Strawberry Milk Tea

Name: Strawberry Milk Tea
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 95 min
Ingredients: ½ cup boba (pearls) ((see notes)); 3 cups water (divided); 2 tbsp white granulated sugar; 2 tbsp brown sugar; 2 tbsp honey; 1½ cups hot water (around 200-212°F); 3 tea bags (I used Assam black tea); ¼ cup half and half; Ice cubes; 2 cups strawberries (hulled); 2 tbsp white granulated sugar

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This creamy and decadent Strawberry Milk Tea with boba is the perfect summer drink! It's made with fresh strawberries, black tea, and a homemade brown sugar and honey syrup for the ultimate bubble tea refresher.

Two glasses of strawberry milk tea with black boba straws on a wooden serving board.

Jump to:

🍓 What Is Strawberry Bubble Tea?
🧂 Ingredients
🔪 How To Make Strawberry Milk Tea
💭 Top Tips
🥡 Storing and Make Ahead
📖 Recipe FAQs
🍽 Looking For More Asian Recipes?
📋 Recipe
💬 Reviews

🍓 What Is Strawberry Bubble Tea?

Bubble tea drinks originated in Taiwan in the 1980s' and has since exploded in popularity. You can make this refreshing drink with virtually any flavor, but strawberry milk tea is a crowd favorite for a reason. It's sweet and creamy, with a classic and pure strawberry flavor that pairs amazingly with a fragrant tea base. Make the strawberry syrup with real fruit and you'll be rewarded with the most refreshing sweet drink!

You'll love this strawberry milk tea with or without boba, but the chewy tapioca pearls just add to the fun! I recommend soaking them in a homemade brown sugar and honey syrup bath for the perfect sweetness that you can also use to flavor the milk tea. The end result is a cold, smooth, and delicious strawberry boba tea that's absolutely irresistible.

For more delicious bubble tea drinks, you can also try Almond Milk Tea or Classic Milk Tea. Another one of my favorite fruit boba drinks is Lychee Bubble Tea!

Why You'll Love It

Real ingredients: Most boba cafes use strawberry powder or artificial sweeteners for their drinks. Use fresh ingredients like real fruit and creamer for better flavor and quality.
Customizable: You can completely customize this easy drink to your liking. This easy recipe is a great guide but feel free to change up the tea, milk, sweetener, and the amount of each.
Inspired by Boba Guys: The strawberry syrup is a simple blend-and-strain (no boiling necessary) inspired by Boba Guys' own recipe. They wrote The Boba Book which include several great tips for the perfect bubble tea, many of which I've put into practice in this delicious recipe.

🧂 Ingredients

Boba (tapioca pearls): You can find these in vacuum-sealed bags in the tea aisle of Asian supermarkets. I get the Bolle brand from H-Mart, which can also be found on Amazon. But shipped tapioca balls can become powdery during delivery so I recommend purchasing them in-person if you can.
- A tip from The Boba Book: avoid "quick cook", "instant", or "5 minute" pearls. They have a hardening quality in the starch that prevents them from getting perfectly chewy. You can check the instructions on the back of the bag to double check - there should be a 20-30 minute cooking time.
Tea bags: You can use any type you'd like, but black assam is my favorite. It's rich, malty, and bitter so it provides a lot of depth and pairs well with the sweet fruit flavor.
Strawberries: Fresh fruit is best for this recipe - even strawberries that are a little past their prime would work.
White sugar, brown sugar, and honey: For the homemade syrup to flavor the pearls. You can use just 1 or 2 of these, but I like the depth and flavor of using all 3.
Half and half: My choice of creamer in all my boba drinks. It's super velvety and smooth without being too heavy.

Substitutions & Variations

Substitute with the 5-minute pearls or these instant frozen boba from Costco. But they do harden within minutes so consume your drink within the hour.
Use your choice of tea for this boba recipe. Earl grey, oolong, jasmine green, or matcha green tea are popular options.
If using frozen strawberries, let completely thaw before blending.
You can use any sweetener for both the strawberry and boba syrup bath. Agave, coconut sugar, or maple syrup are some plant-based options.
To reinforce the strawberry flavor, you can use strawberry fruit tea and strawberry popping boba.
Prefer strawberry milk tea with no boba? Easy - follow the recipe as directed but leave out the tapioca pearls and halve the honey syrup.
To make a dairy free strawberry milk tea, substitute half and half with almond, oat, or soy milk. It won't be as creamy but will still taste great.
To make a vegan strawberry milk tea, use a dairy-free creamer and replace the honey with additional brown sugar in the boba syrup.

🔪 How To Make Strawberry Milk Tea

⬇️ Please scroll down to the recipe card to see full ingredient amounts and instructions.

