What Is Taro Bubble Tea Made From?

Taro Bubble Tea is made from a combination of ground taro root, jasmine tea, milk, sugar and tapioca pearls. If you’re a fan of bubble tea, you’ll know that this is almost the same as the popular traditional milk tea (made from Assam tea and frothy milk, paired with crushed ice and caramelised tapioca pearls), but the Assam tea is swapped out for jasmine tea and a taro flavour. Sometimes, a ground taro paste or taro root powder will be used instead of tea. 

As with all bubble tea, alternative milks (oat, soya, almond, coconut) can be used instead of cow’s milk in a Taro Bubble Tea. Taro Bubble Tea can also be enjoyed hot or cold. 

What Does Taro Bubble Tea Taste Like?

Taro milk tea has a sweet, nutty flavour with a subtle but creamy vanilla finish. It has been described as having a buttered popcorn taste in the past. 

Taro Bubble Tea is made with fresh ground paste will tend to have a thicker, milkshake-like consistency with a more granular texture.

Does Taro Tea Have Caffeine?

Taro root doesn’t have caffeine, but the tea it is paired with will. How much caffeine your Taro tea has will therefore depend on how yours is made. There is around 40-50mg of caffeine in 1 cup of black tea, and 20-30mg of caffeine in 1 cup of jasmine. If you can’t or don't want to have caffeine in your Taro tea, speak to your friendly Bubble Tea maker and see if they can make it without. 

What Is The Taro Root? 

Taro Tea comes from the Taro root, which is a starchy root vegetable with a mildly sweet taste from the lush rainforests of Southeast Asia. It has a brown outer skin and white flesh with purple specks throughout, but this isn’t where the purple in a Taro Tea comes from. Boba tea shops often add Ube (purple yam) or a lilac food colouring to add sweetness and/or vibrant colour to the otherwise off-white drink. 

And there’s health benefits too: Taro is considered to be rich in fibre and other important nutrients, as well as good for the gut. Likewise, if your Taro Tea has Ube, the purple yam is known to be high in nutrients and antioxidants. At Bubblebase, we stock the well-loved Ube Taro Flavoured Milk Tea, available as is, or customised with your own choice of toppings and milk. 

Note that raw taro leaves are toxic due to high levels of calcium oxalate, so the leaves must be boiled and prepared before they can be consumed. Even touching taro can lead to skin irritation, so it’s best to leave this down to the experts. The good news is that your local Bubble Tea shop and their suppliers would have prepared their taro with expert precision, so it is 100%safe for consumption once it is in your tea. 

We are Bubblebase: Wales’ first Bubble Tea Bar. We believe in using the best quality of ingredients to consistently serve our customers with a delicious range of drinks that have not only been created with utmost care, but also with the sharpest appearance.

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For more discussions and tips from our bubble tea experts, check out our blog page.

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