Light and milky Oolong Milk Tea with brown sugar tapioca pearls. This creamy drink is sweet and floral, with a hint of earthiness. Easy to make authentic recipe that’s perfect served both hot and cold!
Table of contents
Oolong Milk Tea is a type of bubble tea made using Chinese Oolong tea, fresh milk and tapioca pearls. The combination of light and floral flavor and milk creaminess pairs really well, making a delicious boba tea.
Oolong Bubble Tea has a unique flavor and is very popular in the West. I always prefer Oolong Boba Milk Tea out of all the other varieties because it's richer and more intense.
If you’re a bubble tea lover like me, check out other amazing recipes like Hokkaido Milk Tea, Okinawa Milk Tea or Taro Milk Tea.
What does it taste like?
The flavor of Milk Oolong Tea depends on the type of Oolong tea used. It can taste either floral and light, or rich and earthy. In most bubble tea shops it's light and fragrant, with a hint of floral.
Oolong milk tea is also sweet and has a milky flavor, as it’s made with brown sugar syrup and milk or cream.
Types of Oolong Tea
Oolong Tea is a semi-oxidized Chinese Tea that sits between green and black tea. In Chinese it's called 乌龙茶 (wulong cha), which means "black dragon tea".
Some varieties of Oolong tea can be more floral and sweeter, whereas others can be richer and smokier. The flavor of Oolong tea depends a lot on the oxidation process. Oxidation means how long tea is left to dry in the sun.
Oolong Tea’s oxidation levels can be anywhere between 8% and 85%. This means that the flavor and richness can be either sweet and floral at 8% or deep and smoky at 85%.
Here are some types of Oolong tea, from light to dark flavors:
- Bao Zhong – one of the lightest types of Oolong Tea, with oxidation levels 8-18%. This type of tea is very fresh, floral with hints of jasmine.
- Ti Kuan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) – has an oxidation level of 10-40%. This Oolong is fruity, with a berry-like aroma.
- Dong Ding (Frozen Summit) – oxidation levels at around 15-30%. This tea tastes toasty, with a subtle woody flavor.
- Alishan (High Mountain Oolong) – a medium oxidation level of around 30-40%. Alishan tea has a milky-sweet flavor with hints of apricot.
- Dancong (Phoenix Tea) – 30-40 % oxidation levels. Dancong tea has a gentle, sweet and creamy flavor.
- Dongfeng Meiren (Oriental Beauty) – 70% oxidation, approaching black tea. This tea is much deeper and stronger flavor. It’s reddish in colour, with sweet and honey flavor and no bitterness.
The choice of Oolong tea for this milk tea recipe is entirely up to personal preference. My favorite Oolong is either Dancong or Alishan.
Ingredient round-up
- Oolong tea leaves – I recommend using loose tea for the most authentic flavor. See section on Types of Oolong tea.
- Milk – use whole milk for a creamy flavor. You can also use plant-based milk like soy milk or oat milk.
- Brown sugar – light brown sugar works best for this recipe. You can also use Japanese brown sugar, which has a lighter and softer taste.
- Tapioca pearls – I like to use store-bought tapioca balls like these brown sugar tapioca pearls, but you can also use plain tapioca pearls.
How to make Oolong Milk Tea
Cooking the tapioca pearls
- Prepare the brown sugar syrup by cooking the water and sugar over medium-high heat until thickened.
- Cook the tapioca pearls as indicated on the pack. Drain and add them into the sugar syrup. Cover and set aside.
- Prepare the Oolong tea brew by rinsing the tea as indicated in the section above.
- Let the tea steep for 1-5 minutes. The longer you brew it, the stronger the flavor.
Note: you can replace brown sugar syrup with honey, simple syrup or maple syrup.
Brewing the tea
- Boil filtered water to a temperature of between 185-208°F (85-97°C).
- Pour hot water over the tea leaves and let steep for a few seconds. Discard the water and keep the tea leaves.
- Pour hot water over the tea leaves again and let steep for 1 minute. If you prefer a lighter flavor tea, you can use the brewed tea at this stage.
- For a stronger flavor, discard the water once more and brew again for 1-2 minutes.
Pro tip 1: Always rinse the tea leaves with hot water before brewing the final drink (step 2).
Pro tip 2: Oolong tea can be brewed for between 1-5 minutes. Brewing for longer will give it a bitter taste.
Assembling the Bubble Tea
- In a serving glass, place the tapioca pearls and brown sugar syrup.
- Pour Oolong tea over the tapioca pearls, about ¾ of the way to the brim.
- Top with milk all the way to the brim.
- Serve immediately with a bubble tea straw.
- Note: to make it iced tea, use cold tea and milk and add a few ice cubes.
Success Tips & Tricks
- High quality Oolong tea – it’s important to use good tea leaves. See my notes on Types of Oolong Tea.
