Thai milk tea is a tea-based drink that has become incredibly popular in the West. There are now many variations of milk tea and boba drinks in many exotic flavors. These drinks are quickly growing ubiquitous in the US, and thanks to their often attractive appearance, they are frequently posted on social media.
Thai milk tea gets made of a black tea base, a sweet sugar additive or fruit flavoring, milk, non-dairy creamer or sweetened condensed milk, and tapioca pearls. Traditional recipes vary in the details, but the gist is a sweet tea-based drink with tapioca pearls.
Whether you are a fan of Thai milk tea or want to try it for the first time, you can prepare it with little effort. Let’s look at everything you will need to make authentic Thai milk tea from the comfort of your home.
Authentic Thai Milk Tea Recipe
When you first see professionally prepared Thai milk tea, it is hard to believe that it is easy enough for anyone to make at home. It is a specialty drink that looks as great as it tastes. Fortunately, there is a simple recipe for making Thai milk tea.
First, let’s check off the tools that you will need.
- Small Saucepan (on Amazon)
- Medium Sized Pot (on Amazon)
- Strainer (on Amazon)
- Cocktail Shaker (on Amazon)
- Bowl (on Amazon)
What is Thai Milk Tea Made Of?

Thai milk tea is a tea-based drink. Therefore, the exact type of tea varies with each recipe. However, the consensus is that black tea is the most authentic option. To prepare your tea of choice:
- Place the tea bags or whole-leaf tea in a medium-sized pot and bring it to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, remove the pot from the heat.
- Allow the tea to cool to room temperature.
Tapioca Pearls
The next ingredient is tapioca pearls. These edible, translucent spheres from east Asia originally served as a cheaper alternative to sago. Tapioca pearls are essentially starch globules made from the cassava root. To prepare the tapioca pearls:
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over high heat.
- When the water starts boiling, add the tapioca pearls and boil them until soft.
- Next, use a strainer to drain the water into a second pot.
- Place the strainer over an empty bowl and add your choice of sugar (preferably brown sugar) to the strainer.
- Pour the hot water over the tapioca in the strainer.
- Make sure the sugar dissolves into the hot water.
- Soak the tapioca in the resulting sugar syrup for half an hour.
- Remove the strainer and allow the syrup to separate into the bowl.
- Store the syrup and tapioca separately for now.
The Milk
One of the most critical steps is using the shaker to froth the ingredients. But, before that, you need to select the kind of milk you prefer.
Whole milk is excellent for a fluffy foam, while low-fat milk has a more subtle taste that won’t impact the flavor of your milk tea as much. Non-dairy options like almond or oat milk bring their distinct flavors.
Bringing it Together
Add some of your tea base and the milk to the shaker. Use one part tea to three parts milk or to taste. Next, you can add sweetened condensed milk, fruit syrup, or sugar syrup from preparing the tapioca.
(This is the perfect step to experiment with different flavors and creamers).
- Give the cocktail shaker a good shake.
- Check the results before pouring the contents. You want a frothy consistency.
- Add the tapioca pearls to a glass. The pearls should make up only around a fifth of the contents.
- Pour your tea mix into the glass. Leave about an inch of space to the rim of the glass.
- Gently add some remaining tea to the glass to contrast the drink’s top and bottom. You can invert this step by adding a bit of tea over the tapioca before adding the contents of the shaker.
All that is left to do is enjoy your homemade Thai milk tea.
Does Thai Milk Tea Have Caffeine?

Yes, Thai milk tea has caffeine due to the black tea. It contains 151 mg of caffeine per 16 fl oz cup. However, to highlight just how strong that amount of caffeine is, consider that Redbull contains 80 mg of caffeine per serving.
Traditional Thai milk tea recipes are not suitable for children and pregnant or breastfeeding women. People with a sensitivity to caffeine and those with heart problems or hypertension should also steer clear.