How to Bring the Boba Tea Shop Home Pt 1 (RareTea Boba DIY Review)
During the first few months of quarantine, Ernie and I decided to quarantine separately with our families to be safe. During quarantine, I started to miss boba tea. Whenever I visit Ernie down in South Florida, we would always visit boba shops. Unfortunately where I live, there aren’t any options for boba tea. On Facebook I kept seeing ads for boba kits from RareTea, and I decided to give them a try.
The first things I ordered were the Tapioca Pearls and Caramelized Brown Sugar. After you place your order, you will receive an email with the password that will give you access to their recipes. The first drink I decided to make was a hojicha milk tea with pearl. I purchased my hojicha from Hojicha Co.; the price for the hojicha powder is reasonable and the hojicha tastes great. In the future I plan to experiment using hojicha in baked goods, so stay tuned!
The Tapioca Pearls
The instructions to cook the tapioca pearl were easy to follow; keep in mind that the boba takes about an hour and 15 minutes to prepare, and you cannot store the cooked tapioca pearls in the fridge. I tried storing it in the fridge, and the next day they were hard. When I tried reheating them the pearls soften, but as soon as I put them in a cold drink they harden again. I guess if you want to use the pearls for a warm beverage, storing the pearls in the fridge wouldn’t be bad.
The cooked pearls were the perfect texture, and the caramelized brown sugar complemented the pearls. Unfortunately the first time I made the pearl milk tea, I did not have straws big enough for the pearls. The description of the glass straws I bought on Amazon claimed to be good for boba tea…I guess they meant mini boba ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
After being happy with my first purchase I decided to try other items. Next I got the Non-Dairy Creamer, Okinawa Milk Tea Powder, Black Tea, Roasted Oolong Tea, Jasmine Tea, Passion Fruit Jam, and Rose Syrup.
Milk Tea
If you miss the taste of classic milk tea from boba shops, I recommend you try the Okinawa milk tea. It consists of black tea, non-dairy creamer, Okinawa milk tea powder, and choice of sweetener. I personally find it sweet enough, so I don’t add anymore sweetener. The RareTea recipe calls for a lot of non-dairy creamer and Okinawa milk tea Powder; I prefer to use 2 tablespoons of each, and put a bit of caramelized brown sugar around the inside of cup. I also recommend shaking your teas in a cocktail shaker or a mason jar; by doing so the milk tea tastes better, or maybe its just in my head. Its super creamy and has a nice brown sugar flavor. If you prefer a strong tea taste I recommend you use just non-dairy creamer or milk of your choice with the tea.
Okinawa Milk Tea
Equipment
- cocktail shaker
- handheld milk frother (optional)
Ingredients
- 6 grams of black tea (around 1 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp of Okinawa Milk Tea powder
- 2 tbsp of non-dairy creamer
- brown sugar syrup (for drizzling)
- cooked tapioca pearls (optional)
Instructions
- Add boiling water to the black tea, and let it steep for 10 minutes
- Mix in the non-dairy creamer and Okinawa milk tea powder (I use a handheld milk frother so there won't be lumps)
- You can either chill your tea, or make your drink right away. It depends on whether you want your tea to be stronger or not.
- Add ice and Okinawa milk tea mixture in a shaker
- Shake your beverage
- Before serving drizzle brown sugar around the rim of the glass, and add tapioca pearls (optional)
Notes
- You can sweeten your beverage if you wish. I just personally find it to be sweet enough.
Syrups and Jams
m
On to the rose syrup…It was not my cup of tea. The flavor was so strong that it was bitter. Even when I would use less of the syrup, it still had a weird taste. This was disappointing,, since I love rose milk teas. Honestly I don’t recommend it, but it does make quite an instagramable drink!
I decided to not buy the matcha from RareTea, because I already have my own. I get my matcha from Encha; you can use the latte grade, but I use the ceremonial grade cause I’m bougie.
What I love about Encha is that they have a subscription service, the price is reasonable and the quality of the matcha is excellent. I have been using this brand of matcha for about 4 years, and never bought another brand of matcha again.
m
m
The passion fruit jam from RareTea is absolutely delicious! I add it to everything; I add it to tea, to water and in my cocktails. The passion fruit jasmine tea is refreshing and tastes exactly like one in boba tea shops.
So is it Worth it?
I did enjoy all the loose teas I purchased from RareTea, but you don’t need to buy it from them. They also don’t offer various types of tea, but they do have the basics like black tea, roasted oolong tea, jasmine tea, signature tea ( medium roasted oolong tea blend), fantasy berries tea, and four season spring tea. If I want to try more unique teas, I like to buy from Ten Ren.
If you don’t want to shop around for all the different components of boba tea, I do recommend you try the boba DIY kits from RareTea or just order the items separately. I definitely recommend the tapioca pearls, caramelized brown sugar, and the passion fruit jam. One big con with RareTea is that you have to pay for shipping if you don’t order $50 worth of products, so that it something to keep in mind. So if you are stuck at home and you are not nearby a boba shop, you can definitely make your own boba tea at home.
Enjoy!!!