- Full fat milk – Whole milk makes a much creamier and smoother milk tea compared to skimmed or semi-skimmed.
- Rinse before brewing – Oolong tea needs to be rinsed once before making the final brew. This ensures the maximum aroma.
- Serve fresh – for the best flavor I recommend drinking this milk tea as soon as it’s prepared. Leaving cooked tapioca pearls for longer than 1-2 hours will make them too soggy and unpleasant.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, Oolong milk tea contains caffeine because it’s made using Oolong tea. This type of tea contains a similar amount of caffeine to green tea. Nevertheless, this milk tea contains much less caffeine than a cup of coffee.
This Oolong Bubble Tea recipe is not vegan, because it contains dairy. However, you can make this recipe vegan by substituting the milk with a plant-based alternative.
Oolong Milk Tea can only be made with Oolong tea. Although you can use a different type of tea (black or green), the drink will be a different type of milk tea, not Oolong Milk Tea.
If you enjoyed this recipe, you will love these too:
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Recipe
Oolong Milk Tea Recipe
Ingredients
Brown Sugar Syrup
- ½ cup brown sugar (100 grams)
- ¼ cup water (60 ml)
Tapioca Pearls
- ¾ cup tapioca pearls (100 grams)
- 3 cups water (700 ml)
Oolong Tea
- 3 teaspoons Oolong loose leaf tea
- 2 cups water, filtered (450 ml)
- 1 cups whole milk (240 ml)
- 4 cups water, divided, for rinsing the tea (900 ml)
Instructions
Brown Sugar Syrup
- Place the sugar and water into a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until boiling.
- Reduce heat to medium, then cook until the syrup looks sticky and thicker in consistency, around 4-5 minutes.
Tapioca pearls
- Cook tapioca pearls as indicated on the package.
- Once cooked, drain and add them into the hot sugar syrup. Toss around to coat in syrup and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes.
Oolong Tea
- Boil a large kettle of filtered water to a temperature of 185°F-208°F (85°C-97°C). Use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature of the water if needed.
- Place the tea leaves into a teapot fitted with an infuser and pour ⅓ of the water (2 cups) over the tea. Let steep for 5-10 seconds, then discard the water.
- Pour half of the remaining water (2 cups) over the tea leaves. Cover and steep for 45 seconds to 1 minute. For a lighter tea flavor, use the brewed tea now.
- For a stronger flavor, drain the water once more (don't throw it away, drink it). Pour the remaining 2 cups of water over the tea and let steep for up to 3-4 minutes. Discard the tea leaves once time is up.
- Use the tea immediately for hot milk tea. For cold milk tea, let the tea cool down to room temperature.
Assembling the Oolong Milk Tea
- Place 1-2 tablespoons of cooked tapioca pearls into two large glasses. Add sugar syrup as desired for favourite level of sweetness.
- Pour tea over the tapioca, about ¾ of the way to the brim.
- Slowly pour milk over the tea, divided between the two glasses. Use hot milk for a hot milk tea. Use cold milk for an iced bubble tea and add ice cubes.
- Enjoy immediately or within 1 hour.
Notes
- Sugar syrup can be replaced with runny honey.
- Sweetness can be adjusted according to personal preference.
- Nutritional value is estimative and is calculated per serving (this recipe makes 2 large servings) with tapioca pearls and 1 tablespoon of sugar syrup.
- Use boba pearls immediately after cooking them.
Nutrition
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Lisa Park says
I’m a lifelong bubble tea fan and oolong is one of my favourites. Your explanation on how to choose the best Oolong was very helpful so I’ve just ordered some. Can’t wait to try it!
Kumar Paul says
This tasted much better than I expected because I'm only used to having black tea milk tea!!! Definitely will make again 🙂
Kyrstin says
Loved the earthy flavour. I tried it without tapioca pearls too and it was even better in my opinion!
Chrys says
I loved the earthiness of the flavour, so good!!
Tim says
I really love tea and after making this now I also love bubble tea. Highly recommended recipe, so good!
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Thanks so much Tim, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Bethy says
Step 3 - Slowly pour half of the milk over the tea.
When do I use the other half of the tea?
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Hi Bethy, the recipe is for two large servings, so half of the milk goes into each glass. I've updated the recipe card so it's more explicit. Hope this helps!
Sue says
I can't digest tapioca very well, so I made the tea without them. Now I have it almost every day, it's so good!
Peter says
Amazing flavors! I had just gotten some oolong tea and I love milk tea boba so I wanted to try to make it. Your explanation for different oolong teas and easy directions were great! 9/10! Will definitely make this a lot.
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Hi Peter, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe, it's one of my favourites! Glad to know the explanations are useful, I'll make sure to include them in all future tea recipes! Han