Butterfly Pea Milk Tea with Boba (Easy Bubble Tea)

This butterfly pea milk tea is a must try for bubble tea lovers. Made using blue butterfly pea flowers, the lovely blue color of the drink makes it a unique boba tea and a great variant to the regular bubble tea.

This butterfly pea bubble tea starts with a butterfly pea milk tea base made using milk and butterfly pea flowers extract. Boba pearls cooked in muscovado sugar syrup are then paired with the creamy drink to make the delicious butterfly pea milk tea. Served with ice cubes, this butterfly pea drink is an absolute treat!

You can make your own boba pearls for this drink but if you want a quick fix, you can always purchase ready made ones and simply cook them with the muscovado syrup for your milk tea.

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• This is an easy recipe.
• With its lovely pastel blue color, this milk tea is not only a delicious drink, it makes a beautiful drink too. 
• It is a perfect option and a lovely variation for tea lovers, especially milk tea lovers.
• Served as a cold drink with chewy tapioca pearls, this milk tea makes a great treat any time of the day! 

Like this butterfly pea milk tea recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:

• Pandan Milk Tea - Easy Homemade Bubble Tea Recipe
• Butterfly Pea Flower Drink
• Pandan Milk - Flavorful and Easy
• Grass Jelly Milk Tea - Easy Bubble Tea Recipe
• Butterfly Pea Latte
• Butterfly Pea Syrup

❓What is butterfly pea?

• Butterfly pea plant (also known as Clitoria Ternatea) is a tropical plant that is widely found in the Southeast Asian countries. It is a vine that produces bright blue flowers known as the butterfly pea flowers (also known as Asian pigeonwings or blue pea flowers). These flowers have been traditionally used in cooking (both sweet and savory dishes) across the region and are often used as a natural food dye. The flowers impact a lovely blue extract when seeped in hot water.
• The butterfly pea flowers can be more commonly purchased in dry flowers form or in powder form. The powder form is sometimes referred to as blue matcha.
• In terms of taste, these flowers do not have any distinctive taste. At most, they have a very slightly earthy taste, similar to green tea.
• An interesting property of these flowers is their color-changing properties. Naturally, when seeped in hot water, the flowers release a lovely blue extract. When a little lemon juice or lime juice is added, the color changes to a lovely magical purple as you can see in my butterfly pea lemonade recipe.

📋Ingredients

• Milk - this is used to make the milk tea. Use whole milk for a creamy drink.
• Dried butterfly pea flowers - these contribute to the blue color of the tea.
• White sugar - this is used to sweeten the milk tea. White sugar is preferred so as to not impact the blue color of the drink. Both coarse sugar or granulated sugar can be used.
• Muscovado sugar - this is used to make the sugar syrup for the boba.
• Boba pearls (Tapioca balls) - can be purchased in dry form or you can also make them on your own.
• Water - use filtered water.

*Refer to the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and exact quantities. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*

🧾Substitution and Variations

• Whole milk can be replaced with skim milk or other plant based milks like almond milk or oat milk.
• Dried butterfly pea flowers can be substituted with fresh flowers. Use in the exact same quantity.
• Muscovado sugar can be replaced with brown sugar. Use exact same quantity as mentioned in the recipe card.
• For a vanilla flavored butterfly pea boba tea, add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the milk tea after straining the flowers.

This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!

👩‍🍳How to Make

Making the milk tea

1. Pour the milk into a small saucepan.
2. Heat it up and bring it to a boil. Keep a close watch on the milk as it will froth and overflow as it boils. As soon as you see it frothing and rising, you can turn off the heat.
3. Add the butterfly pea flowers and sugar into the milk and give it a brief stir.
4. Cover the pot with a lid and let the flowers steep in the hot milk for 5 minutes.
5. Uncover and strain the milk. Press the flowers with the back of a spoon to remove as much extract as possible.
6. Set the milk aside to cool down. You can also place it in the refrigerator while preparing the boba pearls.

Preparing the boba pearls

• If you are using store bought uncooked boba pearls, it is best that you follow the package instructions for cooking the boba pearls. The steps below are for the version I used to make this recipe.
• Once the boba pearls or tapioca pearls are cooked, you can follow the steps below in making the muscovado syrup for the boba pearls.

1. Pour water into a medium sized pot.
2. Bring the water to a rolling boil.
3. Add the boba pearls and stir to avoid them from sticking.
4. Reduce the heat to low and let the pearls cook in the boiling water for 30 minutes. The pearls will start floating after a few minutes in the boiling water. Let them cook until the 30 minutes is up, stirring occasionally. You should adjust this timing accordingly, based on the instruction on your boba pearls packet.
5. Turn of the heat and let the boba pearls continue to cook in the hot water for another 30 minutes with the lid on. This step is also subject to the cooking instructions for the boba pearls you use.
6. Strain the excess water and set the boba pearls aside while you prepare the muscovado sugar syrup.

