Ever heard about tiger milk tea? It’s a delicious brown sugar boba, or bubble tea that’s perfectly creamy and sweet. This is the recipe for the perfect tiger milk tea at home!
Tiger milk tea is creamy, sweet, perfectly smooth and oh so refreshing! It’s an iced milk tea that’s flavored with a brown sugar syrup that has toffee like notes. The best part? It’s served with boba pearls! Those little chewy balls that you can find on bubble teas.
What I love so much about it is that while it looks a somewhat complicated recipe and the end result is incredibly delicious it’s actually really easy to make. It’s so easy that’s one of the most beginner boba tea recipes you’ll find.
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But what’s tiger milk tea
Tiger milk tea is a bubble tea. A bubble tea, also known as a boba tea is a tea that’s flavored with syrup and served with tapioca balls, also known as boba pearls or tapioca pearls.
There are (almost) a million different boba tea variations going from fruity to creamy.
Tiger milk tea is a boba tea that’s flavored with a brown muscovado sugar syrup. The name comes from a tiger like stripes that form in the glass when the syrup is poured on top.
The dark brown muscovado sugar syrup gives the drink a delicious toffee-like flavor that’s warm and balanced.
You can find tiger milk tea under a couple different names depending on where you live or where you are visiting.
Some of the most popular names are: Tiger milk tea, dirty boba, and tiger sugar milk tea. Also, black bubble tea, and brown sugar milk tea.
Read our post on Dunkin Donuts Iced Teas
What does tiger milk taste like?
Oh my gosh it tastes DELICIOUS!! It’s an iced milk that has a deeply sweet flavor that’s also toffee-like. You’ll definitely feel some caramel notes that pair perfectly well with the chewy black boba pearls.
Also, you’ll feel the tea flavor, the milk flavor and the toffee-like flavor all at once. The black tapioca pearls are also more delicate than the traditional ones.
Overall, it’s a really delicious boba tea and one that pretty much everyone will love.
What you need to make tiger milk tea
What I love the most about this recipe is that you really don’t need a lot of ingredients. You actually only need 4 and they are really easy to find.
Tea
The star of this recipe is obviously the tea. I used 3 tea bags for this recipe and you’ll get between 2 and 3 boba drinks with it.
I prefer my bubble tea to be on the stronger side, if you like them slightly lighter then you can use only 2 tea bags.
You’ll need to use black tea if you want to recreate the look of the tiger stripes. However, if you don’t care about the look, then any tea would work.
Muscovado sugar
Muscovado sugar is the sugar used to make the tiger milk tea syrup. This type of sugar is very similar to brown sugar but it’s unrefined. It’s probably one of the most natural ways you’l find sugar in.
Muscovado sugar has a very deep toffee flavor, kind of like a strong caramel that’s really unique.
However, if you can’t find muscovado sugar you can also look for black sugar at asian markets or for panela at Latin American bodegas.
Milk
Any milk will work. Traditionally boba tea is made with whole milk but you can really play up with any milk you like.
Almond milk or oat milk are both great alternatives if you are looking for a vegan option.
Boba pearls
The boba pearls are what makes this a boba drink and not just a cold drink. You can find them at most asian stores. Just look for boba pearls or tapioca pearls.
They can also be made at home but to keep this recipe as simple as posible I’m going with store-bought ones.
Traditionally tiger milk tea is made with black boba pearls but honestly any tapioca pear will work.
Tiger Milk Tea
Ingredients
- 3 Black tea bags
- 1 Cup boiling water
- 1/2 Cup muscovado sugar
- 1/2 Cup tapioca pearls cooked
- 1 1/2 Cups milk
- Ice
Instructions
- Add the tea bags to the water and steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and discard them. Set the tea aside.
- Prepare the muscovado syrup. In a saucepan over medium heat add the muscovado sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Cook for 10 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved and you have a syrup like consistency. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add the tapiocal pearls to the bottom of a glass. Drizzle with the syrup and add a generous ammout of ice. Pour the tea and finish with the milk.
Take a look at our Iced Guava White Tea Lemonade Recipe
Frequently asked questions about tiger milk tea
It’s made of only 4 ingredients: Black tea, muscovado sugar, milk and boba pearls
It’s a creamy ande delicate drink with a delicious toffee-like flavor.
Because of the stripes formed when the muscovado sugar syrup is poured on top and mixed with the milk.
