Tropical Boba Milk Tea

A fruity Tropical Boba Milk Tea is a refreshing drink. It gives regular ice tea a boost. Milk tea, or bubble tea, is made with boba, chewy tapioca that comes in several flavors and sizes. The ingredients for tropical boba milk tea are simple: crushed fruit, strong tea, chewy sweet boba, and Plantiful®.

Most of the boba milk teas I’ve tried are made with sweetened condensed milk, soy, whole milk, non-dairy creamer, or fruit juice. Some of these are high in sugar or calories. I gave up dairy about a year ago, so I was more than excited to try tropical Plantiful® in this recipe for Tropical Boba Milk Tea as part of the Lifeway® Kefir blogger challenge.

Plantiful® is a vegan-friendly probiotic drink. It contains all organic ingredients and is dairy, gluten, and soy-free. For a probiotic, it has a mild or fruity flavor. I use it in place of dairy, juice, or flavored waters. You can find delicious recipes and learn more about the Lifeway® family of products by visiting Lifeway® on the Web or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Notes on Making Tropical Boba Milk Tea

I usually make extra strong tea first. Jasmine green tea is one of my favorites, and I thought it would work well with the tropical flavored Plantiful®. Use two tea or more tea bags per cup of tea. Bring water to a gentle boil and steep tea for about 3 minutes. The tea will become bitter if it steeps too long. Cool the tea to room temperature, or refrigerate until chilled.

To cook boba, bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup of boba and cook for 5-7 minutes. Turn heat down to medium. Cover, and cook for 5 more minutes. Turn off heat and let boba sit for 5 minutes. Remove boba from hot water and drop in cold water for 20 seconds. Drain.

Boba is chewy when cooked but naturally unsweet. Make a simple syrup using 1/2 water and 1/2 sugar. Simmer the sugar in the water until dissolved. Pour over boba and set aside until ready to use. Pour boba in a bowl and cover with simple syrup.

To make Tropical Boba Milk Tea, add 2 or 3 tablespoons each of cooked boba and crushed pineapple to a glass. I generally don’t add extra sweetener to my drinks. The boba and the crushed pineapple make the drink sweet enough for me. If you like sweet drinks, you might consider sweetening the tea or adding a sweetener before adding the Plantiful®.

Add ice to the glass along with equal parts of the cooled tea and Plantiful®, and stir. You’ll need an extra-wide straw to drink the tropical boba milk tea. Regular straws cannot accommodate the large tapioca balls.

Boba Milk Tea Varieties

The basic recipe for milk tea, or bubble tea, consists of boba, tea, and milk or juice. Try the following ingredients for variety:

• Blueberry, kiwi, pomegranate, strawberry, passion fruit, mango, or lychee boba
• Smaller tapioca pearls
• Black, green, oolong, or matcha tea
• Flavored Lifeway® Kefir, yogurt drinks, milk, sweetened condensed milk, fruit juice, or non-dairy creamer
• Alternative sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, agave, or sugar substitutes
• Crushed fruits such as blackberries, strawberries, mango, passion fruit, or peaches

Lifeway® Products

You can purchase Lifeway® Kefir products at Lucky’s Farmers Market, Walmart Supercenter, and Publix. Use these products in your favorite recipes instead of milk, yogurt or juice.

This post is sponsored by Lifeway®. Lifeway® provided several products for use in the blogger challenge. I received Plantiful® in both plain and tropical fruit flavors; unsweetened and plain Kefir; cultured lowfat milk and unsweetened Kefir; unsweetened, plain, and cultured whole milk organic Kefir; and, cultured lowfat strawberry flavored Kefir. I tried them all and decided to use Plantiful® in my recipe. Opinions here are my own.