Coffee milk tea is an overload of flavor, sweetness, and energy. It’s perfect for coffee lovers who want to enjoy their favorite drink in a new way. While conveniently available in many milk tea shops, nothing beats homemade boba coffee milk tea, which is easy to make.
What Is Coffee Milk Tea?
Coffee comes in many forms, like cold brew, hot espresso, instant 3-in-1 powder, and specialty mixes. They all begin the same way – as beans harvested from the Coffee plant. This drink has kept millions of people awake and alert for centuries.
Over the years, people decided coffee tastes good with milk, and they recently completed the trio by inserting tea. Coffee milk tea is as it sounds. Everything is yummy in a cup. Whip yourself up one, and you’ll never enjoy coffee the same way again.
What Does Coffee Milk Tea Taste Like?
Coffee milk tea tastes like the perfect blend of creaminess and bitterness, punctuated by fresh, herbal flavors. It’s complex yet balanced, not like any other.
Coffee Milk Tea Ingredients
The time it takes to make coffee milk tea depends on how quickly you can prepare the three essential elements – coffee, milk tea, and boba pearls. If you go for instant coffee and simple tea bags, twenty minutes might be more than enough to make yourself a cup.
If you brew your coffee from scratch, you’ll have to add a few more minutes. That extra time is so worth it because of the incredible flavors. It’s all up to you because a coffee milk tea recipe is easy to customize.
- Milk: Coffee milk tea is usually made with whole milk, for that creamy, rich texture. You can also use plant-based milk, like almond, soy, or any milk you like.
- Brewed Tea (1 cup): Many recommend using black tea, as its flavors stand out against the boldness of the coffee. You can really use anything you like, such as Earl Grey, jasmine, or green tea. Many coffee milk teas are made without actual tea, so this ingredient is optional.
- Coffee: This is the star of the show, and you can have anything you like – espresso, instant powder, cold brew, etc. Remember, though, that the type and amount you add immensely affect the drink’s taste, especially its bitterness.
- Tapioca Pearls/Black Boba: Boba pearls provide excellent texture and cut through the richness and bitterness of the drink. Some make this from scratch, but many ready-made ones are on the market to save you the hassle.
- Tapioca Pearl/Boba Syrup: Boba pearls are best cooked in syrup made from sugar and water. It’s also added to the milk tea, providing extra sweetness and richness.
- Ice: If you want a cold coffee milk tea, you’ll need ice. For a twist, you can use coffee-flavored ice.
- Creamer: This is an optional ingredient. You can use any creamer you like and add as much as you want. This makes your milk tea creamier, but if you want to avoid masking the coffee’s flavors, skip this ingredient.
- Sweetener: You can sweeten your coffee milk tea with sugar, honey, syrup, or other sweeteners. If you include boba syrup, you can skip this one, as the syrup is enough to sweeten the drink and tone down the coffee’s bitterness.
How To Make a Coffee Milk Tea
There are two types of coffee milk tea boba – with or without brewed tea. You can skip the first step if you don’t want brewed tea in your drink.
Brew the Tea in Milk
Most milk teas are made by steeping tea in water, but for an extra creamy, delicious drink, brew your tea in milk instead. If you want no tea at all, skip this step.
Heat milk in a pan over low heat then put in your tea leaves or bag. Leave the tea to steep for a few minutes then remove it from the heat. Set aside your brewed tea to cool and infuse further.
Brew the Coffee
If you want a quick drink, you can use instant coffee. Mix the powder with ½ or less cup of hot water then set aside to cool. You can also buy bottled cold brew.
If you want to make or brew your coffee, that’s perfectly fine! You can use your coffee machine, French press, pot, or anything. You can make espresso, cold brew, or any coffee that works for you. You can also add the creamer at this stage.
Cook the Boba Pearls and Syrup
You can cook your boba pearls by following the packaging directions. You can boil your boba pearls in water or syrup if there are no instructions. If you choose the former, fill a pot with water, place the pearls in the water, let them boil, then wait until they float up or are cooked.
If you prefer cooking syrup, make the syrup first by dissolving sugar in hot water then add the pearls and let them cook. When the pearls are done, take them off the syrup, place them in cold water, then strain. Set aside the washed pearls and extra syrup.
Assemble the Coffee Milk Tea
Take out your cup, or container, and fill the bottom with boba syrup, pearls, and ice. Then add your strained milk tea and brewed coffee. If you haven’t added the sweetener to the milk tea or coffee, you can add it at this time.