Making the muscovado sugar syrup

1. Measure the sugar into a small saucepan. Add water and stir into the sugar.
2. Turn on the heat to a low flame. Stir the sugar briefly and add in the strained boba pearls.
3. Stir to coat them well with the syrup.
4. Continue to cook over low heat until the sugar syrup thickens such that it sticks to the spoon and does not flow off. The consistence of the syrup should be thick enough to coat the sides of your drinking glass. If it is too runny, you will not get the pretty brown sugar strokes around your glass as you typically see in brown sugar milk teas. Once the syrup is ready, turn off the heat.

Assembling the butterfly pea milk tea

1. Prepare your drinking glass. Add the cooked boba pearls into the glass.
2. Move the tapioca pearls up the sides of the glass to allow the muscovado sugar syrup in the boba pearls to coat the sides of the glass.
3. Add ice cubes.
4. Pour in the butterfly pea milk tea into the glass and serve.

🍽️Serving & storage

• The milk tea (without the boba pearls in it) is best consumed within the same day it is made.
• The boba pearls, on the other hand, are best prepared when the drink is ready to be served, otherwise they tend to harden as they get cold.
• The milk tea is best assembled (i.e. mixing the butterfly pea milk with the boba pearls) right before serving.

💡Expert Tips

• Add ice cubes to the drink right before serving to prevent it from becoming too diluted.
• The brown sugar syrup for boba can be prepared in advance.

💭FAQs

❤️More Recipes You Will Love

Do you like this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐rating in the recipe card below and consider a review further down this page. I would love to hear from you. Thank you!

📖Recipe

Butterfly Pea Milk Tea with Boba Pearls

This butterfly pea milk tea is not only super delicious, but also easy to make. Served with warm boba, this blue tea is an absolute treat!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Yield: 2 glasses

Author: Priya Maha

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Metric - US Customary

For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.

Ingredients

Butterfly Pea Milk

• ▢ 500 ml milk
• ▢ 20 butterfly pea flowers (fresh or dried)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon white sugar

Boba pearls in syrup

• ▢ ½ cup boba pearls (uncooked)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon muscovado sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon water

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Making the butterfly pea flower milk

• Pour the milk into a small saucepan.
• Heat it up and bring it to a boil. Keep a close watch on the milk as it will froth and overflow as it boils. As soon as you see it frothing and rising, you can turn off the heat.
• Add the butterfly pea flowers and sugar into the milk and stir.
• Cover the pot with a lid and let the flowers steep in the hot milk for 5 minutes.
• Uncover and strain the milk. Press the flowers with the back of a spoon to remove as much extract as possible.
• Set the milk aside to cool down. You can also place it in the refrigerator while preparing the boba pearls.

Cooking the boba pearls

• Note: If you are using store bought uncooked boba pearls, follow the instructions on the packaging for cooking the boba pearls and skip to the section 'Making the muscovado sugar syrup'. The steps below are only a general guide for cooking boba pearls.
• Pour water into a medium sized pot.
• Bring the water to a rolling boil.
• Add the boba pearls and stir to avoid them from sticking.
• Let the pearls cook in the boiling water for 30 minutes. The pearls will start floating after a few minutes in the boiling water. Let them cook until the 30 minutes is up, stirring occasionally. This step is subject to the cooking instructions for the boba pearls you use.
• Turn of the heat and let the boba pearls continue to cook in the hot water for another 30 minutes with the lid on. This step is also subject to the cooking instructions for the boba pearls you use.
• Strain the boba pearls and set them aside while you prepare the muscovado sugar syrup.

Making the muscovado sugar syrup

• Measure the muscovado sugar into a small saucepan. Add water.
• Turn on the heat to a low flame. Stir the sugar and water briefly and add in the strained boba pearls.
• Stir to coat them well with the syrup.
• Continue to cook over low heat until the sugar syrup thickens. The consistence of the syrup should be thick enough to coat the sides of your drinking glass. Once the syrup is ready, turn off the heat.

Assembling the butterfly pea milk tea

• Prepare your drinking glasses. Add the cooked boba pearls into the glasses.
• Move the tapioca pearls up the sides of the glasses to allow the muscovado sugar syrup in the boba pearls to coat the sides of the glasses.
• Add ice cubes.
• Pour in the butterfly pea milk tea into the glasses.
• Serve.

Notes

• Whole milk can be replaced with skim milk or other plant based milks like almond milk or oat milk.
• Dried butterfly pea flowers can be substituted with fresh flowers. Use in the exact same quantity.
• Muscovado sugar can be replaced with brown sugar. Use exact same quantity as mentioned in the recipe card.
• The brown sugar syrup for boba can be prepared in advance.

 

Variation:

• For a vanilla flavored butterfly pea boba tea, add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the milk tea after straining the flowers. Add ice cubes to the drink right before serving to prevent it from becoming too diluted.

Nutrition

Calories: 246.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 35.8g | Protein: 8.5g | Fat: 8.3g | Saturated Fat: 4.8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.8g | Cholesterol: 30.9mg | Sodium: 101.8mg | Potassium: 402.9mg | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 417.7IU | Calcium: 327.4mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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