Chai tea (masala chai) from India and boba (bubble) tea from Taiwan are two of Asia’s most beloved sweetened milky tea drinks. Their recognition has unfold all through the world and for good motive – they’re insanely scrumptious.
For the most effective of each worlds, this refreshing recipe for Wholesome Iced Chai Boba Tea will hit the spot. This recipe combines scrumptious, aromatic, and spiced chai tea with the addicting creaminess and distinctive textures of bubble (boba) tea.
By making our personal low-carb model of boba pearls and utilizing Mānuka honey from Flora as a pure and helpful sweetener, it’s wholesome sufficient to take pleasure in at house any time you want.
What’s Bubble Tea?
Invented initially in Taiwan within the late Eighties, bubble tea, also referred to as boba tea, is a well-liked drink made by mixing tea with milk, and your alternative of flavored syrups and add-ins like chocolate and custard. However it’s the candy, dense, and chewy tapioca pearls within the cup’s backside it’s important to sip up with a particular straw that makes boba tea distinctive.
Whereas it could appear unusual at first, the distinction of textures is downright addicting.
Is Boba (Bubble) Tea Wholesome?
The issue with historically made boba teas is that they’re loaded with sugar. Except for taste syrups that may comprise synthetic flavorings and colour, the tapioca pearls, that are produced from cassava root starch that’s made right into a dough, rolled into balls, and boiled, comprise few vitamins and are excessive in energy.
One-quarter cup of tapioca pearls with out the syrup will price you 136 energy and 34 g carbs. And that’s earlier than including any tea, cream, milk flavors, or sweeteners.
Whereas boba teas from bubble tea outlets must be an occasional deal with quite than a day by day beverage, this Wholesome Iced Chai Boba Tea recipe is wholesome sufficient to take pleasure in daily!
Directions for making more healthy low-carb “pearls” from both gelatin or agar are within the recipe card beneath.
What Is Chai Tea? Is it Wholesome?
Masala Chai (spiced tea) or Chai Tea, is a scrumptious beverage made with black tea and milk simmered with heat fragrant spices like cinnamon, ginger, star anise, cardamom, black peppercorns, nutmeg, and typically vanilla.
Whereas we must always all the time eat sugar sparsely, black tea and spices like these in chai comprise nutritional vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and plant compounds which are nice for the physique.
Enjoyable Meals Reality: “Chai” is the Hindi identify for tea and isn’t technically a taste. So once we say chai tea, we’re truly saying “tea tea”. Masala chai is the spice mix that makes chai so distinctive and scrumptious.
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED FOR THIS RECIPE
Chai Tea: Use your alternative of chai tea and brew it robust. You need to use tea baggage or loose-leaf teas. Notice that Chai tea made with black tea accommodates caffeine. For much less, select a chai tea made with inexperienced tea as a substitute, or simply go decaf. Natural Rooibos Chai tea is an natural possibility with no caffeine in any respect.
Notice that chai tea blends can differ extensively in taste. Some could have extra cinnamon, whereas others could have spices like ginger or cardamom. Test the labels on the tea to get an thought of which flavors to anticipate. The recipe directions embody spices you may add for a a lot richer taste for those who discover yours bland.
Milk (unsweetened): Use whichever milk you want! That features complete milk, almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, or coconut milk. The creamier the higher!
Mānuka Honey: For a pure and unrefined sweetener, we’re utilizing our favourite, 100% genuine, sustainably sourced Mānuka honey from Flora, which has added advantages that sugar can’t compete with.
Intensely candy and earthy with a minimalistic end, this honey is a mono-floral (one-flower) honey made by bees that drink the nectar of the wild Mānuka bushes (Leptospermum scoparium). These bushes develop solely in New Zealand and bloom for 2-6 weeks per 12 months making this honey uncommon.
Additionally a strong superfood, Mānuka honey has distinctive compounds (Methylglyoxal (MGO), Leptosperin, and Dihydroxyacetone (DHA)) that aren’t present in different forms of honey.
Since Mānuka Honey is such a uncommon product, it’s no shock that there are lots of fakers on the market. With Flora’s Mānuka Honey, you all the time know you’re getting the actual factor. They’re licensed by the Distinctive Mānuka Issue Honey Affiliation™ in New Zealand, an affiliation that created a strict measuring system known as the Distinctive Mānuka Issue (UMF™) which controls the authenticity, purity, and high quality of all actual Mānuka honey being bought. Plus, each jar of Flora Mānuka Honey is 100% traceable, all the way in which again to the hive. Simply scan the label along with your smartphone.
