Raise your hand if you are addicted to milk tea.
Yes, I see you. And you, and you. For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, I’m not sure if you should: It’s very habit-forming, and can be pretty expensive to go out and buy. When I was ten, I remember a D.A.R.E. officer telling us that some people were so addicted to cigarettes that they would would smoke a pack a day, and at $3.50/pack, that came out to over a thousand dollars a year! My jaw dropped. A THOUSAND BUCKS TO KILL YOURSELF?!
Well, my boba-loving friends, sometimes I wonder if we’re in the same boat. Instead of cigarettes, it’s milk tea… and instead of cancer, it’s diabetes or obesity or something. But the $3.50 price tag sounds about right, and I’m willing to bet there are some of you who, if you really thought about it, guzzle down this frothy liquid almost daily. Some of you even get it twice in a day sometimes:once after lunch, and again that evening when a friend texts to see if you’re free. Oh… well… for the sake of hanging out. Yes, yes. I suppose I will have to just get another one… *giddy laughter inside*.
How did I know about that? Yes, it’s me too.
This is how I came to realize that I was addicted to milk tea. Now, addressing the addiction is probably the heart of the matter, but I’m not ready for that yet, so until then, I will merely search for a way to minimize the cost of it: MAKE IT YOSELF!
I’ve tried, JoEllen, I’ve tried! It’s just not the same. It doesn’t taste as good.
Yes, I hear you. I, too, have been trying for the last 15 years to nail down the perfect milk tea recipe myself, to little avail. As the options of milk tea shops keep expanding, so my milk tea taste buds keep getting refined. I have never been able to make a satisfying cup of milk tea to adequately stave off the next milk tea run… until now.
My faithful mommy group has come through for me once again. What does milk tea have to do with mommy-ing, you ask? Um… Milk tea = happy mom. Happy mom = happy family…?
When someone posed the question about making milk tea at home, not only did a whole bunch of people start following the conversation (literally, they just commented with “following” to make sure they were sent all the replies from other comments), but others shared useful tidbits! One was this youtube video:
If you’re not up for a six-minute video, you can jump straight to the recipe below. I’ve tried three versions: Lipton decaffeinated tea, Earl Grey tea, and the Red Rose Tea
11/18/15 Update: For green milk tea, I plan to try out Possmei Jasmine Green Tea
Last week, I made a big batch of milk tea for friends. I started with a big pot of tea (edit: I used the recipe below, and multiplied the proportions by ~10):
After steeping, the tea should be as dark as black coffee:
Shake it with ice and creamer, and you’re done!
We had a bunch of friends over, so I set up a milk tea station with directions so they could each shake up their own beverage:
That worked out pretty well, but a couple days ago, I made another big batch and decided to just just whir everything together in a Vitamix and served it out of a pitcher. It was just as good (and a lot less work).
Several of my friends with highly discriminating milk tea palettes gave me the “It’s legit!” on this round of taste tests, so it is now post-worthy. Here you go. Be sure to use 8 ounces of water per serving to steep your tea– this is not the time to stretch your dollar (or cents). Watery milk tea is not nearly as satisfying!
I’ll really have to control myself so my body doesn’t suffer from this dangerous recipe discovery– I’m pretty sure I consume enough sugar as it is! I, for one, am content to end my milk tea recipe search here. Perhaps now you can, too!
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Taiwan Milk Tea Recipe
Makes 1 serving of milk tea
Ingredients:
- 2 individual bags Red Rose Original Blend Tea Bags
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy creamer (Coffeemate)
- 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar (or brown sugar)
- Edit 11/18/15: I like just 1 tbsp personally (I usually order “half sugar” at milk tea places)
Instructions:
- Steep tea bags in 8 oz. hot water for ~5 minutes. Remove tea bags and add cane sugar. Stir until completely dissolved. Edit 11/18/15: After steeping for 5 minutes, stir, and then let steep for 5 more minutes. This gives more tea flavor, which I like.
- Fill a cocktail shaker
with 1/2 cup ice and creamer.
- Pour tea into shaker and shake until outside of shaker is cold. Before sealing the lid onto your shaker, you might want to stir the liquid about in the ice a bit first to cool down the tea. Pour into glass and enjoy with a straw!
If you want an even more pronounced tea flavor, then follow these directions:
- Steep tea bags in 8 oz. hot water for ~5 minutes. Remove tea bags and add cane sugar. Stir until completely dissolved.
- Chill sweetened tea in refrigerator until cold.
- Fill a cocktail shaker
- Pour tea into shaker and shake until outside of shaker is cold. Pour into glass and enjoy with a straw!
3/3/2016 Edit: I just tried making Mango Milk Tea by using Mango Ceylon
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Related
Hong Kong Style Milk Tea Recipe
Auntie K’s Mango Pudding Recipe
64 responses to “Taiwan Milk Tea Recipe”
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Heyo! I have a Vitamix and an enormous amount of laziness. Did you just blend the sweetened, chilled tea with the creamer? Is the ratio of tea:sugar:creamer the same as specified in the ingredients? Thanks!
Yep, I just blend it all together! Ratio is the same. Since you’re not adding ice to it, that does mean you will have a stronger cup of milk tea (more tea-y and sweet), but I personally like it better that way. If you don’t prefer that, though, then just dilute with some water I guess? Let me know how it turns out! 😀 And… I wouldn’t call it laziness. It’s efficient! 🙂
Hahahha you’re hilarious. So sad but this entry is 100% me :(. My husband would drive an hour and a half out of the way in the middle of the night to get me two large milk teas while I was pregnant. Thankfully since my baby, we’ve moved closer to some milk tea places. Hahahhaha. Time to try making it myself! Since my husband won’t allow me to go to the store and ask to buy their vat of milk tea. Hehe Thanks!!!
What a loving husband!! How happy for you 🙂 I hope this recipe satisfies that craving!!
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe. It’s basically 2+2+2 = tea for you! So simple and yet so delicious (I haven’t tried the recipe yet — brewing as I write — but we had milk tea in Teipei when we visited our son).
One question: what do you mean by “organic cane sugar”?
This term can mean a lot of things but what I *think* you mean is “raw sugar” — the kind that is a little brown and hasn’t been heavily processed to make it white.
The reason I think that is that you say “or brown sugar” which is a whole different kettle of fish, entirely — it has molasses added to it.
I assume you want a more flavorful sugar experience but “organic” sugar can be just as bland and white as non-organic sugar.
Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave! Oh man, “2+2+2=tea for you!” would have been an awesome title!
The original recipe (from the youtube video) calls for organic cane sugar, so that’s what I listed. I tried it with that as well as brown sugar, and liked them both, so I listed brown sugar as an alternative since I guessed most people don’t have organic cane sugar at home.
Thanks for the information! It’s very interesting.
you can also try using fructose sugar – i’ve only really seen it (or looked for it) in the asian supermarkets. but we were taught the “commercial” way of making milk tea and it was with fructose sugar, creamer, and tea. just a thought!
Thanks for sharing!
In Hong Kong they usually used evaporated milk dont they ?
Hong Kong style milk tea is different from Taiwan style. I have a different recipe for the HK style here: https://cuppacocoa.com/hong-kong-milk-tea-recipe/