup

Directions

Prepare the boba pearls including storing in brown sugar.

Brew the black tea and allow to fully cool before adding to this iced drink. After steeping, you can store in the refrigerator to speed up this process. Or learn to cold brew tea. Combine the milk and tea.

In a tall glass, add the boba then ice. Drizzle the brown sugar syrup along the inside of the glass. Pour the milk tea over the ice. Serve cold.

Tips & Substitutions

• I always buy brown sugar syrup, but you can easily make your own by using this simple syrup recipe and swapping the granulated white sugar for brown sugar.
• If you don’t want to buy or make brown sugar syrup, you could use maple syrup instead. It won’t be exactly the same but will have a similar effect.
• Serve bubble tea with a large straw so the boba (bubbles) can be consumed through the straw. A standard size straw will not be big enough.
• If you don’t have or don’t like black tea, jasmine or even green could be substituted. You can also omit the tea completely.

More Iced Drink Recipes