Jasmine Milk Tea

Jasmine milk tea is a classic bubble tea recipe that requires only 5 ingredients. It's a delicate, yet very flagrant drink that has become a staple recipe in our household! With the added tapioca pearls, it makes a fantastic little snack to have during the day.

Inspiration behind the recipe

During our Uni days, we loved to go grab a bubble tea during a break. I reminder so vividly the first time that a big chain of bubble tea store opened in our city and it was an instant hit. The queue was always so long but we kept coming back because we loved their jasmine milk tea. Sometimes we would add toppings such as tapioca bubbles, aka boba, or grass jelly, but the star was definitely the fragrant jasmine green tea. We love making this recipe at home, because it's so easy to make, and saves us a lot of money if you're boba addicts like us and drink a few per week!

More related recipes:

• Mango Green Tea
• Bubble Milk Tea

What is Jasmine tea

Jasmine tea is made out of jasmine blossoms and a base such as green, white or black tea, and is categorized as a scented tea because of it's floral note. Our personal favorite and probably the most known version is Jasmine green tea. It's an incredibly fragrant tea, with a slight natural sweetness. In Chinese culture, Jasmine green tea is often served to your guests and is commonly served at Chinese restaurants. In this recipe, we used loose leaf tea as we find the flavor to come out better, but for convenience, tea bags will also do the trick.

Why we love Jasmine Milk Tea

It has such a distinctive aromatic and fragrant taste that is so outstanding from other tea. In ancient times, the fragrance of jasmine blossoms were thought to be of heaven. Yes, it's that good!!! Also, Jasmine is so fragrant that it won't get lost with the added milk, while some other teas get too diluted and loose their fragrance. Also, since the jasmine tea we are using is green tea based, it comes with all the health benefits that we love because of the high amount of antioxidants. Among other things, it helps with brain focus, fat loss and lowering risk of heart disease,

Which tapioca pearls to use?

For convenience, we used instant boba. They cook in under 5 minutes, or per package instructions, and are quite decent. We love to have those when we're lazy, because to cook the real thing takes about 1 hour. Don't even get me started if you want to make them from scratch, which we actually never attempted because it's just looks like quite the challenge. These are the one that we used, and where we live, they're easy to find in our local Asian supermarket.

Tips to make the best drink

• Tapioca pearl are best made and serve freshly made. Prepare your pearls just when needed and serve immediately after.
• Swap the bubbles for your favorite topping, such as grass jelly, sago pearls or pudding!
• Jasmine green tea can be prepared ahead. Store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 2 days.
• Use wide straws to drink your bubbles. We use these.
• Steep your green tea between 175 to 180 F. This will ensure the best flavor profile!
• Let your tea steep for 5 minutes, but adjust if you like a milder or stronger taste.
• Adjust sugar level if needed. We like our sugar level at about 50% (IYKYK 😛). Also, we used rock sugar as we love that it's not as sweet as regular granulated sugar. Feel free to use honey, maple or agave syrup.
• Use your preferred milk. We suggest using whole milk, or oat milk for a vegan option.
• If you don't have a teapot, you can use a strainer or infuser.

FAQ's

Ingredients

• Jasmine tea leaves or 2 tea bags. We prefer the tea leaves because the flavor is more intense. We love this brand, which can also be easily found in local Chinese grocery store.
• Rock sugar will give a nice natural, not overpowering, sweetness to the drink. It's easy to find at the local Asian grocery store, but can also be bought online.
• Tapioca pearls, or preferred topping. We used this brand, and the reviews and right, it's pretty good for instant boba! We love instant options as it's so much more convenient, as they can be very long to cook.
• Water to steep your tea.
• Oat milk, or preferred milk. We recommend whole milk or oat, as it is creamier in texture and pairs well with jasmine tea.
• Ice cubes to make it an iced tea!

Instructions

Steep the jasmine tea. In a teapot, add the rock sugar and steep jasmine tea leaves in 1 1/2 cup of hot water, preferably at around 175-180 F. Let steep for 5 minutes. Swirl a few times to ensure the rock sugar completely melts.

Prep boba. While the tea is steeping, prepare the instant tapioca pearls as per instruction. We boiled 1/2 cup of pearls with about 2 cups of water for 3-5 minutes, or until soft and chewy.

Assemble. To assemble, put half of the bubbles in a cup, add jasmine tea and ice. Pour over half of the oat milk, and repeat step for another serving.