Oolong Bubble Tea

Oolong Milk Tea

 

Oolong milk tea is a unique bubble tea with a sweet nutty taste to it when sweetened. The taste can vary depending on the creator, but usually the taste is more nutty than anything. When the leaves are brewed, depending on the amount of time, it can vary widely on taste. Floral flavors can even come out of the tea.

The taste is more mild, in between the black tea leaves' stronger flavor, and some of the other lighter tea leaves like green tea. This is  the solution and balance when you can't find one that isn't too light, or too strong.

 

The tea leaves look like they came straight from the ground (guess what, they did!), and have an earthy taste to it as well, to prove it. Such is the price of these healthy leaves, filled with benefits for your nutrition loving body. I have often seen individuals pile on heaps of sugar to sweeten just a cup of oolong tea. Take it easy friend and enjoy the natural acquired taste of mother nature.

During the oxidation period, the leaves are twisted and curled into leaf balls by the individuals making it. It depends on who is making it, as it is not always the same. It looks like a pile of raked autumn leaves scraped and left in the hot sun. When they are steeped, they open up slowly as if they are alive and blooming all over again.

 

Of course as usual, you don't want this left in your tea cup when it's finished. Steep them using a tea infuser. Some let the leaves steep for about 10 minutes before pouring the tea into a cup. There isn't a specific time, but usually it is somewhere between 1 to 10 minutes depending on how much of flavor is being extracted. Occasionally drinkers of this often do it somewhere in between 5 to 10 minutes.

Too long and it might extract some of the bitterness, making the tea really woody in flavor. Some like this, but others don't. Steeping the leaves for a smaller period of time can give a lessen the desired taste, or hint of oolong if you are mixing it with another flavor.

The oolong tea leaves can be great for mixing and combining with powder mixes for bubble tea. However, some just prefer to drink this by itself, or with milk and tea. If it is made with milk tea, then it should be portioned to be half of the milk tea mix, and half of the steeped oolong. This will reduce some of the overtones of flavors, because of the milk, but this can be fixed by using more tea leaves in a smaller amount of water when steeping.

If you would like to learn how to make milk tea, or purchase the milk tea mix for it; it is here:

There should be around 3 to 4 scoops of the milk tea mixed separately for every 16oz of water or milk (preferably whole milk). If it's 8 ounces, then one and half to 2 scoops is enough. Remember that this should be half of your drink, so only make a portion for half.

 

The temperatures for steeping this should be around 180 degrees. Once this is made, then all is needed is to add the oolong tea mixed with sugar, or just enjoy it with its natural flavor. It is also nice to have teas too just how they are without altering or masking the flavor too much.

 

When brewing the oolong tea leaves, as mentioned previously, depending on how long it is steeped, different flavors can come out of this one type. For a more nutty and fruity taste, brew and steep them longer. The taste of plums have often been recognized by many in these same types. 

Oolong can come from any of the main regions in Asia, and have been known to have some slight differences. It has been called the green tea at times; and one of the black teas at others. This depends on how long the leaves are roasted after oxidation, and also how long they are left in the hot water to steep. Check the tea section if you would like to see more tea types with detailed information on steeping.

The Oolong Milk Tea is a very healthy drink with a unique flavor, if the sugar is left to a minimum. Tea tasters love trying out different tea types just how they are, and drink milk tea just like it is. They grow to love tasting their complete work after brewing the teas. I think it is a fun process.

Of course a bubble tea isn't a boba drink without making tapioca pearls. There is a section covering the different bobas to cook for bubble tea here. If you would like to stick with a natural and more healthy approach, then go with cooking the original pearls for an hour. They will taste better, with better texture, or go with the popular instant boba takes cooks in 10 minutes.

It is more convenient, but less quality because they are instant:

 

Check into the 'making the perfect tapioca pearls' article for a more refined guide to cooking the ultimate boba: instant, chewy, crystal, and the mini boba.