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Boba is the kind of drink I reach for when I want something with more texture than a regular iced coffee.
Also called bubble tea, boba is usually a sweet milk tea drink with tapioca pearls. The texture matters just as much as the flavor.
I wanted to see whether Starbucks actually has boba on the menu, and if not, what a decent DIY version looks like at home.
Key takeaways
With bubble tea showing up everywhere, Starbucks testing its own version did not surprise me much.
Strangely enough, Starbucks doesn’t actually have any boba tea offerings – at least not at the moment.
Starbucks aren’t sailing into bubble tea waters just yet, but according to a Business Insider post, Starbucks is testing out its own variation of tea and coffee boba drinks.[1]
Those test drinks used coffee popping pearls and came in two beverages: the Iced Chai Tea Latte and the classic Starbucks Cold Brew.
The chai version feels closest to the bubble tea I usually think of, because the tea base keeps it in milk-tea territory.
The cold brew version, “In the Dark,” interests me more as a coffee drink, since the pearls would keep it from feeling like a plain iced coffee.
Unfortunately for Starbucks fans, these boba tea style drinks can’t be ordered just yet.
The test reportedly started in December 2021 at two stores in California, which helps explain why most people still have not seen an official Starbucks boba drink in the wild.
What exactly is boba?
Boba tea is a Taiwanese drink and is traditionally made from a combination of milk, tea, and chewy tapioca balls.
The tapioca balls in boba, also called tapioca pearls or boba pearls, are made from starch found in cassava plant roots.
I am used to seeing tapioca pearls in black tea or green tea, but they can also sit in coffee without making the drink feel wrong.
By 2020, the global boba tea market was already large enough that it was hard to ignore.
That scale makes the interest in it easy to understand.
What I notice first is the contrast. The tea or milk base handles the sweetness, while the pearls add a chewy bite that changes the drink as you work through it.
Milk tea shops play around with a lot of flavor combinations.
- Classic Black Milk Tea - black tea, sweetened condensed milk/creamer, tapioca pearls
- Brown Sugar Milk Tea - milk, brown sugar syrup, tapioca pearls
- Taro Milk Tea - taro root puree/powder, jasmine or green tea, milk, sugar, tapioca pearls
- Mango Milk Tea - mango puree/juice, green tea, milk, simple syrup/honey, tapioca pearls
- Matcha Milk Tea - matcha powder, milk, syrup, tapioca pearls
- Oolong Milk Tea - oolong tea, milk, syrup, tapioca pearls
- Jasmine Green Milk Tea - jasmine tea, milk, syrup, tapioca pearls
- Peach Milk Tea - peach puree/juice, milk, syrup, tapioca pearls
- Honeydew Melon Milk Tea - honeydew melon puree/juice, milk, syrup, tapioca pearls
And that is only the milk tea side of it.
The toppings are part of what makes boba fun to order, since you can change the texture as much as the flavor.
Starbucks' coffee popping pearls vs traditional boba
After hearing about Starbucks testing coffee popping pearls, I kept wondering how close they would actually feel to the boba I already knew.
Popping pearls are small juice or jelly spheres with a thin shell. They look a lot like boba pearls, but the first bite is different because the shell bursts and releases a sweet liquid instead of turning chewy.
Boba pearls are sturdier and stay chewy, so they change the drink more slowly as you sip.
Starbucks’ coffee popping pearls were coffee flavored but had an odd salty sweetness that most boba pearl and syrup combos don’t have.
3 Best boba tea alternatives from Starbucks
Even without an official Starbucks boba menu, the chain is close enough to the coffee and tea world that it still makes sense to look at it for alternatives.
There are enough customization options at Starbucks that I still think of it as a place to build a boba-style drink, even if the texture will never be exact.
Coffee jelly is one option, but it does not give you the same chewy pull as tapioca pearls.
1. Raspberry Milk Tea
Starbucks also has a few fruit-forward options that can scratch part of the same itch.
The secret menu Raspberry Milk Tea comes up a lot because raspberry syrup gets close to the sweet fruit note people expect from a bubble tea drink.
A milky fruit drink can get you part of the way there, even though it still will not taste exactly like tea-house boba.
The simplest route starts with tea.
Barista HQ Tip: You can also order a basic brown sugar milk tea, which would contain the Teavana tea of your choosing, your choice of milk, and brown sugar.
2. Iced Teavana Tea
I usually start with tea and build from there.
Starbucks carries a wide range of Teavana flavors, and the teas are easy to find in grocery stores if you want to make a version at home.
An iced tea in the flavor you like is an easy base if you are adding your own pearls at home.