When selecting Mānuka honey, take into account the upper the UMF™ score, the stronger the Mānuka honey, and the higher focus of helpful compounds contained inside.
When utilizing Mānuka Honey in any recipe don’t apply it to excessive warmth, which may have an effect on its helpful properties.
When you can’t tolerate honey, strive a wholesome, sugar-free substitute as a substitute, like monk fruit, stevia, or erythritol.
Wholesome Boba “Pearls” (Directions Beneath): Utilizing a culinary course of known as reverse spherification, these “wholesome boba” are straightforward and enjoyable to make utilizing unflavored powdered gelatin or agar. Taste them with tea and even espresso for an additional enhance. You’ll be able to follow chai or use one other flavored tea that might complement the flavors on this drink like vanilla, caramel, or chocolate. Use decaf to chop down on caffeine.
Ice: Use as a lot as you want, however the colder the higher!
The best way to Make and Serve This Wholesome Chai Boba Tea
1 – When you’ve brewed your chai masala tea, let it cool to room temperature. Whisk within the Mānuka honey. It’s thick, so give it some elbow grease.
2 – In a tall glass, begin by including your boba (pearls). 2 to three tablespoons ought to do the trick.
3 – Add the ice and the milk and drizzle within the sweetened chai tea.
4 – To serve, sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and don’t overlook your boba straw!
Wholesome Boba Tea Pearls
As an alternative choice to high-sugar tapioca pearls, you may simply make more healthy boba tea pearls at house utilizing both powdered gelatin or agar. Listed here are the variations:
Gelatin: Utilizing unflavored gelatin powder, you can also make your individual “pearls” excessive protein and low-carb. Solely add these gelatin boba pearls to chilly drinks, because the gelatin will soften underneath excessive warmth. These have a pleasant chewy chew however aren’t vegan or vegetarian-friendly.
Agar (agar-agar): In style in Asian delicacies, agar is a plant-based thickener extracted from crimson algae, usually used as an alternative choice to gelatin. The gelling texture of agar is firmer than gelatin however has a barely totally different texture.
A profit to utilizing agar, in addition to it being plant-based, gluten-free and carb-free, is that it has nearly no energy. And as soon as gelled, it’s proof against melting underneath excessive warmth. The draw back to utilizing agar is that it doesn’t have as bouncy a chew as gelatin or the elasticity of tapioca.
Tip: Each agar and gelatin should be “bloomed” or soaked in a bit of water earlier than utilizing them within the recipe for about 5- 8 minutes or they gained’t set correctly.
The best way to Make Your Personal Wholesome Boba Pearls
1 – Fill a tall jar with a impartial oil like sunflower oil and place within the freezer to sit back nicely (about 1-2 hours).
2 – In case your oil is prepared, put together your gelatin or agar/tea combination and let it cool to simply above room temperature.
3 – Take your oil out of the freezer. It will likely be a bit of cloudy. If it’s too thick, give it a stir. It shouldn’t be clumpy and the feel must be constant all through.
4 – Fill a syringe or dropper bottle with the gelatin/agar combination, avoiding bubbles. Then slowly drop the combination across the floor of the oil in several spots to permit the boba to kind. Greater droplets will fall quicker and will have a much less uniform form than smaller drops.
5 -Pressure boba out utilizing a strainer after which rinse underneath chilly water to take away the oil. It can save you and reuse the oil within the jar to make extra boba sooner or later.
Ideas and Tips
To make your boba dark-colored like the standard tapioca pearls, strive including a bit of cocoa powder.
If the boba doesn’t maintain its form or begins to “develop tails” the oil is simply too heat. Pop it again within the freezer once more to chill.
When you’ve got sufficient, hold spare oil chilling in case it is advisable to swap it in for oil that’s too heat. When you’re making a big amount, strive placing the oil jar in an ice tub to maintain it chilly for an extended period of time.
Get The Recipes!
Wholesome Iced Chai Bubble (Boba) Tea
Low in sugar and wholesome sufficient to be loved daily, this chilly and refreshing, wholesome boba tea recipe combines aromatic chai tea with the addicting creaminess and distinctive textures of bubble (boba) tea. Making your individual bubble tea pearls with gelatin or agar will prevent all of the carbs and sugar present in conventional tapioca boba pearls, whereas Mānuka honey provides a contact of wholesome unrefined sweetness.
