Brown sugar boba: what it is and how to make it

The short answer

Brown sugar boba is cold milk poured over chewy tapioca pearls and a thick brown sugar syrup. The syrup runs down the glass in dark stripes, which is why it is also called tiger milk tea. It tastes deep and caramel-sweet.

What brown sugar boba is

Brown sugar boba comes from Taiwan’s bubble tea shops. The cup is coated with dark brown sugar syrup, filled with chewy pearls and topped with cold milk. Many shops serve it as plain milk with no tea. When black tea is added, people call it brown sugar milk tea.

Our Brown Sugar Syrup has a deep, molasses-like sweetness. It is a brown sugar flavoured syrup. Its ingredient list reads sugar, water, glucose, stabilizer (INS 466), permitted flavor, permitted color (INS 150d), acidity regulator (INS 330) and preservative (INS 202). Our latte premix and ripple powder are brown sugar flavoured too.

How to make brown sugar boba with syrup

This is the method printed for our Brown Sugar Syrup:

1. Add 15–30 ml of brown sugar syrup to the cup.
2. Pour 100 ml of milk and stir. Water also works.
3. Add tea if you like. 10–15 ml of beverage concentrate gives the drink tea depth and turns it into brown sugar milk tea.
4. Chill with 5–10 ice cubes.
5. Top it with 30–40 g of tapioca pearls. Popping boba also works.

In short: Add 15–30 ml of brown sugar syrup to the cup, pour 100 ml of milk and stir, add 5–10 ice cubes, and top with 30–40 g of cooked tapioca pearls. Add 10–15 ml of beverage concentrate if you want a tea taste. The pearls are a separate product. To cook them, see how to cook tapioca pearls.

How to make it with the latte premix

Our Brown Sugar Latte 3-in-1 already holds tea, creamer and brown sugar flavour, so it needs only milk. The printed method:

1. Dissolve 15–30 g of premix in 100 ml of warm milk and stir until smooth.
2. Pour over 5–10 ice cubes.
3. Add 10–15 ml of black tea concentrate for a stronger tea taste. It is optional.
4. Finish with 30–40 g of tapioca pearls, popping boba or nata de coco, and 20 g of whipped cream if you like.

How to get the tiger stripes

The stripes come from a thick brown sugar layer on the inside of the glass. Mix 10–12 g of brown sugar ripple powder with 20–30 ml of hot water into a syrup-like paste, line the inside of the glass with it, then pour the milk or tea on top. The stripes show best in cold drinks. In hot drinks the streaks dissolve. Use more water for a looser drip and less for thicker stripes. This is the method printed for our Brown Sugar Flavor Ripple Powder, which also contains coffee powder and cocoa powder.

Brown sugar syrup price in India

Our Brown Sugar Syrup is ₹525 for a 700 ml bottle (MRP, including GST). Businesses get 10% off MRP by the case of nine with a GSTIN, and 20% off with free ground shipping on orders of ₹19,999 and above. Our Brown Sugar Latte 3-in-1 is ₹1,599 for a 1 kg pouch, ten to a case. Our Brown Sugar Flavor Ripple Powder is ₹999 for a 1 kg pouch, twelve to a case. The same case and ₹19,999 discounts apply to both. Everything ships across India from Hyderabad within 7 days.

What a café charges for a cup of brown sugar boba depends on its milk, cup size and toppings, so menu prices vary from shop to shop.

Ways to serve it

• Brown sugar milk. Syrup, milk, ice and pearls, with no tea.
• Brown sugar milk tea. Add black tea or beverage concentrate for a tea backbone.
• Brown sugar frappe. Blend the latte premix with ice and top with whipped cream.
• Brown sugar coffee. The syrup also suits coffee, and the ripple powder lines cold dirty coffees. See our boba coffee guide.

Buying and storage

All three are made at our FSSC 22000 certified plant in Hyderabad. The syrup is vegetarian and Halal, with no high-fructose corn syrup. It keeps 12 months sealed. Once opened, reseal it tightly and refrigerate. The latte premix is vegetarian and Halal and keeps 12 months sealed. Once opened, seal it and use it within 30 days. The ripple powder is vegetarian, contains milk derivatives and keeps 12 months sealed. Keep it dry after opening so it does not clump.

Is brown sugar boba dairy-free? No, it is made with milk. The syrup itself is vegetarian and Halal, and the latte premix contains a dairy creamer.