Tiger Tea Recipe

This tiger tea recipe, also known as brown sugar bubble tea or dirty brown sugar milk tea, is a sweet, non-caffeinated bubble tea drink. This drink is known for its signature tiger stripes that drip down the sides of the cup.

This drink will satisfy your sweet tooth. It’s a silky, smooth and sweet brown sugar milky drinkable dessert.

There are 3 main ingredients for this recipe: caramelized brown sugar syrup, whole milk, and a lot of brown sugar boba.

The dirty boba drink name origins

This drink goes by many other names. Bubble tea shops call it tiger bubble tea, tiger sugar milk tea, black tiger milk tea, brown sugar boba tea, or brown sugar boba milk tea.

Even though it is considered a milk tea drink, this drink doesn’t contain any actual tea or caffeine. However, you easily have the option to make this drink caffeinated. I’ll show you how below.

Tiger boba tea is also called dirty brown sugar boba due to its “dirty” look from the brown stripes on the sides of the glass. The traditional tiger milk tea does not contain any caffeine or coffee. It uses a brown sugar syrup to give the dirty appearance.

This is not to be confused with “dirty drinks” naming system in the coffee world. Dirty drinks on coffee shop menus usually means a shot of espresso poured over cold milk in a drink (for example in a dirty chai or a dirty cappuccino).

Caffeine options

If you prefer caffeine in your tiger tea, you can add any of these to your drink:

• a shot of espresso
• a half cup of coffee
• a teaspoon of instant coffee
• a cup of milk tea (try my taiwanese milk tea, classic milk tea, or oolong milk tea recipes).

The tiger boba look

To get this tiger stripe appearance, we use brown sugar syrup and the stickiness from the brown sugar boba to create the look. Then we top it off with fresh milk. This drink is a popular because it uses simple ingredients to create a social media worthy esthetics.

Milk of choice

Whole milk. This is my favorite, and it gives the most silky texture and authentic taste. You want to choose a thick milk to get the creamy texture. It will taste really good and refreshing when mixed with the brown sugar syrup.

Soy milk is a pretty good second choice.

A lot of boba shops use Lactaid, a lactose-free milk.

There are other options for milk:

Non-diary milk alternatives like coconut, almond, or oat milk

Non-dairy creamer.

Tiger milk tea

Although the word tea is in there, the drink usually does not contain milk tea. This is purely optional. Tiger tea tastes great with and without milk tea.

If you would like to include milk tea in your drink, prepare the tea first:

1. Steep 2 tea bags in 1 cup of boiling water.
2. Let cool, then add 1/2 cup milk.
3. Add this to your drink.

The most popular tea used for this is black tea. You can also use green or white tea but the flavor does not taste as good to me.

Sweetener

Brown sugar syrup is the basis of this drink.

We also let the cooked boba pearls rest in brown sugar syrup to make it extra sweet.

We let this sugar sit over heat until it becomes a thick syrup.

Boba

These tapioca pearls, or boba pearls, have a chewy consistency.

A quick recipe involves boiling boba for 30 minutes on low-medium heat. Coat with brown sugar to keep the boba tasting sweet.

To really get this brown sugar milk tea recipe right, make sure you let the boba cook long enough and sit in the brown sugar long enough to absorb the sweetness and become more sticky.

This whole process may take more time, but you’ll have really good results.

Modifications

Add black tea to make it caffeinated.

Add a shot of espresso or half a cup of coffee in yours.

Add grass jelly or another topping. I try not to add any more colors because it takes away from the esthetics of this drink.

Other drinks to try

Strawberry milk tea

Taro milk tea

Matcha milk tea

Special equipment

Small saucepan to make the brown sugar syrup for the tiger stripes

Fat straw or smoothie straw to drink up the boba

Ingredients

• Brown sugar, ro muscovado sugar
• White sugar
• Whole milk
• Boba
• Tea or coffee, optional
• Ice

Instructions

Make the sugar stripe syrup

You will need

• 1 cup of brown sugar or muscavado sugar. This gives the sweet caramel taste. You can also use dark brown sugar, or regular sugar and caramelize it.
• 1 cup of water
• a splash or orange juice or lemon juice to prevent hardening of the syrup

How to make it

1. Add ingredients to medium saucepan, let boil. Turn down the heat to medium until sugar dissolves. Don’t move the pan or stir the ingredients at this time.
2. After about 10 minutes, when all the sugar dissolves, turn off the heat and let it cool down. You can speed up the process by refrigerating the sauce for 1 hour, or you can leave it on the counter at room temperature for 6 or more hours.

Make the brown sugar boba pearls

You can make this from scratch using tapioca starch, but for a quick boba recipe, use fast boba.

In a large pot, with boiling water, add tapioca balls and let it sit in warm water. Stir occasionally. Remove after 30 minutes. Pour into colander and rinse in cold water, then let soak in brown sugar bath.

Prepare the drink

1. Add boba
2. Add sugar by letting streaks of syrup drip down the side of the cup, then putting a tablespoon on top of the boba.
3. Add milk
4. Add optional caffeine (milk tea, or coffee)
5. To make cold tea, add ice cubes

Storing

You can store the syrup in an airtight container. Bubble pearls don’t store well, so just make them fresh for next time.

Store leftovers of the drink in the fridge for a couple hours but consume as soon as possible otherwise the cooked tapioca pearls texture will become gross and inedible.

This drink is a great alternative to those who are avoiding caffeine, such as hypertensive or pregnant people. This tiger milk tea recipe is easy and you’ll love to make it again for your family.