Homemade bubble tea with milk and brown sugar

Ingredients:

Syrup

• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 cups fresh or frozen tapioca pearls (boba) or homemade, see recipe below

Tea

• 1 liter of brewed black tea, cooled
• 1 cup whole milk

Homemade tapioca balls

• 2 cups tapioca starch + about 3/4 cup extra for sprinkling
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• Special equipment: 4 extra wide bubble tea straws (approximately 1 cm in diameter)

Preparation:

1. Syrup:
   
   In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the mixture reaches the consistency of thin maple syrup, about 8 minutes. Transfer the syrup to a heat-resistant jar to cool.
2. Place the balls in a fine sieve and shake off excess cornstarch.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring 6 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Add the balls, stirring to prevent them from sticking, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the balls float to the surface and darken, about 4 minutes if fresh, about 7 minutes if frozen. Drain and rinse the balls with cold water (they will be soft but will set as they cool).
4. Add tapioca pearls to brown sugar syrup and let sit until syrup reaches room temperature, about 20 minutes.
5. Homemade Bubble Tea:
   
   Using a slotted spoon, divide the balls among 4 glasses and add 1 tablespoon of syrup to each glass, allowing the syrup to spread and coat the inside of the glass. Pour the tea and milk equally into the glasses and serve.

6. Homemade tapioca balls

   
   In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup water with 1 cup tapioca starch. The mixture may look separable, but it will become smooth in the next step.
   
   In a small saucepan, pour 2/3 cup of water over the brown sugar and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium-high and stir in the tapioca paste. Stir until the mixture begins to thicken slightly and the water is completely absorbed, about 30 seconds.
   
   Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup cornstarch until a dough ball forms, 1 to 2 minutes.
   
   Dust a work surface with tapioca flour. Remove the dough from the pan and let it cool for 3–4 minutes. Knead the dough until it is smooth, elastic to the touch, and no longer sticky, adding more tapioca starch as needed, about 7 minutes. If the dough seems too dry, wet your hands and continue kneading.
7. Divide the dough into 6 pieces and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Roll one piece of dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 0.5 cm. Using a wide (1 cm) straw dusted with tapioca starch, cut balls of dough from the dough, periodically dusting the straw with starch to prevent the dough from sticking. Gather the scraps of dough, roll them into a ball, and repeat the process. Discard the scraps of dough after the second rolling, as they will be too dry to reuse. Repeat with the remaining five pieces of dough.
8. Lightly dust a baking sheet with tapioca starch. Roll the dough pieces into pea-sized balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. If the dough seems too dry or cracks, moisten your fingers with a little water. Use the balls immediately or freeze them in a single layer for about 2 hours. Then transfer to a freezer bag and store in the freezer.