Pot of cooking boba and draining it in a colander.

STEP ONE: Start by cooking the boba since it'll take the longer. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the pearls, stirring for a full minute to prevent them from sticking to the bottom. Turn the heat down to a rolling simmer, cover, and let cook for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes and make sure it doesn't dry out.

STEP TWO: After the initial 30 minutes, take the pot off the heat, cover with a lid, and let sit undisturbed for another 30 minutes. Then drain the pearls and rinse lightly with water.

Steeping tea bags in water and making the honey syrup.

STEP THREE: While the pearls are cooking, steep the tea bags in hot water for 4-5 minutes. Discard the bags and let the tea cool completely. You can let it cool in the fridge if you'd like. It'll turn opaque and cloudy, but the flavor won't be affected.

STEP FOUR: In another small pot, combine water, brown sugar, white sugar, and honey. Simmer gently over medium heat until everything is dissolved, about 5 minutes. This is the syrup bath for your boba as well as the honey sweetener for your drink.

STEP FIVE: To make the strawberry purée, blend fresh strawberries with white sugar (or the sweetener of your choice).

STEP SIX: Strain the purée and use the back of a spoon or spatula to strain as much liquid as possible. The strawberry syrup will be thick and you should get ¾ cup worth. Taste and adjust the sweetness level as preferred.

Soaking boba in syrup and getting ready to assemble strawberry milk tea.

STEP SEVEN: Add the strained boba to the honey and brown sugar syrup bath. Let soak for 30 minutes.

STEP EIGHT: To assemble, divide the black tea, strawberry syrup, milk, and boba between two glasses. Adjust the syrup by adding more honey syrup to taste, then top it off with ice.

Pouring half and half into black tea to make milk tea.

💭 Top Tips

Make the boba fresh. The tapioca pearls don't store well and will harden as they cool. They're at their best quality when fresh and warm, within 4-6 hours of cooking. Only cook as much boba as you intend to consume and make a fresh batch each time.
It's important to brew teas at their indicated temperature. 200-212°F water is generally best for black tea, but follow the instructions on the package. A temperature-specific electric kettle will make this a breeze.
Adjust the sugar as needed. If your strawberries aren't as sweet as you'd like, add a little more sugar to taste.
Save the strawberry pulp! Freeze it to add into a smoothie or use it as a topping for Greek yogurt, oatmeal, or cereal.
Boba shops often serve their drinks with warm boba. After the pearls sit in the syrup bath, they usually cool down to room temperature. If you want a warmer boba, give them a quick zap in the microwave for 15 seconds or keep the syrup bath and boba in a slow cooker on Low until ready to serve.
Don't forget the boba straws to enjoy this drink with boba!

Glasses of strawberry bubble tea with milk and boba in the background.

🥡 Storing and Make Ahead

Storing: Store each item separately for best quality.

I don't recommend storing cooked boba as it will harden in the fridge. Instead, make it fresh each time you want a glass of boba.
Brewed black tea can be stored in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Strawberry purée can be stored in a small jar in the fridge for 1 week.
You can store any leftover syrup, even if you've used up the boba. Transfer to a small jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Use it in any drink or cocktail.

Make Ahead: The tea and syrup can be made 2-3 days in advance. For the tea:

You can warm brew the tea, as directed in the recipe. Let cool slightly before transferring to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the fridge until ready to use. It will turn cloudy in the fridge but it won't affect the flavor.
To cold brew, add the bags to a pitcher of water (can be cold or room temperature) and let sit in the fridge overnight. Strain and store in the fridge until ready to use. Cold-brewed tea will be sweeter, less bitter, and less caffeinated.

Angled view of strawberry milk tea in a glass with black boba straw and strawberries on the side.

📖 Recipe FAQs

Does strawberry milk tea have caffeine?

It depends on the tea you use. Black teas usually have the most caffeine, followed by oolong, green, and white tea. You can make this decaf with decaffeinated tea.

Does strawberry milk tea taste like tea?

Usually not. The strawberry milk teas I've tried at cafés like Ding Tea, Gong Cha, or Quickly are creamy and milkier with a very light base of tea. You can adjust the drink proportions to your taste, whether you like the tea to be more forward or not.

What kind of tea is in strawberry milk tea?

Black (like Assam or ceylon), green (usually Jasmine), or matcha are the most popular pairings with strawberry. Each have a different flavor profile. Black tea has a rounder, more subtle taste that I like best with fruit. Green tea is more bitter and the flavor will stand out more, but it's also lighter and more floral. Matcha, however, has a very unique flavor profile and won't be masked. But strawberry matcha drinks are very popular thanks to Boba Guys.