Refreshing, light, and creamy Oolong milk tea. A quick and easy oolong bubble tea recipe that can be made in the comfort of your own home.
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Oolong milk tea is a drink that’s perfect hot or cold! It has the perfect flavor combination to quench your thirst any time of the year.
This recipe for oolong milk tea uses boba (tapioca pearls). It is a type of bubble tea which originates from Taiwan.
If you don’t have boba pearls on hand, you can enjoy this tea without them. It tastes just as good.
This recipe for oolong milk tea is so easy to make and tastes just as good as store bought bubble tea!
What is Oolong Tea?
The leaves used for oolong tea come from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis, that is used to make both black and green tea.
However, oolong tea is neither considered a black or green tea because it uses a different method to process the tea leaves.
The reason oolong tea differs from black or green tea is due to a chemical process known as oxidation. Oxidation occurs when the tea leaves are exposed to the air. It is what makes the taste and color of the tea different.
Green tea leaves are tea leaves which have not undergone oxidation.
Black tea leaves on the other hand, are crushed to increase the oxidation of the leaves.
Oolong tea has oxidation levels in between green tea and black tea.
The oolong tea leaves are wilted in the sun and are then slightly bruised to help with the oxidation of the leaves. Oolong tea leaves are partial oxidised.
Like green tea and black tea, oolong tea contains antioxidants, caffeine, calcium, and potassium.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Tastes just as great as store bought oolong bubble tea.
- Quick and easy to make oolong tea with milk and with little ingredients.
- Easily adjust the flavors to your liking when you make this oolong milk tea.
Ingredients
Please note that below is a guide for some of the ingredients we used in the recipe. The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.
Brown Sugar syrup
- Dark brown sugar: Alternatively, you could use dark muscovado sugar, or light brown sugar.
- Water
Tapioca Pearls
- Quick cooking tapioca (boba) pearls
- Water
Oolong tea
- Oolong tea: You can use tea bags or loose-leaf oolong tea. If you want a stronger tea flavor in your oolong milk tea, brew your tea for longer. If you want to make this recipe but don’t have any oolong tea on hand, you could substitute a black tea such as Assam or English breakfast tea.
- Water
- Milk: For a dairy free bubble tea, you could use any plant based milk of your choice. If you use a plant based milk, I recommend using an unsweetened milk. If you use a sweetened plant based milk, you will need to adjust the sweetness of the drink to taste.
- Ice cubes, optional. To make iced oolong tea, you can add ice cubes to your drink. Or, you could place your drink in the fridge to make a cold oolong tea, instead of using ice cubes.
Instructions
This recipe for oolong milk tea serves 2. The ingredients can easily be halved to serve 1, or multiplied to make more servings.
Brown Sugar Syrup
- In a small to medium sized saucepan, place the dark brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil on high heat and stir occasionally. Be very careful when making this sugar syrup. The syrup will be very hot and you could burn yourself.
- Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. If you find your syrup is rising to the top of your saucepan, reduce the heat slightly. Then turn off the heat and set aside.
To make the tapioca (boba) pearls
- Bring water to the boil in a small or medium sized saucepan. The amount of water you use will depend on the size of your saucepan.
If you have a small saucepan, the recommended 2 ½ cups water should be sufficient. If you are using a saucepan that is wider, you may need more water. Just ensure that the tapioca pearls are fully submerged in the water.
Once boiled, add the tapioca pearls. Reduce heat and place a lid on the pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the tapioca float and are soft.
Alternatively, cook the tapioca according to your packet instructions. - Once you have cooked the tapioca pearls, drain the water.
- Add the cooked tapioca pearls to the hot brown sugar syrup.
- Stir the tapioca pearls to coat them in the sugar syrup and cook over low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat.
Making the oolong tea
- Brew the Oolong tea in boiling water to your liking. I recommend brewing your tea for 3 to 5 minutes. Once brewed, strain the tea if you are using tea leaves.
