Happy fall, everyone! 🍂🍁 Who remembers when I posted a recipe on "How to make your own bubble tea" back in June ?! Now I'm back with another bubble tea recipe, but this time to spice it up, we are making pumpkin spice bubble tea! Move aside pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks; there is a new drink in town. And this treat is going to take the crown for fall-inspired foods.
Bubble tea is nothing new; people in Taiwan had been snacking on the dessert since the '80s. But you don't often see pumpkin spice bubble tea, and I hadn't until I came across a Tik Tok from a chef, Nick Digiovanni. This recipe is a little different from his, but it tastes even better ;)
This bubble tea is super easy to make, and in this recipe, I will be using the tapioca pearls from Katie and Dustin Watts's make-it-yourself Bubble Tea Kit. You can also buy tapioca pearls from Asian Markets, Amazon, or make it from scratch! I'll be using Tazo's Classic Chai tea, but any brand will work. And of course, you have to have a trusty mason jar in hand! I ordered a mason jar from Youtuber Emma Chamberlin's new brand: Chamberlain Coffee, and it came in the mail a few days ago. It's so cute, I can tell it will already be a favorite of mine! I also picked up some new wide straws from Flying Tiger Copenhagen because I can't find my original metal straw that came in my bubble tea kit :( These straws are in fun colors, so I guess that's a plus.
Ok. Let's get making this wonderful and tasty drink!
*This recipe is enough for one cup of bubble tea. I used a 16.5 oz mason jar.*
Ingredients
¼ cup pumpkin puree
3 ¼ cups of water (in total)
Sprinkle of pumpkin spice ( to taste)
¼ cup brown sugar
Simple syrup
¼ cup tapioca pearls
Two chai tea bags
1 cup of milk
Materials
Several saucepans
Coffee filters
A Tea Kettle
A tall glass or mason jar
Wide Straw
Directions
For the pumpkin spice syrup
Add pumpkin puree and 1/4 cup of water to a small saucepan over low heat and stir to combine. Add more water if needed (should take about 5-7 minutes).
Remove mixture from heat and strain through a coffee filter. The pumpkin water might take 10-15 minutes to pass through completely. Gently use your hands to squeeze excess water from the puree.
Add the pumpkin water back into your saucepan but now over medium heat, and discard the pumpkin puree. Add the pumpkin spice and the brown sugar into the pan. Cook at a low simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved (around 3 minutes).
Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
For the Simple Syrup
Pour a cup of water and a cup of sugar into a saucepan and stir on medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
Transfer into a bowl to cool completely, you will use it for the tapioca pearls later.
For the Tapioca Pearls
Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan on medium heat and pour in ¼ cup of tapioca pearls.
Once the pearls start to float, cover the pan with a lid and let it simmer for 5 minutes on low heat.
After 5 minutes, strain the tapioca pearls and rinse with cold water.
Set aside and cover with the simple syrup creation.
For the Tea
Add two chai tea bags to one cup of boiling water and let it steep for 15 minutes.
Remove tea bags and let the tea cool to room temperature.
For the Drink
Spoon in your tapioca pearls to the bottom of a tall glass or mason jar.
Add a cup of milk, the tea, and the pumpkin spice syrup into a separate cup and stir vigorously.
Pour it all into the tall glass with tapioca pearls at the bottom. Add ice, pop in a wide straw, and enjoy!
