Maple Chai Bubble Tea
Chai tea with almond milk and maple syrup is delicious even without the bubbles. The bubbles are fun, unique and quirky. Kids love them! Makes 3 (8-ounce) servings of tea, plus enough bubbles for a second (3-cup) batch.
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time10 minutes mins
Total Time40 minutes mins
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Dairy Free
Keyword: bubble tea, chai tea, maple syrup
Servings: 3 bubble teas.
Calories: 196kcal
The bubbles:
- 3 cups water
- ¼ cup small dried tapioca pearls, (not quick cooking)
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup unsulphured molasses
The Chai Tea:
- 3 cups water
- 4 Chai black tea bags, (see note)
- ½ cup almond milk
- 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup maple syrup, amount depending on your sweet tooth
Make the bubbles:
Bring water and tapioca pearls to a boil, stirring occasionally. When the water boils, reduce the heat and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, again, stirring every few minutes.
Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, another 8 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan over low flame, mix the water and molasses, stirring to make a brown syrup. Set aside.
Put the cooked tapioca pearls in a sieve to drain. The liquid will be slightly gelatinous and won’t flow like water, not to worry, just drain most of the liquid off.
Drop the translucent bubbles into the molasses syrup. On the lowest possible flame, heat the syrup and the bubbles.
Bite into a few pearls to test doneness. You want your tooth to find them soft, yet with some chewy texture. If you think they need more time to soften, let them barely simmer. If you determine they are perfect, remove from the heat. Either way, in about 15 minutes the little drops will become brown bubbles the color of the molasses syrup.
Brew the tea:
Bring the water to a boil. Add the tea bags and let steep 15 minutes. The tea should be strong, but not with bitter flavor. Remove the tea bags. When the tea has cooled, add the milk.
Stir in the lesser amount of maple syrup. Taste. If you prefer your tea sweeter like I do, stir in more maple syrup. Chill until cold.
To chill the milk tea quickly, use an ice bath: Fill a large bowl with ice and nest the tea container in it. Stir occasionally until cold. This takes about 5 minutes.
- I used small pearl tapioca. When the pearls swell they are just small enough to slurp through a regular straw. If you make the bubbles with large tapioca pearls, you'll need wider straws. Buy them at Asian stores or online.
- After boiling the tapioca, there may be a few pearls left with white in the center--bite into one of those to make sure they are soft, but still chewy. As long as they are soft, they’ll be fine, they will just take more time to soak up color.
- I used Yogi tea Chai Black.
- The bubbles come out brown, but will appear blacker against the milk tea.
- Leftover bubbles grow less toothsome with time but can be kept in the fridge for a batch of tea the next day.
Serving: 8g | Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 96mg | Potassium: 578mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g | Calcium: 156mg | Iron: 2mg