- If you want a cold milk tea, allow the tea to cool down. If you want to enjoy your milk tea hot, you can skip this step.
Assembling the Oolong Milk Tea
- Place half of the cooked tapioca and sugar syrup in a drinking glass.
- Pour tea over the tapioca until the glass is about ¾ full.
- Add ½ cup of milk. If desired, add ice cubes.
- Repeat steps 1 to 3 of assembling the Oolong milk tea for the remaining ingredients. Serve.
Tips for Success
- If you want your milk tea to be sweeter, you can add more sugar syrup or another sweetener such as runny honey.
- If you use a sweetened plant based milk, you may need to adjust the amount of sweetener you use.
- I used serving glasses that can hold about 375 ml. But you can use any size glasses that you have.
- If you are using a drinking glass, make sure your tea has cooled down slightly before adding it to the glass. This is because you may crack the glass with the heat of the tea. Alternatively, you could use a mug if you want your milk tea hot.
- When you are making the sugar syrup, be careful not to have the heat too high. You do not want the syrup to splash as it could burn you.
Cost To Make
Estimated cost = $1.24 for 2 serves, or $0.62 a serve.
Storage
This drink is best served immediately or within a few hours of making the drink.
Oolong milk tea can be kept in the fridge for up to 7 days, without the tapioca pearls. When you want to drink you Oolong milk tea, make the tapioca pearls on the day.
FAQ
If you use a oolong tea that has caffeine in it, yes the oolong milk tea will have caffeine.
If you want oolong milk tea without caffeine, you can buy a decaffeinated oolong tea and use that.
Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below! We'd love to hear how it turned out.
Recipe
Oolong Milk Tea
Ingredients
Brown Sugar syrup
- ½ cup (100 grams, 3.53 ounces) dark brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) water
Tapioca Pearls
- ¼ cup (50 grams, 1.76 ounces) quick cooking tapioca (boba) pearls
- 2 ½ cups water
Oolong tea
- 2 teabags of Oolong tea or 1 ½ teaspoons loose leaf Oolong tea, brew longer from a stronger flavor
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup milk of choice
- Ice cubes optional
Instructions
Brown Sugar Syrup
- In a small to medium sized saucepan, place the dark brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil on high heat and stir occasionally.
- Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then turn off the heat and set aside.
To Make the Tapioca (Boba) Pearls
- Bring water to the boil in a small or medium sized saucepan. Once boiled, add the tapioca pearls. The tapioca pearls should be submerged in the water. Reduce heat and place a lid on the pan.Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the tapioca float and are soft. Alternatively, cook the tapioca according to your packet instructions.
- Once you have cooked the tapioca pearls, drain the water.
- Add the cooked tapioca pearls to the hot brown sugar syrup.
- Stir the tapioca pearls to coat them in the sugar syrup and cook over low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat.
Making the Oolong Tea
- Brew the Oolong tea in boiling water to your liking. Once brewed, strain the tea if you are using tea leaves.
- If you want a cold milk tea, allow the tea to cool down. If you want to enjoy your milk tea hot, you can skip this step.
Assembling the Oolong Milk Tea
- Place half of the cooked tapioca and sugar syrup in a drinking glass.
- Pour tea over the tapioca until the glass is about ¾ full. (see note 1).
- Add ½ cup of milk. If desired, add ice cubes.
- Repeat steps 1 to 3 of assembling the Oolong milk tea for the remaining ingredients. Serve.
Notes
- When you are making the sugar syrup, be careful not to have the heat too high. You do not want the syrup to splash as it could burn you.
- This drink is best served immediately or within a few hours of making the drink. I used serving glasses that can hold about 375 ml. But you can use any size glasses that you have.
- Oolong milk tea can be kept in the fridge for up to 7 days, without the tapioca pearls and sugar syrup. When you want to drink you Oolong milk tea, make the syrup and tapioca pearls on the day.
- If you want your milk tea to be sweeter, you can add more sugar syrup or another sweetener such as runny honey.
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