You Can Make Brown Sugar Syrup For Boba With 3 Simple Ingredients

When a company like Starbucks starts making boba tea, you know it's a beverage that has officially become a trend. Yet, the truth is, you can enjoy this fashionable refreshment anytime you like without ever having to visit a coffeehouse. Boba tea — also known as bubble tea — comes in many forms, but one of the more popular variations features brown sugar syrup. The nice thing is if you can boil water, you can make this beverage right at home. You only need three simple ingredients, and two are likely sitting in your pantry right now.

Fill a saucepan with water and let it come to a boil. In a separate pan, put in an equal amount of brown sugar and pour the water over it. Stir the mixture until the sweetener has dissolved, then add your final component: vanilla extract. Bear in mind that vanilla extract is incredibly potent, so a little goes a long way.

Once your brown sugar syrup is prepared, all that's left is to add ice, black tea if you want caffeine, milk of your choice, and dried tapioca pearls (WuFuYuan tapioca pearls have plenty of good reviews) that can be ready in minutes. The nectarous bedrock of the drink couldn't be easier to whip together. What's more, because it is essentially sugar water, you can store it like a simple syrup for a few weeks in the fridge if you make a big batch. If you want to knock the flavor up a notch, incorporating a few more ingredients will take the syrup to new heights.

The brown sugar syrup at the core of this variety of boba tea is similar to a simple syrup made with demerara sugar. However, unlike a bartender's go-to cocktail sweetener, this version is easily enhanced by including a few more staple pantry ingredients. One of those is molasses. Dissolving this thick baking staple into the mix will make it sweeter and stronger, with a result that's more like a thin, rich caramel sauce than simple syrup.

If you want to incorporate autumnal flavors into your boba, cinnamon and nutmeg will easily achieve that effect. Simply mix moderate amounts of each into the brown sugar syrup at the same time you stir in the vanilla extract, and you will have a comforting concoction that oozes fall vibes. Another ingredient you could mix in is star anise, which would give the beverage a mild hint of licorice. There's no telling how long the boba tea trend will thrive, but because making your own is so straightforward, you won't have to worry if it eventually falls out of favor and can't be found at your local coffee haunt.