This Red Bean Boba recipe uses a base of milk & red bean paste, complemented by the the sweetness of brown sugar and chewy Boba pearls. Make this refreshing Red Bean Milk Tea, also known as Red Bean Bubble Tea at home with a few simple ingredients and easy to follow recipe.
Homemade Red Bean Boba Milk Tea
I mentioned before, my love of homemade bubble tea. It’s easy to make, and wayyyyy cheaper than buying it at a bubble tea shop! Also, I don’t drink certain types of tea, so I love that I can make a milk based bubble “tea” that… isn’t actually tea. So I guess my title is misleading, and I should call this red bean bubble milk, but that sounds kind of weird and I don’t think you would’ve clicked through if that had been the title.
When I DO go to bubble tea shops, I usually either get honeydew, almond, or red bean. Does your local shop have red bean flavor? I think it’s becoming increasingly popular, and the “eh? Bean?” reaction is starting to fade. Red bean is a super common Japanese dessert ingredient, and it actually goes great with dairy (like this red bean chestnut cake).
This Red Bean Boba recipe is so easy, because the drink only has two ingredients: milk and sweet red bean paste! You just mix mix and add your boba! I soak my cooked boba in simple syrup, to add a little sweetness. This time I used an equal portion brown sugar to water, and it was delicious! I’m thinking brown sugar works with boba pearls even better than regular sugar.
How do you like your bubble tea? I like mine as a regular drink, while my husband insists on slushy ones. You can go either way! Just add ice when you blend to make it slushy. I actually don’t have an ice maker right now, so I made mine sans ice. Whatevs, it’s good either way.
I think when it’s cold outside, slushy doesn’t feel quite right… Like I’m pretending it’s summer or something. I think when I make this in the summer, I’ll add the ice. I should have an ice maker by then!
Another thing I love about this drink, is that you don’t have to have powder. Did you know that most, if not all, of the places that sell bubble tea just use different flavored powders? I mean, it’s yummy and it’s fine, but… I just like the fact that I’m using real red bean, and that there are pieces of red bean in my drink. Feels authentic or something. By the way, if you don’t like little pieces of red bean in your drink (my husband complained to me about this), make sure to use “koshi-an” instead of “tsubu-an” when you buy your red bean paste.
Today when I was snapping pics, my cat came and joined me. He loves when I open the windows, because he can jump up and sit on the sill. It doesn’t happen very often now that it’s cold outside, so as soon as he heard me open it, he was there! Isn’t he cute? His name is Kona, named after the city Kona on the Big Island in Hawaii where I got married. He’s a fatty and all he does is sleep all day. I’m surprised he was able to jump up to the window sill. Seriously.
Easy Red Bean Bubble Tea
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup sweet red bean paste
- 3 cups milk
- 1/3 cup boba pearls
- water
- 2 T brown sugar
- 2 T water
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Instructions
Make Syrup
- Combine brown sugar and water in a small bowl and heat in microwave.2 T brown sugar,2 T water
- Stir until the brown sugar is completely dissolved in the water.
Cook Boba Pearls
- Cook the boba pearls according to package directions.Typical instructions:Heat 6 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add boba pearls and cover with lid. Simmer for 3 minutes, remove lid and simmer for additional 3 minutes.1/3 cup boba pearls
- Drain boba and place in the brown sugar syrup.
- Allow to cool.
Blend
- When boba pearls are cooled, combine red bean paste and milk in a blender. Blend on low speed.Do not over-blend, or else the milk will become very foamy.Low quick pulses help reduce the amount of foam produced.3 cups milk,2/3 cup sweet red bean paste
Serve
- Place drink in cups and add boba pearls.Add sugar syrup to taste for added sweetness.Drink with boba straws.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi I think you can call this is a bubble latte, not bubble tea 🙂
. I came across your post looking for a red bean latte after having one in Hong Kong. Thanks for sharing…
I am a huge red bean fan, but I agree, most places use powder instead of the real thing. It’s night and day in terms of the flavor profile you get from real beans. I think only one shop that I know in San Francisco that actually makes their own red bean paste for the boba tea. Everywhere else, the red bean comes from a can. =( anyways, love your boba tea recipes, I look forward to seeing more of it!
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