Brown sugar Boba- Tiger Milk tea

Brown sugar milk tea is the newest trend and one of the top choices for milk tea lovers. There are other names such as tiger milk tea because this brand is believed to be the creator of its unique ways of assembling brown sugar and milk tea. It only calls for 3 ingredients including boba pearls, brown sugar, and milk. I love it mainly because of the caramel flavor from brown sugar and the silky texture of milk.  Let’s find out how to make brown sugar boba at home, to be specific, we are making the tiger boba today with the tiger strips.

This is one of our series of milk tea. Years ago, I made my home boba pearls and start from that time. I love lots of milk tea at home, twisting from the tea base, the milk and cream used, and even the jellies. Most of the milk tea including this brown sugar milk tea can be finished with several easy steps, just in 15 minutes. There are lots of brands providing this brown sugar milk tea. In addition to tiger milk tea, you can also try Yi Fang, Xing Fu Tang, and even other local stores. There are also lots of ways of customize the flavors and toppings based on your personal preference. 

What’s brown sugar milk tea

The Chinese name for this type of milk tea is “黑糖珍珠奶茶”. It is one of the most classic types of popular milk tea, calling for only 3 or 4 ingredients, boba pearls, brown sugar or dark brown sugar, milk, and optionally tea base.  黑糖 is the Chinese name for brown sugar, 珍珠 is refer to boba pearls. In most cases, we use brown sugar boba pearls for brown sugar milk tea.  Brown sugar bubble tea and brown sugar boba tea are the other names for this popular drink. 

There are lots of creations of boba pearls now, small pearls named sago, mango boba pearls, and matcha boba pearls. But brown sugar boba pearls are the most classic type and can present a most uniform appearance. 

Famous brands of brown sugar milk tea

• Tiger milk tea, this brand is most famous for this product because they created the way of drizzling the syrup at the cups, that our famous tiger stripes. I always love to see the processing of the combination of syrup and milk base.  The tiger sugar syrup is made along with the cooked pearls to form a boba pearl and sugar mixture. 
• Yi Fang chooses a different way, the syrup is added directly to the bottom of the cup and then top with milk. Shaking will make the combination happens, bringing the extra joy of drinking milk tea. 

Another name for this type of boba milk tea is “脏脏奶茶”, meaning dirty brown sugar milk tea because of the brown syrup attached to the bottom. Quite messy, right?

No tea base in the original version 

The original brown sugar milk tea does not call for a tea base. But it is named milk tea. Because tea in Chinese culture is used to describe types of drinks. This is misunderstood to the fact this type of drink contains a tea base. But adding the flavors of tea can make this drink much more diversified.  So you can skip this to make a caffeine-free version. 

However, this can definitely combine well with any type of tea drink, oolong, green tea, or black tea. You can use tea bags or loose tea leaves if you want to incorporate tea flavor into the bubble tea. 

What Does it Taste Like

When drinking brown sugar milk tea, you may feel a deep, rich sweetness with a slightly smoky taste bought by the caramelized brown sugar.  It is a complex sweetness loved by bubble tea lovers. 

History of brown sugar milk tea

It is believed that Tiger, a soy milk brand in Taiwan, is the first milk tea brand to invent a way of using thick brown sugar syrup to form tiger strips.  But the brown sugar boba pearls are created by another brand named Xing Fu Tang. 

Both two types get extremely popular all over the world now with lots of wonderful new creations of milk tea.  

Brown sugar boba pearls

The boba pearls used in this milk tea are called brown sugar boba pearls, which has a dark brown color. This actually is a very classic and popular flavor of boba pearls. The boba pearls are infused with brown sugar.  We melt brown sugar in boiling water and then add the tapioca starch into the hot water (almost boiling), giving the dough a color base. 

Then the color can be even strengthened by simmering the boba pearls with some amount of brown sugar.  This also gives the boba deeper flavors.  

Since boba pearl is the sectional ingredient for this milk tea, you need to buy a store-bought version or make it at home.  When you shopping boba pearls, you may find some raw boba pearls that require at least 20 minutes of cooking and another 10 to 15 standing time. But we get a quick version from Wu Fu Yuan. This type of boba pearls only need 5 minutes to cook and thus are called quick boba pearls, 快煮珍珠.  They provide high-quality tapioca pearls including the traditional boba pearls, colored ones, and other topping options like jellies, popping boba and etc. 

Ingredients

•  fresh milk, fresh whole milk is the most common choice for traditional brown sugar milk tea. You can also use almond milk or oat milk.
• boba pearls, homemade or store-bought versions.
• brown sugar
• cup water, use filtered water if possible

You can buy packaged boba pearls from online supermarkets like Amazon or try to make them at home. There is a quick outline to check whether you are interested in making the boba pearls at home.

Firstly brown sugar is dissolved in hot water in a small saucepan, then add half of the tapioca starch. Mix for 6-7 seconds and then add the remaining starch. Knead it into a ball and shape it into small balls. In general, the process is not complex but needs some time for shaping. 

Prepare the boba pearls with brown sugar syrup

Prepare your boba pearls and read the instructions on the package. If it is a quick version, you will only need to boil the pearls for 5 minutes. For homemade boba pearls made from starch, prepare the boba pearls in advance because it requires around 30 minutes of cooking. 

• For regular boba pearls: add boba pearls and water to a pot, and heat over medium-high heat. Simmer for enough time, and follow the instruction on the package.  Then take out and strain. In a small pot, add clean water, brown sugar, and cooked boba pearls, continue to cook for another 5 minutes until the brown sugar thickened. 
• For quick boba pearls: add boba pearls, brown sugar, and water. Continue to cook for 6-8 minutes until the brown sugar forms a syrup. 

In summer, after mixing the boba pears with syrup, make sure you place them in the fridge for the best chewy taste. 
However, if you prefer a soft taste of boba pearls, you can serve them warm.  

Assemble the milk tea 

Take 2 or 3 spoonfuls of boba pearls, already attached with the syrup to the glass cup. Rotate to drizzle evenly. And then pour fresh milk to complete. This is the version with a tiger strip from the Tiger brand. Stir before enjoying to make sure the taste is well-mixed. 

For Yi Fang version, place boba pearls with syrup in the bottom of the cup, then top with fresh milk.

On summer days, you can add some ice cubes to the drink. 

The consistency of the syrup attached to the boba pearls will influence the effect of the melting time of the tiger type and the lava lamp effect for the Yi Fang version (which is also called Mudflip).

If you want to have that fun for Yi Fang’s version, you need to get a cup with a lid like a mason jar or a transparent plastic jar.  

Is it healthy and what Calories

There are not too many health concerns about this type of milk tea So it can be healthy for most people. For around one cup of 500ml brown sugar milk tea, the calories range from 400 to 450 calories depending on the assemble way. 

Twist about the milk tea

If you are a tea lover, you can add a tea base to the milk. Either black tea, green tea or other your favorite type can be combined well with this. 

• You can also add ice cubes for summer. 
• Twist the topping is just funny, all types of jelly, grass jelly, coconut jelly, coffee jelly, and lychee jelly can make your brown sugar milk tea much more special. 
• Or you can also top it with a layer of caramel or biscuit crumbs.  

FAQ