Do you love matcha green tea and bubble tea? This matcha bubble tea is the best of both worlds! This vibrant drink combines the earthy notes of premium matcha with the playful chewiness of tapioca pearls into one refreshing drink with just 4 ingredients!
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Bubble tea, also known as “boba” or pearl milk tea, is a beloved East Asian drink that originated in Taiwan. The three main components are tea, sweetened milk, and chewy tapioca pearls.
Today I’m using matcha powder as my tea to make a delicious matcha milk tea recipe! If making your own matcha boba tea seems daunting—fear not! It’s surprisingly easy to make with just a handful of ingredients and 15 minutes!
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Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy to make with just 4 simple ingredients.
- Customizable and versatile. You can easily control how strong of green tea flavor or sweetness you prefer!
- Affordable and cheaper than ordering from a boba shop!
- It’s naturally vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free!
Ingredient notes
- Matcha powder – Choose a higher quality matcha tea for the best flavor and color in your bubble tea. Ceremonial grade matcha is best but you can use culinary-grade matcha, just keep in mind it will have a stronger flavor.
- Tapioca pearls – Also known as boba or tapioca balls, are made from tapioca starch and are essential for creating that delightful chewy texture in your bubble tea. Ensure they are fresh and follow the package instructions for cooking and preparation.
- Sweetener – Tailor the sweetness of your bubble tea to your liking by using a sweetener of choice. Maple syrup and agave syrup are popular options, but feel free to use any sweetener that suits your fancy.
- Coconut milk – Coconut milk adds a creamy and slightly tropical note to your matcha bubble tea. Oat milk, almond milk, or soy milk also work great. Choose unsweetened non-dairy milk varieties for better control over the sweetness of your drink.
How to make matcha bubble tea
The process is super simple to make this bubble tea recipe. It’s actually very similar to how you would make an iced matcha latte recipe, with the exception of preparing tapioca pearls. Here’s the step-by-step process:
Prepare the tapioca pearls: Follow the package instructions to cook the boba pearls. Once cooked, drain and rinse them with cold water to remove any excess starch. Transfer the pearls to a bowl, stir in the maple syrup, and set aside.
Prepare the matcha mixture: In a separate bowl, whisk the matcha green tea powder with hot water until it’s well blended and frothy. You can use either a matcha whisk (bamboo whisk) or a milk frother to ensure there are no clumps (here’s how to make matcha without a whisk). Add 1/4 cup of coconut milk, or milk of choice, to the matcha and mix thoroughly.
Assemble the matcha bubble tea: In each glass, place 1/4 cup of the cooked tapioca pearls. Add a handful of ice cubes to each glass. Pour the remaining coconut milk over the ice, followed by the green milk tea mixture.
Insert a wide bubble tea straw into the glass and gently stir to mix the boba tapioca pearls with the matcha mixture.
Serve immediately for best flavor and texture of the chewy boba balls!
Top tips
- For the best texture, cook the tapioca balls just before assembling the bubble tea. I don’t recommend preparing them in advance as they tend to become firm and less chewy over time.
- Coat the cooked boba with maple syrup immediately to prevent sticking together. Coat the pearls generously with maple syrup right after rinsing them with cold water.
FAQs
Matcha bubble tea has a unique and distinctive flavor profile. It primarily tastes like matcha, which is a type of green tea made from finely ground tea leaves. Matcha has a rich, earthy, and slightly grassy taste with a hint of natural sweetness.
When combined with the other ingredients in bubble tea, such as coconut milk in this case, tapioca pearls, and maple syrup, the overall flavor of matcha bubble tea becomes creamy and sweet, balancing out the bitterness of matcha.
Matcha bubble tea can be a part of a healthy diet, but like many beverages, its healthfulness depends on various factors such as the ingredients used, preparation method, and portion size.
Matcha by itself has many health benefits, such as being high in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. However, tapioca pearls are mainly starch and provide little to no nutritional value. Your choice of milk will also affect the nutritional content. For less calories and fat, choose almond milk and look for unsweetened varieties.
Making matcha bubble tea at home allows you to control the ingredients and sweetness levels, making it a healthier option compared to some store-bought versions that can be high in sugar and calories.
Matcha bubble tea, also known as matcha boba tea or simply matcha milk tea, is typically made using matcha powder, tapioca pearls, various sweeteners, milk or milk alternatives, hot water to whisk the matcha, and ice. The process involves brewing the matcha powder with hot water, adding sweetener and milk, and then combining it with the cooked tapioca pearls and ice to create a refreshing and delicious bubble tea.
Variations
Matcha bubble tea flavors are easy to customize with simple additions. Here are some of my favorites:
- Vanilla Matcha Milk Tea: Incorporate vanilla syrup or vanilla extract for a hint of vanilla flavor that complements the earthy tones of matcha well.
- Fruity Matcha Boba: Incorporate fruit purees and juices for a fruity twist. Strawberry juice, mango juice, peach juice, or kiwi juice are popular choices.
- Chocolate Matcha Bubble Tea: Blend cocoa powder with the matcha to create a rich chocolate-infused matcha drink.
- Rose Matcha Bubble Tea: Infuse the tea with rose water or rose syrup for a delicate floral aroma and taste. Rose lattes and rose bubble teas are fun and delicious to make! If you haven’t used rose water in your drinks yet, this is an easy way to get started!
More refreshing drink recipes
If you enjoyed this green tea boba recipe, you’ll love these other refreshing drinks:
- Love bubble tea? This Strawberry Bubble Tea is bursting with sweet, sun-ripened strawberries and chewy tapioca pearls!
- For a tropical variation, try this Mango Bubble Tea recipe that’s creamy and delicious.
- For green tea lovers, this Green Tea Smoothie is a rejuvenating fusion of green tea and fruity goodness in a velvety smoothie!
- Savor the zingy, citrusy embrace of lime infused with nutrient-packed chia seeds in this Chia Lime Agua Fresca! The chia seeds are like little boba pearls!
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Matcha Bubble Tea (4 Ingredients)
Ingredients
- ½ cup cooked tapioca pearls
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or sweetener of choice like agave syrup
- 2 teaspoons matcha powder
- ½ cup hot water
- 2 cups coconut milk or soy, almond or oat milk
- Ice cubes for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the tapioca pearls (boba) according to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse the tapioca pearls with cold water to remove any excess starch. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the maple syrup. Set aside.½ cup cooked tapioca pearls, 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- In a separate bowl, whisk the matcha green tea powder with the hot water until well blended and frothy. Add ¼ cup of coconut milk to the matcha and mix well.2 teaspoons matcha powder, ½ cup hot water, 2 cups coconut milk
- Add 1⁄4 cup of the tapioca pearls to each glass, then fill with a handful of ice cubes. Pour the rest of the coconut milk over the ice, followed by the matcha-milk mixture. Insert a wide bubble tea straw into the glass and give it a gentle stir to mix the tapioca pearls with the matcha mixture. Serve immediately and enjoy your refreshing matcha bubble tea!Ice cubes
