Here’s a boba tea with the scent of jasmine flowers to rival those bubble tea shops. This scented tea makes for a delicious drink, brimming with tapioca balls, fragrant jasmine, and powerful antioxidants to fight free radicals. You’ll love this delicious jasmine milk tea recipe with its sweet and soothing taste!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Healthy: The health benefits of jasmine green tea are well documented. This nurturing tea is the healthiest way to create your boba base.
- Delicious: The floral taste of jasmine tea is so delicate, making it a perfect match for bubble tea lovers.
- Hot or cold: Whether you want to drink jasmine milk tea hot or cold and refreshing, this recipe shows you how to make it to suit your tastes.
- Easy: Once you see how simple it is to make jasmine boba tea, you won’t need to drive around looking for bubble tea shops anymore.
What Is Milk Tea?
Milk tea is a style of drink made with a base of tea. You’ll find them in various countries around the world, and each place you visit has its own unique spin. Even in the UK, they have milk tea though it is usually made with English breakfast tea and a splash of milk.
Boba tea is a type of milk tea that generally uses tea as the base (though sometimes uses juice) and features chewy tapioca balls at the bottom. Boba tea can also have fruits or jelly chunks rather than tapioca pearls.
You may have heard of bubble tea or pearl milk tea too. These are just other names for boba tea. In essence, it’s just a tea with a type of milk and some chewy bits at the bottom for good measure. It’s sweet, refreshing, and delicious. And by making it yourself, you’re getting the healthiest version of this drink.
Where Is Jasmine Milk Tea From?
Like all boba tea, jasmine milk tea comes from Taiwan. Taiwan is considered the birthplace of bubble tea drinks. You can’t go anywhere there without coming across scores of boba tea shops at every turn.
Jasmine milk tea is made with a fragrant jasmine tea base, milk, and chewy tapioca pearls. This is a common offering on boba shop menus, but with this recipe, you’ll see how easy it is to make it at home.
What Does Jasmine Milk Tea Taste Like?
Jasmine blossoms and green tea give jasmine milk tea a unique taste. It’s pleasantly floral yet sweet. This drink has delicate undertones and hints of perfume. With the addition of plant-based milk, it’s silky, creamy, and smooth, along with nutty flavor from the tapioca pearls that give a chewy contrast in texture at the bottom.
Ingredients + Notes
Why drive around looking for a bubble tea shop? You can make jasmine milk tea in no time at all in your own kitchen without any artificial ingredients or added sugar.
- Tapioca Pearls: Tapioca pearls or boba are subtle and sweet, the only way to make a true bubble tea. These are nice and chewy, and you won’t believe how easy they are to make for your drink too!
- Jasmine Green Tea: I use loose-leaf jasmine green tea, and I’ll tell you why. It’s the best quality and more affordable when you think about it too. If you buy jasmine tea bags, those will work too. Unfortunately, the plastic tea satchels release microplastics into the tea. You might think that getting jasmine tea in the paper tea bags is better, but these are coated in chemicals. For the purest experience and highest quality, get loose-leaf tea.
- Maple Syrup: I always stay away from refined sugar and choose pure maple syrup instead. It adds the perfect balance of sweetness to your boba tea without dangerous chemicals.
- Oat Milk: Continuing on my theme of only using simple ingredients, I use oat milk for my plant-based milk. You can choose whichever one you prefer, though, for me, this is my go-to.
- Water/Ice Cubes: You’re going to need water to render your tapioca balls to their perfect chewy texture. I’ll explain all that in the directions below. As for the ice cubes, you’ll need plenty to have a cold Jasmine milk tea that refreshes!
Step-by-step Instructions: Iced Jasmine Milk Tea Recipe
There are a few steps to making jasmine milk tea, but they will go by quickly. Once you make it, you’ll see just how simple it is. It’s faster than going to a boba shop and ordering!
1. Make The Boba: Pour two cups of water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add tapioca pearls into the saucepan and boil for five minutes (until the pearls start floating to the top). (If you don’t have quick-cooking tapioca pearls, follow your package directions.) Scoop floating pearls into a metal mesh strainer and rinse with cool water.
2. Make The Tea: Heat water in a teapot or electric tea kettle to 175°F or 79°C. Add loose-leaf tea to a tea infuser and place it in a mug. Pour heated water over the tea and let steep for 4 minutes. Remove the tea. Pour in the maple syrup and stir thoroughly.
3. Assemble The Milk Tea: Scoop tapioca pearls into a serving glass. Add ice on top of the boba. Pour oat milk in next, followed by freshly brewed jasmine tea. Stir and enjoy your jasmine bubble tea with a reusable clear glass bubble tea straw.
Complete Jasmine Milk Tea Recipe Video
Recipe Variations
What should you do if you don’t have one of the listed ingredients? There are ways to make changes to create an equally delicious milk tea. If you’re wondering about an ingredient you have and if it can work, here’s what to know.
- Sweeteners: If you don’t have maple syrup, you can use the sweetener of your choice. Alternatively, you can use agave, homemade simple syrup, cane sugar, or brown sugar.
- Milk: Instead of oat milk, you could use coconut milk, rice milk, almond milk, or soy milk. And in the chance that you’re not vegan, whole milk would work too.
