Oolong Milk Tea Recipe: Iced + Hot Oolong Boba (With Video)

Get the health benefits of loose-leaf tea in this milk oolong tea full of creamy flavor that you’ll love. Oolong bubble tea has a sweet flavor thanks to the unique flavor of oolong tea and oat milk. With chewy store-bought tapioca balls, it’s easier than ever to make this Taiwanese oolong in boba form!

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Nutrition: Chinese oolong tea is highly prized for its health benefits. Sourced from a high elevation, this tea is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that do good things for your body. 
• Great taste: The light floral notes of oolong tea shine through, making it a wonderful choice for your bubble tea base.
• Enjoy hot or cold: Have it as a cold or hot milk tea – I’ve got recipes for both of them so you can enjoy oolong milk tea the way you prefer. 
• Quick: In less time than it takes for you to drive to one of the bubble tea shops near you, you’ll be sipping your oolong milk tea. 

What Is Boba Tea?

Boba tea, which is often called bubble tea or pearl milk tea, is a milk tea featuring tea as the main base. In some cases, they use fruit juices, but the tea is mixed with milk and contains tapioca pearls at the bottom that provide a textural sensation. 

Basically, boba tea is tea made with milk and balls of tapioca. The unique flavor is one that you’ll surely enjoy as you can make it with a variety of different types of teas. Delicious boba with oolong tea is one of the popular flavors you’ll see on boba shop menus everywhere. 

Where Is Oolong Milk Tea From?

All milk tea varieties originated from Taiwan. It’s largely considered the birthplace of bubble tea. Over there and across Asia, boba tea shops are on every corner. In America, the trend has taken off, but depending on where you live, you may not have many near you.

Still, the best oolong milk tea you can have is in your own kitchen. Often, boba tea shops add too much sugar or other artificial ingredients. Now you can enjoy the authentic taste in a healthier way to get the best of both worlds. 

What Does Oolong Milk Tea Taste Like?

Oolong milk tea is fascinating in flavor because it has a buttery and creamy taste. The Chinese oolong tea is sweet and flowery, so combined together, it is truly an uplifting experience. If you’re a relative newcomer to the world of boba tea, you will find oolong milk tea to have an appealing taste. You can enjoy it hot or cold, depending on your personal preference, to get the maximum enjoyment from this flavor of bubble tea. 

Ingredients + Notes

Oolong bubble tea with tapioca pearls is much easier to make than it looks. You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this simple oolong milk tea!

• Tapioca Pearls: The round shape and chewy texture of tapioca pearls really make oolong milk tea complete. They also impart an added sweetness that enhances the experience. 
• Oolong Tea: Loose tea is better than using oolong tea bags. When you use tea bags, the chemicals from the satchels leech into your tea, but when you use loose-leaf tea, you’re only getting the purest form. 
• Cane Sugar: Less processed cane sugar adds a balance of sweetness to your oolong milk tea. You won’t need much to make the flavors really shine. 
• Oat Milk: Creamy in texture, oat milk is a great way to make a vegan oolong milk tea. This plant-based milk gets it right for that dreamy sensation with every sip. 
• Water/Ice Cubes

Step-by-step Instructions: Oolong Milk Tea Recipe

The buttery notes of this oolong milk tea are ready for you. Choose quality loose-leaf tea from the Fujian province of China, and it will make all the difference in providing you with the best taste!

1. Make The Tapioca Pearls: Pour two cups of water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add tapioca pearls to 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. Tea Instructions: Heat water in a teapot or electric tea kettle to 190°F or 88°C. Add loose-leaf tea to a tea infuser and place it in a thing glass. Pour hot water over the tea and let steep for 9 minutes. Remove the tea. Scoop in the cane sugar and stir thoroughly. 

3. Assemble The Milk Tea: Scoop tapioca balls into a serving glass. Next, add ice on top of the boba. Then, pour oat milk over the boba, followed by the oolong tea sugar mixture. Stir and enjoy with a reusable boba tea straw.  

Complete Oolong Milk Tea Recipe Video

Recipe Variations

While making oolong milk tea is easy, you may find you’re missing an ingredient or want to make a swap. These recipe variations will ensure you make the right switch to maintain great flavor. 

• Sweeteners: Cane sugar isn’t the only thing you can use to sweeten this oolong boba tea. You can choose brown sugar syrup or simple syrup to get that sweet flavor in your cup of tea. 
• Milk: Oat milk is a great plant-based milk for bubble teas, but you can also use soy milk or a non-dairy creamer. For non-vegans, whole milk works just fine too. 
• Tea: You can absolutely make this recipe using a different type of tea, though it will change the flavor profile. Black tea, green tea, or herbal tea can all be used to help you create a beautiful milk tea recipe. 

Storage Tips

Milk oolong tea is such a relaxing and delightful drink to sip. It goes down easily to the point where you won’t want to stop drinking it. At the same time, because of the tapioca pearls and how filling tea with milk is, you may not be able to finish it. Here’s how you can store it for later!

Fridge

The first thing you should do is remove the tapioca balls from your bubble tea. These do not keep well in the milk tea and become hard rather than retain that lovely chewiness. Scoop them out and gobble them up before stowing the bubble tea. You can keep the liquid for a maximum of 2 days. 

 Feel free to check out How Long Does Milk Tea Last In The Fridge for a more in-depth guide.

Freeze

I do not recommend freezing any kind of bubble tea. With non-dairy milk (or even with regular dairy milk), it will change texture and just not be as spectacular as it once was. It’s easy enough to make it fresh, though!

Meal Prep

If you want to prepare oolong milk tea in advance, you can steep the tea ahead of time. This way, it shortens your prep time when making bubble tea. I don’t recommend doing so too far ahead, though. About 12 hours to no more than 24 hours is a good time frame for the optimum flavors in your milk tea drink. 

Make Hot Oolong Boba Tea Recipe

I’m a big fan of iced drinks, but if hot milk tea is more your jam, follow this recipe.

Hot Oolong Milk Tea Recipe

Boba Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• ⅓ cup tapioca balls

Oolong Milk Tea Ingredients

• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons loose-leaf oolong tea
• 1 teaspoon cane sugar
• 3/4 cup oat milk, hot

Hot Oolong Bubble Tea Instructions

1. Make The Tapioca Pearls: Pour two cups of water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add tapioca pearls to 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 the package directions.) Scoop floating pearls into a metal mesh strainer to remove excess water.

2. Tea Instructions: Heat water in a kettle to 190°F/88°C. Add loose-leaf tea to a tea infuser and place it in a glass that is safe for hot liquids. Pour hot water over the tea and let steep for 9 minutes. (This will make it more concentrated.) Remove the tea. Scoop in the cane sugar and stir thoroughly. 

3. Prepare Milk: Pour oat milk into a microwave-safe mug or glass and heat for one minute.

4. Assemble The Milk Tea: Scoop tapioca balls into your serving glass. Next, pour oat milk over the boba, followed by the oolong tea mixture. Stir and enjoy with a reusable bubble tea straw.  

Bubble Tea Equipment

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
• Jasmine Milk Tea Recipe

Recipe

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