This lychee bubble tea is a delicate and exotic twist on the famous Taiwanese iced beverage. If you like fruity bubble teas, you’ll love this lychee boba recipe – so let us show you how to make it with 5 easy ingredients!
While the classic Taiwanese bubble tea is black tea mixed with milk (or half-half), we’ve opted for green tea and coconut lychee milk instead.
Green tea has a milder tone than traditional Chinese black tea that doesn’t overpower the delicate flavor of fresh lychees.
Coconut milk is a delicious non-dairy alternative to whole milk, and its fresh and nutty flavor pairs beautifully with lychees.
To make lychee boba tea, simply puree fresh lychees with canned coconut milk and stir this mixture into cold green tea. Then serve the lychee milk tea on a base of cooked tapioca pearls and your lychee bubble tea is ready!
The result? A deliciously sweet, refreshing and energizing drink: the perfect thirst quencher on a hot summer’s day. And when you’re done sipping, you can slurp those chewy beads too!
While commercial or store-bought lychee bubble tea is typically made with pre-made lychee syrup, we chose to use the whole fruit instead. Just mix it with coconut milk to make lychee flavored milk.
You can use fresh lychees if you can find them at your local Asian grocery store, or opt for canned lychees, which are available online or in well-stocked supermarkets.
Lychees taste sweet and floral and have a grape-like flesh. Compared to other fruits in the same family, like rambutans or longans, they have a stronger, sweeter flavor.
However, if you can’t get hold of lychees, you can make this boba milk with rambutans or longans instead. Just try the bubble tea and add a dash of syrup if it’s not sweet enough for your taste.
Another way of preparing lychee bubble tea is by using lychee flavored tea, a traditional Chinese tea flavoring. But it’s not that easy to find.
Alternatively, you can infuse the tea with fresh lychees yourself. It’s quick and easy, and you can read how to do it in this Lychee Iced Tea Recipe.
Now it’s time to get started! And if you’re craving fruitier bubble tea recipes, you’ll love this Passion Fruit Boba Tea or Honeydew Bubble Tea!