- Tea: Can’t find jasmine tea? You can use green tea or black tea when you make this recipe. The only thing is that a different tea will give this a completely different flavor profile. Jasmine tea has a delicate floral flavor that you don’t get from other tea types. It will still be delicious, but it won’t be the same.
- Tea Bags: Be careful when you use tea bags, as many of them include chemicals. That said, there are a few options that are safer, though loose-leaf tea styles are always the best option.
Grass Jelly: You can use grass jelly in place of tapioca pearls. This will have a similar texture but add a slightly fruity note to your boba tea.
Storage Tips
Jasmine milk tea is incredibly soothing and delicious. You may surprise yourself though if you make extra and realize you can’t drink it all. To store it, make sure you take the boba pearls out. These can become hard when refrigerated and lose that chewy texture. The tea itself without the balls is best to keep in the fridge.
Fridge
If you remove the tapioca balls, your jasmine milk tea can keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. This is why it’s wise to only prepare enough boba pearls for your drink. Trying to keep them will only mean they go to waste. For more details, check out How Long Does Milk Tea Last In The Fridge?
Freeze
I definitely advise against freezing this recipe. The tapioca pearls and the plant-based milk don’t keep well this way. Besides, it’s easy enough to make fresh when you want it.
Meal Prep
It’s not good to get the chewy boba ready too far ahead of when you want them. But you can prepare your jasmine milk boba tea for guests or your family slightly in advance. Don’t do it more than 24 hours before – 12 hours is the sweet spot. You can let the tea steep first and have that ready to go with ease for a speedier prep time.
Hot Jasmine Milk Tea Recipe Instructions
Ingredients For Hot Jasmine Bubble Tea
Boba Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup tapioca balls
Jasmine Milk Tea Ingredients
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons loose-leaf Jasmine Green Tea
- 1 teaspoon cane sugar
- 1 ½ cup ice
- 1/2 cup oat milk
Hot Jasmine Boba Tea Instructions
1. Make The Boba: Pour two cups of water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add tapioca pearls into the saucepan and boil for five minutes (until the pearls start floating to the top). (If you don’t have quick-cooking tapioca pearls, follow your package directions.) Scoop floating pearls into a metal mesh strainer to remove excess water.
2. Make The Tea: Heat water in a teapot or electric tea kettle to 175°F or 79°C. Add loose-leaf tea to a tea infuser and place it in a mug. Pour heated water over the tea and let steep for 4 minutes. Remove the tea. Next stir in sugar.
3. Prepare The Milk: Pour milk into a hot-safe mug or glass and microwave for about 60 seconds (until hot).
4. Assemble The Milk Tea: Scoop tapioca pearls into a serving glass. Pour oat milk in next, followed by freshly brewed jasmine tea. Stir and enjoy your jasmine bubble tea with a reusable clear glass bubble tea straw.
FAQ
Jasmine milk tea is very delicate with a floral taste that comes alive with the sweetness of your other ingredients. In essence, it’s creamy and silky, a truly refined beverage you’ll love hot or cold.
Jasmine tea itself has loads of antioxidants to fight off free radicals for good health. Some say it may help support a healthy heart and brain. The relaxing fragrance of this tea is sure to put you in a good mood too.
While jasmine tea does have soothing qualities, it also contains caffeine. So, if you’re hoping to have something to help you sleep, this isn’t the tea for you. It can help you unwind and approach your day with minimal stress, though.
When you make jasmine milk tea yourself, it’s healthy. You get the benefits of jasmine tea and plant-based oat milk. In my recipe, I use maple syrup which is a healthy option over added sugars. It’s a drink you can feel good about enjoying with your family.
Jasmine tea contains caffeine, so if you’re using it to make milk tea, you’re getting caffeine. Generally, this will be about 30 to 60 mg of caffeine per cup.
Bubble Tea Equipment
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More Milk Tea Recipes
- How To Make Milk Tea
- Taro Milk Tea Recipe
- Classic Milk Tea
- Matcha Milk Tea
- Brown Sugar Milk Tea
- Coffee Boba Recipe
- Oolong Milk Tea Recipe
Recipe
Jasmine Milk Tea
Ingredients
Boba Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup tapioca balls
Jasmine Milk Tea Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water, hot
- 2 tablespoons Jasmine Green Tea, loose-leaf
- 1 teaspoon raw sugar
- 1 ½ cup ice
- 1/2 cup oat milk
Instructions
- Make The Boba: Pour two cups of water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add tapioca pearls into the saucepan and boil for five minutes (until the pearls start floating to the top). (If you don’t have quick-cooking tapioca pearls, follow your package directions.) Scoop floating pearls into a metal mesh strainer and rinse with cool water.
- Make The Tea: Heat water in a teapot or electric tea kettle to 175°F or 79°C. Add loose-leaf tea to a tea infuser and place it in a mug. Pour heated water over the tea and let steep for 4 minutes. Remove the tea. Pour in the maple syrup and stir thoroughly.
- Assemble The Milk Tea: Scoop tapioca pearls into a serving glass. Add ice on top of the boba. Pour oat milk in next, followed by freshly brewed jasmine tea. Stir and enjoy with a reusable boba straw.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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So good!
Yay!
I love Jasmine milk tea. This was a great recipe.
Yay!