Components
INGREDIENTS For the Wholesome Boba Pearls
1cupready robust tea sweetened to style* see notes2tablespoonspowdered gelatin or 1 tsp of agar2-4cupsof impartial oilsunflower avocado, grapeseed, and so on. well-chilled within the freezer
INGREDIENTS For the Chai Boba Tea
4chai tea baggagecould use decaf or natural2cupsof water1-2tablespoonsof Flora Mānuka Honeyto styleice8ouncesof milk of alternativewe used further creamy almond6tablespoonsof ready boba pearlsuse the recipe beneathcinnamonfor garnishboba strawbiodegradable
DIRECTIONS
Prep the Gelatin/Agar: In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin or agar over 1 cup of your ready and cooled tea. Stir and permit to take a seat (5 minutes for gelatin/8 minutes for agar).
Warmth on medium warmth till totally dissolved, stirring gently. Then pour right into a heat-safe bowl to chill to simply above room temperature. It must be barely heat to the contact.
Get Your Oil Prepared: Take away oil from the freezer. It must be barely cloudy and thick. Give it a stir earlier than beginning so the feel is clean and even.
Making the Pearls: Along with your syringe or dropper bottle evenly, slowly squirt drops on the prime chilly oil. Area out the putting of the drops so the pearls don’t stick collectively. Do just a few check drops to get a sense for measurement. ⅛ – ¼ tsp per drop is ideal. Proceed with the remainder of the gelatin combination.
Ideas: If the drops simply sit on the floor of the oil, your oil is simply too chilly. Let it sit out for a minute and provides it a stir earlier than persevering with. If the drops “develop tails” as they fall to the underside of the jar, your oil has turn out to be too heat. Pop within the freezer once more to sit back. Having a second jar to change out could make the method quicker. Inserting the jar in an ice tub can even assist hold the temperature of the oil chilly.
If the gelatin/agar combination will get too thick to drop, pop it within the microwave for five seconds to heat barely, stir after which proceed.
Pressure and Rinse: Whenever you’re completed, drain the gelatin “pearls” with a fine-mesh strainer or small colander, reserving the oil for later use. Rinse nicely underneath chilly water to take away floor oil. Maintain leftovers in an air-tight container till prepared to make use of. For finest outcomes use inside 4 days.
NOTES
This recipe ought to yield about ¾ cup of pearls.
Experiment with totally different tea sorts (together with natural) to taste the bubble tea gelatin pearls. For concentrated taste, use 3-4 tea baggage per cup of water, however be aware of caffeine content material.
DIRECTIONS For the Wholesome Chai Boba Tea
Simmer Masala Chai Tea: In a small pot, add chai tea baggage and convey 2 cups of water to a boil. Decrease warmth, stir and simmer for five minutes. Take away from warmth and permit to chill. For extra intense taste, see notes.
Sweeten With Honey: Take away the tea baggage and any complete spices (if utilizing) from the water and whisk in manuka honey.
Assemble Boba Teas: In a 12-ounce glass, add ready boba pearls. Then prime with a handful of ice and ounces of milk. Drizzle in chai tea to prime.
Serve: To serve, garnish with cinnamon and pop in a boba straw. Get pleasure from!
NOTES
Some ready chai teas within the bag might be bland. So as to add extra intense taste simmer the chai tea baggage with 1 teaspoon floor cinnamon (or 2 cinnamon sticks), 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (or could sub 5 cardamom pods), 1 pinch of floor cloves, 1 pinch of black pepper, and 1-star anise pod.
Mānuka honey may be very thick and doesn’t mix simply in chilly liquids.
Right here’s a trick to make a fast and wholesome “syrup” you could simply stir into your boba tea: Combine 1 tablespoon of manuka honey with ½ teaspoon of room-temperature water including ¼ teaspoon extra at a time to skinny if wanted.
➡ Store Genuine Mānuka Honey at FloraHealth.com
Extra Wholesome Recipes Made With Flora Mānuka Honey
➡ Beet Pineapple Granita with Mānuka Honey
➡ Immune Boosting Beet-Turmeric Refresher
➡ Mānuka Honey Lavender Lemonade
➡ Cinnamon Baked Pears with Elderberry Whipped Cream and Mānuka Honey
➡ Mānuka Honey + Mint + Lime Ice-Pops