3. Iced Chai Tea Latte With Coffee Popping Pearls
For a Starbucks-style DIY drink, the Iced Chai Tea Latte is another base that works well.
If you spotted the viral TikTok about Starbucks trialing coffee popping pearls in 2021 [2] but couldn’t try any yourself, this is your chance!
Order an Iced Chai Tea Latte and stir in homemade coffee popping pearls.
I tried this myself after seeing the 2021 customer feedback trial, and the result felt like a cross between bubble tea and a dirty chai.
I used this coffee popping pearls recipe and loved how mine turned out! [3]
How to make your own boba drink at home
When I tried this, keeping the batch simple made it easier to notice what the pearls and the base were actually doing.
A few small adjustments can make a homemade boba drink feel closer to the Starbucks version, even without an exact match.
Purchase a Starbucks tea (Or make your own!)
The Teavana tea brand used by Starbucks offers a wide range of tea flavors, from classic black to citrusy pineapple.
Teavana is one option, but it is not the only one.
If you want a Starbucks-style iced chai tea latte version, chai tea bags are the easiest place to start.
For a more classic boba profile, use black or green tea bags for a black milk tea or green milk tea version.
You can also turn an iced shaken black tea into a colder, lighter boba-style drink.
If tea is not your thing, iced coffee works just as well as the base for a DIY version.
Try This Starbucks Tea For Boba Drinks!
- Hibiscus Spice offers warming infusion of flavors...
- Individually packaged bags ensure lasting...
- Easy-to-brew recipe can be prepared in just...
- Dispenser carton provides convenient access to...
Customize the drink to taste
Taste and sweetness are personal, and boba makes that obvious very quickly.
The beauty of making your own boba at home is that you can customize the drink based on what you like and leave out what you don’t.
This is where I usually start experimenting: a coffee latte with coffee pearls and a flavor like raspberry or mango.
Sweetened condensed milk makes the drink much richer, so I only use it when I want the whole cup to lean dessert-like.
Liquid cane sugar adds another layer of sweetness without changing the texture.
Barista HQ Tip: Regular sugar doesn't always dissolve well in cold drinks, so using a liquid sweetener in your recipe is worth considering.
Add tapioca pearls
At the core, the drink still comes down to milk, tea or coffee, and the pearls themselves.
Mix and enjoy
Lastly, it’s time to combine all of your ingredients, mix them well, and start sipping. Remember, boba is best served cold, so pour everything over fresh ice.
Another helpful tip is to use a thick, wide straw ; standard-sized straws are not large enough to pull up the pearls.
FAQs
Does Dunkin Donuts sell Boba?
Starbucks is not the only coffee and tea brand considering boba. Dunkin Donuts has also offered a popping boba drink using “popping bubbles,” with strawberry listed as the flavor at the time.
Other chains, like Sonic, have also been part of the conversation around boba-style drinks.
Where can you find Boba near you?
Because Starbucks is not yet offering traditional boba, I usually look at nearby bubble tea shops first when I want the full texture and topping menu.
If that turns up nothing, making it at home is the simplest fallback until Starbucks adds something official.
Does Starbucks have or sell coffee pearls?
If you mean Starbucks' coffee popping pearls, yes, the company has launched them in the United States. They are similar in shape to tapioca balls and burst when you bite into them.
What can replace tapioca pearls in bubble tea?
At proper bubble tea shops, you can also get things like pudding or custard pieces, fruit popping bubbles, jelly pieces, and sweetened red beans.
You can also get toppings like mousse, cheese foam, chia seeds, and more to finish your drink with another layer of texture.
Is Bubble tea usually high in calories?
Boba drinks can be fairly high in calories once sweeteners and flavored syrups are added. A typical 500ml tea with tapioca pearls can add up quickly, and larger sizes can go higher still.
Does Bubble tea have caffeine?
The caffeine effect depends on the base. If you use black or green tea, you will still get caffeine.
One advantage of making boba at home is that you can control the caffeine completely by choosing decaffeinated ingredients.
Conclusion
So, does Starbucks sell boba tea? At the moment, there are no official boba drinks on the regular menu.
That said, Starbucks does test new drinks, and boba-style drinks have shown up in test locations.
Because boba keeps getting more visible, I would not be surprised if Starbucks keeps experimenting with it.
Making it at home is the easiest way to scratch the itch while you wait for Starbucks to add something official.
References:
1. https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-boba-bubble-tea-iced-coffee-tapioca-popping-pearls-drink-2021-12?amp
2. https://www.elitedaily.com/news/starbucks-coffee-popping-pearls-boba-drink-test-coffee-chai
3. https://www.honestfoodtalks.com/starbucks-boba-recipe/
