What is matcha green tea?

Even if you are new to tea, there’s a high chance you stumbled upon matcha tea. Matcha smoothies, matcha lattes and matcha frappes are literally everywhere. Every coffee shop chain has them, many local cafes serve them, and it’s one of the best teas to have in your pantry if you love making both usual and unusual desserts.

Matcha is made from shaded, de-stalked, and deveined green tea leaves that have been shaded for 3-4 weeks before harvesting. Authentic matcha always comes from Japan and has a very green colour which can be more or less vibrant, but always green. Tea leaves are ground to a superfine powder that’s traditionally prepared using chawan – a tea bowl and chasen – a tea whisk.

Can you use any matcha for making matcha drinks?

Yes, and no. The better the quality, the better your drink will be. That doesn’t mean you should use the highest grades – in fact, middle range matcha will be the best for making drinks. But it has to be vibrant and fresh. Cooking grades or latte grades are perfect for making matcha drinks and are usually a more cost-effective option.

What is a milkshake?

Milkshake is a drink made with milk and ice. You can use any flavoured ice cream for making a milkshake, or you can add your own flavours. Milkshake should be creamy rather than watery, so the choice of ingredients will play an important role in making a perfect milkshake. Choose ice creams that are creamier, preferably made with dairy and a full fat milk. This recipe is made with dairy products; however, you can use plant-based alternatives.

What is boba tea?

Boba or bubble tea is a Taiwanese drink served with tapioca pearls. There are hundreds of boba tea flavours, and not all of them contain tea. The most important ingredient is not tea at all, but chewy tapioca pearls or fruit jellies. We used Wu Fu Yuan black tapioca pearls. They are easy to boil, and reduce the time needed to make this drink significantly.

Ingredients for making Matcha Milkshake Boba

To make Matcha Milkshake boba you will need some essential ingredients – matcha green tea, boba or tapioca pearls, honey, ice and vanilla dairy ice-cream. Other ingredients are optional, but highly recommended.

Print

Matcha Milkshake Boba Tea

A decadent drink to celebrate milkshake's 100th birthday

Course Drinks

Keyword Boba Tea, Matcha, Milk Tea, Milkshake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 1 300 ml glass

Equipment

• Eectrict frother
• Small or medium saucepan
• 2 small cups
• Teaspoon
• Blender
• Ice cream scoop or regular tablespoon
• Colander
• Small kitchen sifter
• Kettle

Ingredients

• 30 grams of boba pearls
• 6 large ice cubes
• ½ teaspoon of matcha powder
• 75 ml of milk
• 2 tablespoons of heavy cream
• 5 heaped tablespoons or scoops of ice cream
• 3 fresh mint leaves (optional)
• ½ teaspoon of honey
• 1 litre of water for boiling pearls
• 2 teaspoons of freshly boiled water, cooled downto 80 degrees Celsius
• whipped cream for garnish (optional)

Instructions

For tapioca pearls

• Add water to a smaller or medium sized saucepanand bring it to a boil.
• Add tapioca pearls and wait until they float to the top.
• Cover and simmer for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave them for another 2 minutes.
• Strain them through a colander until running cold water.
• Use a small cup to mix boiled pearl with ½teaspoon of honey. You don’t need to use too much honey as the drink willalready be sweet enough.

For making matcha tea base

• Bring fresh water to a boil and let it cool down to 80 degrees Celsius.
• Sift ½ teaspoon of matcha into a smaller cup.
• Add only 2 teaspoons of water to matcha powder.
• Mix it using a small electric frother or,alternatively, using a spoon. There should be no clumps.

For assembling the drink

• Add milk, 2 ice cubes, a few fresh mint leaves (optional), 2 spoons of whipping cream (optional) and matcha into a blender and blend for 30 seconds, or until the ice isc rushed.
• Add ice cream to a blender and blend only for a few seconds, until the drink is well mixed.
• Add the remaining ice to a glass.
• Pour the drink into a glass and add tapioca pearls.
• Top up with whipped cream. (optional)
• Add a large straw and enjoy.

The post Matcha Milkshake Boba Tea Recipe appeared first on All That Tea.

What is Strawberry Milkshake?

Strawberry Milkshake is an organic rooibos tea blend. Rooibos has been around for a while, but it wasn’t until a decade when it became one of the top herbal teas for creating tea blends. It turns out, for a good reason. While many tea drinkers are not super excited about pure rooibos, flavoured ones could be everyone’s cup of tea. Rooibos is caffeine free and gives a great base for almost any ingredient – flowers, citruses, fruits, nuts and chocolate, and even smoky and spicy ingredients. Rooibos grows in South Africa, and you won’t find it anywhere else in the world.

Strawberry Milkshake tea comes from BRUU, a UK based tea subscription company. It contains red rooibos tea, free-fried strawberries, raspberry leaves and natural flavours. Both strawberries and raspberry leaves are sparingly used though, so this is mostly rooibos tea with flavourings. This tea has an intense, sweet, creamy scent, with hints of strawberries layered on a deep earthy rooibos base.

How to brew this blend?

We brewed this tea using 1 cup of freshly boiled water for 8 minutes. Rooibos will never get bitter, so you don’t need to worry if you brew it too long.

So, does it taste like a strawberry milkshake? When hot, it has a more pronounced rooibos note than a strawberry note, but there certainly is creaminess. We tried adding a splash of milk and just a bit of honey to make it sweeter and milkier. Flavour is light though, similar to a gentle, pure rooibos, rather than a strawberry milkshake.

BUT drink it iced, and even with no condiments the whole flavour profile changes. There are strawberries, there’s a milky note, and rooibos blends in so well that it only gives texture, rather than an intense earthy note. After all, milkshakes should be cold.

This tea would be great for making a homemade boba tea or simple iced tea. If you don’t want strongly flavoured teas or want a light caffeine-free tea and like red rooibos blends, you may like this blend too.

The post Strawberry Milkshake tea, a milkshake in a teacup? appeared first on All That Tea.