You Should Be Freezing Tapioca Pearls For Easy Boba Tea

Boba tea is one of those trends that has defied history and maintained popularity over decades. The continued hype over the delicious drink suggests that the tea is here to stay. It's something people simply love for its own sake and not just its visual appeal (though it is very photogenic). 

While it's extraordinarily popular, bubble tea is also quite expensive. Your favorite cup can easily set you back between $7 and $10, which adds up pretty fast when you make it a habit. This has led many an aficionado to experiment a little at home. If you've ever tried to make boba at home, it's not hard. You need to bring water to a boil, add the tapioca pearls, and simmer them for a bit. After you've added some sugar or syrup, they're good to go, chewy, and almost bouncy in their delightful consistency. 

The trouble is they don't stay that way. If not consumed in the next several hours, the pearls harden into shells of their former selves and are only good to be thrown in the trash like the tragic ghost of bobas past. And, refrigeration doesn't help. When you consider that the cooking time is close to 20 minutes, delicious bubble tea is hard to have at home as often as we'd like.

That's why we were so excited to discover a new hack from TikTok user @cup49bubbletea: Freeze the cooked pearls to extend their shelf life.

We can't believe we didn't realize this sooner. If you take scoops of your perfect — and completely cooled — tapioca pearls in their syrup, put them in an ice cube tray, and freeze them, you can preserve them in their perfect state. Just microwave the bobas back to their original perfection whenever the mood strikes. You can even freeze them in something larger, but that's harder for portion control. Cup49bubbletea was skeptical of this method at first but is now a believer.

@cup49bubbletea

premium pearls exp 22.7.23 are on our website for $2.50 now under "not so perfect products" cup49.com! Bubble tea hack! Thanks to our Boba Baes for the idea and recipe! You know how pearls get all hard and tough when you pop them in the fridge? Well you can FREEZE them in single serve ice cubes and microwave them when you need it. This is such a game changer! #bubbleteahack #bobapearls #frozenboba #bobakit

♬ original sound – Cup49 | DIY Boba Kits

While she wasn't initially sure that it would work, she was impressed by the results. She started with pearls she'd already made, pointing out that there wasn't much downside risk since she would just have had to throw them out anyway. She put a few into each ice cub slot, added additional syrup, and froze them for several hours. At first, they were a little hard to get out but a few minutes of thawing did the trick. Then, she popped three cubes in the microwave and heated them for 30 seconds. They smelled good — promising! — but more importantly, their texture and taste were up to snuff. 

Commenters have suggested using silicone ice cube trays for easy removal, but the basic process and supply list are both mercifully short. We're looking forward to eating a lot more bubbles, more affordably, in the next few months. It's probably time we learned what happens if you drink the stuff every day.