Bubble tea class, Passport to Tea 2023- Taiwan

Come learn about Bubble Tea.... Started in Taiwan in the 1980's

It's all about the tea, the sugar, the milk and of course the bubbles

Bubble Tea is from Taiwan.

The base tea for Bubble Tea is made with strong robust black tea, an oolong, or a jasmine tea. 

(Malty tea- ceylon or Assam.  Grassy or Minty - Earl Grey or Pu'erh tea.  Regular green tea is not perfect for bubble tea- unless a Thailand green jasmine or a matcha)

Then sweetened milk (heavy cream is too heavy and low fat milk is not sweet and creamy enough, a good compromise is half and half or whole milk) 

If you want super creaminess add sweet and condensed milk.

Now the most common now is non-dairy creamer, it is cheaper, doesn't need refrigerated, and gives a creamy texture.

 Then sweet fruit flavors- like strawberry, mango, honeydew, or taro were added.

Then the star of the show is the chewy tapioca balls.  If you did not use fruit to sweeten, then you can make a simple syrup with honey, sugar or a sweetener of your choice.

Easiest way to make bubble teas these days is to buy the prepacked version that already has the tea, fruit sweetener, and non-dairy creamer added.  But, you can make it in your home from scratch.

I did some test tea...I made some milk tea with almond milk creamer and with oat milk.  Some with English Breakfast and some with Ceylon tea.

I ended up with Ceylon tea and almond milk creamer and brown sugar.

Recipe- To make 4 Cups of Bubble Tea 

• 8 bags of black tea (like an English Breakfast, an Assam , or Ceylon)/, Oolong, or a jasmine or 3 tablespoons loose-leaf tea
• 4 C hot water
• 3/4 C instant tapioca balls- ready in about 5 minutes, read the bag
• 6 T Milk of your choice
• 1 T of sugar per glass, your choice of sweetener- if you aren't using fruit (Brown sugar a deep molasses flavor)
• Ice

Instructions

• Prepare the tea: Steep the tea bags or loose leaves with 4 cups boiled water.  Steep tea for 10 minutes
• Cook the tapioca pearls: Bring about 4 cups of water to boil FIRST and add the tapioca balls. Stir the pearls and wait for them to float to the top. Then, cook them for another 5 minutes. Test a pearl to see if it has reached the desired level of softness. Cook the pearls for another few minutes if they are still stiff. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pearls from the hot water. Quickly rinse the pearls with water. Transfer the pearls into a bowl, and mix the pearls with a few tablespoons of simple syrup (to taste).  DO NOT REFRIGERATE THE TAPIOCA BALLS!
• Assemble the drinks: Divide the cooked tapioca pearls into 4 large glasses. Next, add a few ice cubes to each glass.   Into a shaker pour 1 1/2- 2 C of the warm tea into each glass, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk and 1 T sweetener to each glass/or add fruit. Stir and taste the milk tea. Add more milk or simple syrup or fruit to your taste.

*Note remind kids to chew the tapioca balls or bursting boba- they can be a choking hazard.

Saturday class time!!!

I have a 9 am and an 11 am class for Bubble Tea!

Table is set and ready to go!

Beautiful day for a tea!

I made tapioca pearls for the class.  They say that it takes 5 minutes - but it does take longer.  It is 10 cups of water per 1 C of tapioca.  The thing that takes the longest is bringing that much water to boil.  Follow the directions on the package.  But, I would leave yourself about 40 minutes to make these.

I have to say this was the best batch of tapioca balls I have ever made.  I have had some really poor batches, but these were great- nice and soft.

My honey I had was not soft, so I used honey crystals.  They worked really well.

I made Taro, Coconut, Honeydew, and Mango Bubble Tea

I used my tapioca balls, then bursting boba.  I had kiwi, strawberry, blueberry, and passion fruit, and then mango jelly's.

