Passion Fruit Boba

5 from 2 votes

Passion Fruit Boba is a fun and tropical twist on your favorite bubble tea drink! It's a creamy and refreshing passion fruit milk tea with chewy tapioca pearls that's perfect for summertime.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Syrup Bath Time 30

Total Time 1 40

Servings servings

Calories 293

Author Jessica Kwon

Equipment

Boba straw

Ingredients

Boba In Syrup

½ cup boba (pearls) (see notes)
3 cups water divided
2 tablespoon white granulated sugar
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon honey

Passion Fruit Milk Tea

1¼ cups hot water 180-200°F
3 bags black or green tea
½ cup passion fruit purée (see notes)
½ cup half and half
Ice cubes

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cook the boba. Pour 2½ cups water into a small pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then add the boba and stir for 1 minute. Bring the heat down so it's at a rolling simmer, cover with a lid, and let cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Make sure the boba is fully submerged in water - add more water if needed.
After the first 30 minutes, take the pot off the heat and let sit for another 30 minutes - without peeking!
Then drain the boba and rinse briefly with cold water.
Make the syrup. While the boba is cooking, add ½ cup water to another small pot. Add the white sugar, brown sugar, and honey. Heat over medium heat for 5-7 minutes and whisk continuously until sugars are dissolved. Let cool.
Add the drained boba to the syrup and let sit for 30 minutes to sweeten.
Brew the tea while the boba is cooking. Steep the tea bags in 1¼ cups hot water for 3-5 minutes, depending on how strong you'd like the tea to be. Let cool completely, either on your countertop or in the fridge.
Prepare the passion fruit. If frozen, microwave in a cup in 20 second intervals until liquid. Let cool.
Assemble. Divide the boba, tea, and half and half between two tall glasses. Slowly pour in the passion fruit purée while stirring. Then sweeten with syrup to your preference and top with ice.
For one glass, my preferred measurements are: ¼ cup boba pearls (with a little of the syrup), ½ cup tea, ¼ cup half and half, ¼ cup passion fruit, and 5-6 tablespoon homemade honey boba syrup.

Notes

Tapioca pearls: Look for vacuum-sealed bags at Asian supermarkets. Avoid "quick cook", "instant", or "5 minute" pearls. They have a hardening quality in the starch that prevents them from getting perfectly chewy.
Passion fruit: For convenience, I use frozen seedless passion fruit purée from Whole Foods. Simply microwave or thaw in the fridge until liquid and let cool.
- Various brands of passion fruit purée can be found in Latin, Asian, or Caribbean markets.
- I don't recommend using passion fruit juice as it can contain other fruit flavorings and the consistency will be too thin.
- If using fresh passion fruit, cut one in half and scoop the seeds into a food processor. Lightly pulse a couple times to pull the pulp away from the seeds. Pour into a strainer on top of a bowl, and use the back of a spoon to press on the seeds to extract the pulp. You'll need about 5-6 lilikoi for ½ cup juice.
Since the passion fruit puree is very acidic, it can cause the milk to curdle. To prevent this, add the milk to the glass first. Then very slowly pour in the purée, while stirring, to gradually combine the two.
Make sure you have a proper boba straw. I like these reusable straws from Amazon.

Nutrition