If you want, you can change the order of the ingredients or stir them to combine. You can add toppings, too, like whipped cream or syrup.
Tips for Making Coffee Milk Tea
Improve your coffee bubble tea by including these additions:
- Whipped cream: Top your coffee milk tea with a swirl of whipped cream. It gives a good look and makes the drink creamier.
- Dalgona: Whip coffee, hot water, and sugar together to make an intensely coffee-flavored whipped topping for your coffee milk tea.
- Coffee jelly: Instead of boba pearls, you can use coffee jelly. If you want to be creative, combine the two.
- Coffee-flavored ice: Melted ice can make your coffee milk tea bland, but not when they’re coffee-flavored already!
- Matcha tea: Instead of black tea, you can infuse your milk tea with matcha. It gives your drink unique flavors and a green color that stands out.
- Caramel: You can use caramel sauce or syrup as your sweetener, as its flavor goes well with coffee.
- Salt: A pinch of salt into this drink can help cut through the richness and sweetness, leading to better-balanced flavors.
- Popping boba: Upgrade your traditional pearls to popping boba, containing a fruity center. As the name implies, the pearls were made to explode when squeezed, releasing the fruity juice inside.
Coffee Milk Tea Nutritional Facts
This is an estimate of the coffee milk tea nutritional facts:
- Calories: 128 to 500kcal
- Carbohydrates: 25 to 50g
- Fat: 2 to 28g
- Protein: 2 to 8g
- Cholesterol: 7 to 85mg
- Sodium: 27 to 151mg
- Sugar: 4 to 28g
- Vitamin D: 99 to 857IU
- Calcium: 82 to 268mg
- Potassium: 109 to 391mg
These nutritional values are based on similar Honest Food Talks and Joy To The Foods coffee milk tea with boba recipes. Actual values may fall below or above the range. For instance, if you add much sugar and boba syrup, your coffee milk tea’s actual sugar levels could be much higher.
Coffee Milk Tea Benefits
Individually, coffee, milk, and tea provide health advantages that come together as coffee milk tea ingredients benefits.
Energy Boost
Coffee milk tea is incredibly energy-boosting because you can get caffeine from coffee and tea. In the right amounts, caffeine stimulates your nervous system, thus keeping you awake and alert.
Note that not all types of tea have caffeine. Among them, black tea has the most amount of this stimulating compound. If the combination of black tea and coffee gives you too much caffeine, you can use decaf coffee, or caffeine-free or herbal teas instead.
Antioxidants
Tea is a well-known source of antioxidants, such as flavonoids or catechins, that can combat the harmful effects of free radicals, such as cancer. But few know that coffee is as rich in antioxidants, specifically polyphenols and hydrocinnamic acids.
A wide range of antioxidants reduces your risks of many diseases, including heart problems, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. A source states, however, that adding milk dampens the antioxidative effects of coffee and tea, so the antioxidant benefits you get from coffee milk tea might be less than drinking tea and coffee separately.
FAQs
Can I Mix Tea, Coffee, and Milk?
Yes, you can mix tea, coffee, and milk to make coffee milk tea. You can serve it as it is or add other ingredients, like boba pearls, sweeteners, and ice.
Does Coffee Milk Tea Taste Good?
Coffee milk tea tastes good, especially when the ingredients are in your preferred proportions. Having the components according to your taste is crucial because some people prefer their coffee milk tea bitter, while others lean toward sweet.
Does Coffee Milk Tea Have Caffeine?
Coffee milk tea has caffeine, which can come from coffee and tea. To minimize caffeine levels, use decaf coffee and avoid black or green teas.
Can Kids Drink Boba?
Most kids can drink boba milk tea but avoid giving it to the really young ones because the pearls are choking hazards. Also, avoid highly-caffeinated milk teas, like coffee milk tea, as too much caffeine harms children.
How Do I Make My Milk Tea Creamy?
You can make your coffee milk tea creamy by adding a creamer, whipped cream, or steeping tea in milk. Using whole milk also makes your tea creamier than other milk types.
Is It Okay To Swallow Boba?
You can swallow boba, but there can be risks of choking. It’s recommended to chew the pearls first before swallowing them to avoid unfortunate incidents. If you have a young child, do not let them swallow boba, as the choking risks are higher for them.