Tapioca Pearls-

Tapioca pearls are black, but can sometimes be found to be white or transparent. Depending on the ingredients of the pearl, the color varies. It is said that the white and translucent pearls are made of tapioca starch in it's natural form.   Although tapioca starts as a hard and tasteless substance, after being boiled and steeped in caramelized syrup, it becomes the sweet, black and textured pearls that sit at the bottom of your tea. The black pearl includes tapioca starch, cassava root, brown sugar and caramel which add the black color.

Bursting Boba-

Bursting boba is made using the spherification process that relies on the reaction of sodium alginate (Alginate is typically used in the form of a hydrogel in biomedicine, including wound healing, drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. Hydrogels are three-dimensionally cross-linked networks composed of hydrophilic polymers with high water content.) and either calcium chloride or calcium lactate. Popping boba has a thin, gel-like skin with juice inside that bursts when squeezed.

Making juice balls - Fill a small bowl with alginate and two additional bowls with water. Scoop up the juice with a measuring spoon and, keeping it close to the surface of the alginate, carefully pour the liquid into the bowl. Through a reaction with the calcium ions and alginate the liquid will instantly form into spheres

Jellies-

These small coconut jellies are made with real coconut fruit meat and submerged in flavored fruit syrup.

Earl Grey loves to come to class.

The first class I had 9 come.

I showed them how to make an original bubble tea- which was black milk tea with tapioca balls.

HISTORY

Bubble Tea culture started in the late '80s, and is believed to have started in Taichung  or Tainan Taiwan- the location and developer is contested in Taiwan (these cities are about an hour and a half apart from each other on the coast of Taiwan). 

Ms. Lin who says she developed it worked at Chun Shui Tang for  over 33 years- she credits them for her achievements.  Chun Shui Tang have 54 stores in Taiwan, 14 Japan, and 4 in Hong Kong.- they opened in 1983. She said she was first, but didn't think if getting a patent, she just started serving the bubble tea.

She already loved Milk Tea.  She was a product manager and was to be buying things in the market when she  saw sweet tapioca pudding in the market.  The pudding  had warm emotions for her. She ate them warm like she did when she was a kid.  But, it was spring or summer and she wanted to put them in something cooler.  She put them in her favorite milk tea.  She shared it with her friends and customers. In 1986 or 1987 when she became the store manager she asked if she could add it to the menu.  Within 2 months the tea was all over the streets near them, 6 months everyone on the district was selling it. By 1990 or 1991 it was all over Taiwan.

Bubble Tea then went to Japan and Hong Kong in the 90's, then to the US.  The tea became known as boba because the term is slang for breasts in Chinese (a reference the spherical shape of the tapioca balls). Boba evolved over time as it grew more widespread throughout Taiwan: stall owners started introducing fruit boba, using fruit powders and syrups in lieu of actual fruit (which was too expensive and went bad quickly). 

The topping choices expanded beyond tapioca balls to include elements like grass jelly, mango, ayiyu jelly, almond jelly, egg pudding, and red beans. Even in classic boba, the milk in the milk tea was swapped out for non-dairy creamer, and as a result, the drink became known for its incredibly sweet, creamy taste.

Ms. Lin make her milk tea, hot tea to dissolve the cream.  She started with ice, some sugar and the cream, with the tea, then adds the syrup and shakes.  Then she pours over the bubbles.

Every cup of boba starts with a scoop of tapioca balls, followed by ice, the tea milk, then an optional syrup/fruit. 

The 2nd class had 10.

I love these classes and I am amazed every month that these people show up.

for small batches:

12 oz cup of tea  
2 T non-dairy creamer/milk
1 1.2 T of Brown Sugar/sweetener
4.6 oz warm brewed black tea
shake with ice

put tapioca balls in the cup and pour tea in

16 oz Cup of Tea

3 T non dairy creamer/milk

2 T brown sugar/sweetener

5 oz of warm tea tea

shake with ice

put tapioca balls in the cup and pour tea in

22 oz Cup of Bubble Tea

4 T non-dairy creamer/milk

3T brown sugar/sweetener

6.7 ounces warm brewed black tea

shake with ice

put tapioca balls in the cup and pour tea in