Tiger milk tea is a delicious, easy, and refreshing bubble tea. Make this drink at home with ease. It tastes just as great as the tiger milk tea you can buy!
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Tiger milk tea originates from Taiwan. It is a type of bubble tea which is usually made with black tea, brown sugar syrup, milk, and tapioca (boba) pearls.
Despite it’s name, tiger milk tea is not made with tiger milk.
The reason this milk tea has the name tiger milk tea is because of the stripes that are typically found on the sides of the drink.
These stripes are made by dripping brown sugar syrup down the sides of the glass.
As the syrup drips down the sides of the glass, the syrup creates patterns that look similar to the stripes of a tiger.
Tiger milk tea is perfect for a hot summers day or a great drink to have to cool down after exercise or a long day.
But if you’re like me and can’t get enough of this drink, you’ll be drinking it any time of the year!
What type of tea do I use?
The best kind of tea to use for tiger milk tea is any kind of black tea. Some examples of tea you could use:
- Assam
- English breakfast
- Earl grey
My favorite tea to use is earl grey tea. It’s always a hit when I make it for my friends and family.
You could even try green tea, or oolong tea.
What does tiger milk tea taste like?
Tiger milk tea is a sweet drink. This bubble tea gets most of it’s flavor from the brown sugar syrup.
This gives the drink a caramel like taste.
It also has hints of tea, and depending on the type of tea you use, it will change the taste of the drink.
❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This tiger milk tea recipe is just as good as store bought bubble tea.
- Quick and easy milk tea which you can make in the comfort of your own home.
- Only 5 ingredients are needed.
🥘 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.
- Black tea: E.g. assam, English breakfast, Earl grey
- Water
- Tapioca pearls: I recommend using quick cooking tapioca pearls.
- Muscovado sugar or brown sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar.
- Milk of choice
🔪 Instructions
This recipe for tiger milk tea serves 2. The recipe ingredients can easily be adjusted to suit how many serves you need to make.
Step One: Brew the tea to your liking using the tea bags or loose leaf tea and 400 ml of water. The longer you brew your tea, the stronger the tea flavor you will have. I recommend your brew your tea for 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
Step Two: In a medium saucepan, cook the tapioca (boba) pearls according to packet instructions. Once cooked, drain the tapioca.
Step Three: In a small saucepan, place the sugar and ½ cup water. Place the heat on medium to high and stir.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then cook for a further 10 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken. If you find your sugar and water mixture is rising in your saucepan, slightly reduce the heat and stir.
Then, add the cooked tapioca pearls. Mix through and turn off the heat. Allow to cool.
Step Four: Place half of the tapioca and sugar mixture into your serving glass. When you do this, tilt and rotate the glass so that you can get the sugar on the sides of the glass.
It can help to use a small jug to pour the tapioca and sugar mixture into the glass.
If you don’t have a small jug, you could also use a spoon to drizzle the mixture around. This will give you the stripes that tiger milk tea has.
Step Five: Add half of the brewed tea and half of the milk. If desired, add ice cubes.
Step Six: Repeat steps 4 and 5 for remaining ingredients. Serve.
👛 Cost To Make
Estimated cost = $1.14 for 2 serves or $0.57 a serve.
🌡️ Storage
Store any left over tiger milk tea in a sealed bottle or jug in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
When you store the tiger milk tea, make sure it is completely cool first. Also, remove any left over tapioca pearls before you store it.
When you want to drink your tiger milk tea, make fresh tapioca pearls and then add them to your drink.
📝 FAQ
Yes, simply use a dairy free milk alternative such as almond milk or soy milk.
If you use tea that contains caffeine, then your tiger milk tea will have caffeine.
You can use a decaffeinated tea so that your tiger milk tea does not contain caffeine.
Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below! We'd love to hear how it turned out.
📋 Recipe Card
Tiger Milk Tea
Ingredients
- 2 tea bags of black tea of choice e.g. English breakfast, Early grey
- 400 ml water to brew your tea
- ¼ cup (45 grams, 1.59 ounces) tapioca (boba) pearls, quick cooking
- ½ cup (100 grams, 3.53 ounces) muscovado sugar or brown sugar light or dark
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup milk of choice
- Ice cubes optional
Instructions
- Brew the tea to your liking using the tea bags or loose leaf tea and 400 ml of water. The longer you brew your tea, the stronger the tea flavor you will have. I recommend your brew your tea for 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
- In a medium saucepan, cook the tapioca (boba) pearls according to packet instructions. Once cooked, drain the tapioca.
- In a small saucepan, place the sugar and ½ cup water. Place the heat on medium to high and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil and then cook for a further 10 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken. (See note 1). Then, add the cooked tapioca pearls. Mix through and turn off the heat. Allow to cool
- Place half of the tapioca and sugar mixture into your serving glass. When you do this, tilt and rotate the glass so that you can get the sugar on the sides of the glass. (see note 2). This will give you the stripes that tiger milk tea has. (see note 3).
- Add half of the brewed tea and half of the milk. If desired, add ice cubes.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 for remaining ingredients. Serve.
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