I find it a bit challenging to explain what honey milk tea is, but I’ll try to be as concise as possible:
Honey milk tea is a type of bubble tea that is also known as bubble milk tea, pearl milk tea, tapioca milk tea, boba tea, or boba. The only difference is that honey milk tea is made with honey instead of sugar syrup like traditional bubble tea.
As you can see, this type of tea can be made with lots of different ingredients and the most common ones are black tea, milk, tapioca pearls, and honey.
Are you interested in making your own honey milk tea? Or do you want to learn more about its origins and health benefits? You’ll find all of that below.
Homemade Honey Milk Tea Recipe
Homemade Honey Milk Tea Recipe
Ingredients
- Tea (of your choice)
- ¼ cup milk
- 3 tsp honey
- ¼ cup tapioca pearls
- Ice cubes
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare a cup of tea of your choice and let it cool at room temperature. Pro tip: Use 2 tea bags for each cup.
Step 2: Cook the tapioca pearls by following the directions on the package or see below how to make your own.
Step 3: Mix honey, milk, and a few ice cubes. Pour over the tapioca pearls and add the tea. Mix your honey milk tea well.
Notes
You can prepare tapioca pearls by yourself (see below) or you can purchase them at a supermarket or online stores. If you don’t have much time to make these pearls on your own, then buying them is an ideal solution. That way you’ll be able to prepare honey milk tea any time you want in the quickest way possible.
Homemade Tapioca Pearls Recipe
Making tapioca pearls can be a bit complicated for beginners, but practice makes perfect. Good luck!
Homemade Tapioca Pearls Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g tapioca starch
- 80 ml water
- 50 g brown sugar
Instructions
Step 1: Add 30 g of brown sugar to 60 ml of boiled water. Turn the heat off and add half of the tapioca starch. Mix well. Slowly add the rest of the tapioca starch. Mix again and let it cool.
Step 2: Roll out the mixture on a flat surface about 1 cm thick. Cut it into 2 cm to 2 cm squares. Roll the squares in your hand to create small ball shapes. Pour some tapioca starch over the balls to prevent them from sticking to each other.
Step 3: Bring 8 cups of water to a boil and add tapioca balls/pearls. Cook them for 7 minutes on a medium heat. Then, cook them for another 5-10 minutes on a low heat. Once the tapioca balls begin to float to the surface, remove them from the boiling water and add them to an ice bath for 1 minute.
Step 4: Boil 20 ml of water and 20 g of brown sugar for 5 minutes. Put the tapioca balls into the brown sugar syrup on low heat for 6-8 minutes. Stir frequently. You can add immediately tapioca balls/pearls to hot drinks. If you’re going to use them for cold drinks, then let them rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Tips For Brewing Honey Milk Tea
To help you make a perfect honey milk tea according to your preferences, here are some tips that you should consider:
• You can use honey simple syrup or lavender honey simple syrup as a substitute for honey.
• Add honey in accordance with your preference. Remember that you can never add too much or too little of it.
• If you prefer stronger tea, then add more tea leaves or tea bags.
• Use any type of milk or dairy-free substitutes such as oat or almond milk.
• The water used for brewing tea should be fresh and clean without chlorine or chemicals. Use bottled water if your tap water isn’t suitable for drinking.
• Make sure that the water has been heated to 195°-205°F when brewing black tea. It’s best to start with cold water and heat it to the right temperature.
• Use metal straws for easier reaching of the tapioca pearls, and serve them hot or cold.
• Steep green tea for no more than 3 minutes after bringing it to a simmer.
Honey Milk Tea: Origins
When speaking about honey milk tea origins, we’re actually talking about bubble tea origins because honey milk tea or winter melon milk tea are just types of bubble tea or boba tea. Here’s an interesting interpretation of bubble tea history by Bubble Tea Supply:
“Bubble Tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s at a small tea stand. Elementary school children would look forward to buying a cup of refreshing tea after a long, hard day of work and play.
Tea stands were set up in front of the schools and would compete for business with the best-selling tea. One concession owner became popular with her tea when she started adding different fruit flavorings to her tea.
Because of the sweet and cool taste, children loved the taste. Soon, other concessions heard about the “unique” and popular tea, so they started to add flavoring to their teas.
When adding flavor, the tea and flavoring needed to be shaken well for a good all-around taste. This formed bubbles in the drink, which came to be known as ‘Bubble Tea.’”
RELATED: Does Starbucks Have Boba Tea On The Menu?
Honey Milk Tea: Health Benefits And Nutrition Facts
Honey milk tea is considered a healthy beverage because it contains nutrients and antioxidants. Here are some of the health benefits related to drinking honey milk tea:
• Improved digestion due to probiotics in milk and antioxidants found in honey.
• Antibacterial properties from honey.
• Increased energy levels from the caffeine in black tea.
• Calcium and protein content found in milk.
• Reduced stress levels due to calming properties of black tea.
Nutrition facts (per 1 cup)
1 cup of honey milk tea gives the following to your body:
Calories: 151
Total fat: 2.2 g
Sodium: 44 mg
Carbohydrate: 32.4 g
Protein: 2.1 g
Final Thoughts
I’m a huge fan of honey milk tea and everyone knows it. However, since I find it difficult to stay faithful to just one drink, iced caramel latte from Dunkin is my second obsession (see the recipe on the link).
And yes, I have also started making my own tapioca pearls. I have e to admit that it was really hard in the beginning but now I can confidently say that I’m on my way to becoming a tapioca pearls pro.
What are your thoughts on honey milk tea? Also, have you ever tried making tapioca pearls at home?👀
