What Tea Is in Bubble Tea? The Tea Behind Taiwan's Most Famous Drink

Bubble tea (also called boba or pearl milk tea) was created in Taiwan in the 1980s: sweetened tea, often with milk, shaken with ice and served with chewy tapioca pearls. Most bubble tea uses a strong black tea base (what China and Taiwan call red tea, hong cha), often an Assam-style or Taiwanese red tea brewed extra strong so it stands up to milk and sugar. The other classics are jasmine green tea (for fruit teas and lighter milk teas) and Taiwanese oolong, especially Four Seasons (Si Ji Chun) or roasted oolong. The tea base matters more than most people think: a good one makes the drink taste of tea, not just sugar.

Where bubble tea comes from#

Bubble tea appeared in Taiwan in the 1980s, when tea shops started shaking sweetened tea with ice and adding tapioca balls. Two tea houses, one in Taichung and one in Tainan, both claim to have invented it, and the debate has never been settled. From Taiwan it spread across Asia and then the world.

The main tea bases#

Why the tea matters#

In a bubble tea, the tea competes with sugar, milk, ice and pearls. Cheap, dusty tea brewed strong turns bitter and flat; good tea brewed strong stays aromatic. That's why the best shops brew fresh tea every few hours and use proper loose leaf rather than powder or concentrate.

How to make better bubble tea at home#

Tea base (for 2 large drinks):

1. Choose your tea: a malty red tea like Dian Hong or a Taiwanese red tea, a roasted Taiwanese oolong, or jasmine green tea.
2. Brew strong: 10–12 g of leaf in 500 ml of water.
   • Red tea and roasted oolong: 95 °C, 5 minutes.
   • Jasmine green tea: 80 °C, 3 minutes.
3. Strain and cool completely. Or cold brew overnight for a smoother base: see cold brew tea.

Assemble:

1. Cook tapioca pearls according to the package and sweeten them lightly with brown sugar syrup.
2. In a tall glass: pearls, ice, 200–250 ml tea, milk to taste, sweetener to taste.
3. Shake or stir well.

Tips: less sugar lets the tea show; roasted oolong with milk is an especially good combination; jasmine green tea is best without milk, with fruit.

Three home versions to try#

• Roasted oolong milk tea: caramel, toast, cream.
• Dian Hong milk tea: malty, honeyed, the closest to the classic.
• Jasmine green tea with passion fruit: no milk, very refreshing.

A note on caffeine and sugar#

Bubble tea usually contains real tea, so it contains caffeine; see caffeine in tea. Shop drinks can also be very sweet; most shops let you choose the sugar level.

Myths#

"Bubble tea has no real tea in it." Most contains real tea; the quality varies.

"Boba is a type of tea." Boba is the tapioca pearls; the tea underneath can be anything.

"It's from mainland China." It was born in Taiwan.

A gateway to real tea#

Bubble tea can be a great gateway to real tea. Order it with less sugar and an oolong base, or make it at home with good loose leaf, and taste the tea under the pearls.

The bottom line#

Bubble tea was born in Taiwan in the 1980s, and most uses a strong red (black) tea base, with jasmine green tea and Taiwanese oolong as the other classics. The better the tea, the better the drink. Explore Taiwan's teas in my Taiwanese tea guide.