How To Make Brown Sugar Tiger Milk Tea

Tiger milk tea – you might have already heard or ordered this drink before but you can’t tell why it’s called by such a name. This classic milk tea flavor is one of the best sellers in many boba shops and bubble tea cafes. It is also known by other names such as brown sugar milk tea, brown sugar boba tea, brown sugar pearl milk, tiger boba tea, pearl bubble tea, black sugar bubble tea and tiger sugar milk.

Did you know that this milk tea drink got its name because of the resulting colors and tiger stripes on the glass when the tiger milk tea is served?

Regardless of how you call your drink, you can’t deny that tiger milk tea is such a delicious and refreshing drink. However, it’s also a bit expensive when you order it from shops and cafes. Fortunately, there’s a cheaper and simpler way to make tiger milk tea at home and we will show you how.

What is Tiger Milk Tea

Brown sugar milk tea is the latest trend when it comes to milk teas. The tiger stripes on the glass look decadent and captivating on camera. You might have seen pictures of this type of delicious drink all over social media. It seems like the brown sugar craze stripes are designed to be a big hit on the Internet particularly on Instagram where they call it an Instagrammable drink. With its popularity, many people are willing to line up for an hour or two just to try it.

You may be surprised to know that brown sugar milk tea does not contain any tea in it. So instead of calling it brown sugar boba tea, you may consider removing the “tea” when mentioning the name.

This drink was popularized by Tiger Sugar which opened its first shop in Taiwan around the year 2017. Now, this drink has made its way to other countries in Asia as well as in the US and other western countries.

From Taiwan to other parts of the world, different versions of the drink have already been introduced. Some cafes are now using a more complex milk tea recipe while others stick to the traditional milk tea recipe that uses three simple ingredients – boba or tapioca pearls, brown sugar syrup and fresh milk.

Regardless of which or what milk tea recipe you will be using, one thing is for sure. You can’t make this drink without the tapioca pearls. In the brown sugar milk tea recipe that we know, you need to boil the boba pearls first then add the brown sugar syrup so the balls will absorb the sweet caramel flavor. You can then add the milk or cream and ice before serving.

How to Make Tiger Milk Tea at Home

Preparing Brown Sugar Milk Tea From Scratch

Unlike other milk tea recipes that require tea, fruit or root crop (such as taro or ube), this recipe has very simple ingredients and simple instructions to follow. The total time for this recipe is less than 5 minutes, and that already includes cook time and assembly time. This recipe is good for one serving so if you want to make two servings, you need to double the ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca pearls or boba pearls
• 1 cup milk
• ice cubes
• 1 cup water

Procedure

In a small pot, pour 1 cup of water then bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the tapioca pearls. Cook the tapioca pearls based on the instructions in the packaging. Quick-cooking tapioca pearls usually have a cook time of less than 30 minutes. Once the tapioca pearls are cooked, add the brown sugar and stir continuously to prevent the sugar from burning. Wait until the syrup becomes thick like caramel in color and texture. Remove the pot from the stove.

Pour the thick syrup with the tapioca pearls into a tall glass. To achieve the stripes effect, tip the glass at a 45-degree angle then coat the sides of the glass with the sugar syrup. Pour the milk into the glass, add some ice into the mixture, stir then serve. It is at this point when you may want to take an Instagram-worthy picture of your creation. Remember that the stripes will disappear on their own in less than 3 minutes!

Tip: If you are lactose intolerant, instead of adding milk, you can add cold water and creamer instead. Stir the mixture then add ice before serving.

Preparing Brown Sugar Milk Tea Using a Kit

If you don’t have much time to prepare your drink from scratch, there’s a quicker and easier method to do it using powder mixes or tea kits that you can easily buy online.

The total time to prepare the drink is less than 5 minutes. No boiling of water required to cook the tapioca balls as most of these kits already include cooked tapioca balls.

But not all products are created equal. To achieve the authentic taste of the brown sugar drink that you would otherwise get when you order that $5 a cup boba drink from a bar or cafe, you need to choose your kit wisely.

We found a brown sugar milk tea kit that has everything you need to make a boba tea drink. The kit already contains tapioca or boba pearls coated in brown sugar syrup and milk tea powder.

Buy it now: Amazon

If you are using a tiger milk tea kit, you can greatly reduce the cook time to as fast as 2 minutes. While the specific steps may vary from one product to another, generally, the recipe calls for heating the tapioca pearls in a microwave oven, which can take between 20 and 30 seconds. Once done, prepare a tall glass then add the boba pearls with sugar syrup. Do the same trick of tipping the glass to create the stripes. You can then add water plus the powder. Stir to dissolve the powder. Add ice then serve.

FAQ

Takeaways

Do you love drinking brown sugar boba tea or black sugar bubble tea? Regardless of how you call it, this drink is sweet and refreshing. It’s a must-try if you are a sugar lover.

You can make brown sugar boba tea at home either from scratch or using a bubble tea kit. Try it at least once so you’ll know what all this popularity and fuss is all about. It’s a good idea to make brown sugar milk tea at home so you can control how much sugar goes into your drink.

If you have your own version of the recipe, feel free to share it with us.