This is something I have been wanting to try for awhile, but I just can't seem to get it right. I'm trying to make a strawberry boba tea that has great texture as if you were actually drinking it and chewing the tapioca balls. This might be impossible to achieve, but I want to see if anyone can help. I'm not even using any tea concentrates because a lot of fruit boba uses flavored powder or syrups mixed with milk or cream then the pearls on the bottom.
So what I have right now has a pretty nice mouthfeel, but I think I am overthinking the recipes WAY too much. Should a boba juice really have this many flavors? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Flavor on this isn't the best either, which is another reason I need help. Here it goes.
- CAP Sweet Strawberry - 4%
- TFA Strawberry Ripe - 2%
- TFA Dragonfruit - 1.5%
- CAP Jelly Candy - 1%
- CAP Marshmallow - 0.3%
- FE Taro - 0.3%
- FA Cream Fresh - 1%
- CAP Sweet Cream - 1.5%
- TFA Vanilla Swirl - 0.5%
I add 1 or 2 drops of sweetener for every 10ml because let's face it, boba is pretty sweet sometimes.
The Breakdown
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The Strawberry - I wanted to use CAP and TFA at the 2:1 ratio because I've heard this will make a really nice strawberry flavor without being too candy like. It is boba so we want slightly sweet, but not like it's a cup of milk mixed with those hard candies in the wrapper that looks like a strawberry your grandmother always carried around. I added some dragonfruit here because I thought it would help blend the strawberries together, make it brighter, and mask the fruit flavor from CAP Jelly Candy which oddly enough smells like a dragonfruit gummy bear to me.
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The Milk - I originally started with just FA Cream Fresh and CAP Sweet Cream because these seemed like a good fit. Nothing too sweet, but also nothing too dairy that would make it taste cheesy or rancid at any point. I added in the TFA Vanilla Swirl later on because I think vanilla swirl can make a great addition to most vapes if used right. I'm probably not using it right.
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Tapioca Pearls "Boba" - This is where I struggle. I could probably kick down the FE Taro to 0.2 or possibly even 0.1. It's strong, but used a such a low percentage I am trying to only get a slight starch flavor for the pearls. I think I am on to something, maybe not. Then I used this with a combination of CAP Jelly Candy and a little bit of CAP Marshmallow to give a mouthfeel that is fluffy and chewy, but I definitely need to work on the percentages.
Feedback Appreciated
So that's pretty much it. I need some help because I honestly have no idea what the fuck I'm doing, but I'm honestly trying. i know there's a few other boba recipes on here, but I haven't even looked at them because I feel like it will end up being Jazzy Boba and that stuff is too floral and a sweet for me. My main goal here though in all honesty is to see if I can get a boba/milk base and then switch out the fruits and have whatever kind of fruit milk tea I crave. Here's to trying, thanks you to anyone who helps and has helped me in the past!
IMO, those tapioca pearls have a strong caramel/brown sugar sweetness to it. I’m not sure what FE Taro taste like but those pearls are made from cavassa roots.
I second that flavor, but it isn't too strong to me. I don't have any caramel or brown sugar flavors though so I won't have an opportunity to try until later when I get some. Any recommendations? FE Taro smells and tastes like a really authentic taro. It's just crazy potent.
From what I read before it’s better to grab the actual drink recipe and break down the ingredients.
Based on my experience with boba milk teas:
-it has a floral black/jasmine green tea top note, -then the taste of evaporated milk -and finally the tapioca finish
Do you have a tea flavor?
For the bobas, FE Taro might be your best bet and it's just a matter of finding the right concentration, but you could also try going the /u/skiddlzninja route and using FE Sweet Rice + a steep until the rice-ness fades into a more generic starchiness. Maybe try that along with a minute amount of caramel or brown sugar flavor. A touch of the CAP Jelly Candy to make it more gelatinous, like you're already doing there, doesn't seem like a bad idea at all, though you could probably scale that back to 0.5 or 0.75% instead of 1%.
I'll have to grab some Sweet Rice as well. I'll try this though and it seems like a fantastic idea. This is my first time using CAP Jelly Candy, so I wasn't sure which % would be best for texture. Thanks! FE Taro does seem perfect for the boba as of now, but if sweet rice steeps into a starchy flavor I'd be down to try.
Go simpler my dude. TFA Strawberry, FA fresh cream, TFA vanilla swirl, FE Sweet Rice, FA Black Tea or FE Green tea(both are pretty pungent and extremely off-putting over .5%, so feel free to omit.) then maybe some OoO creamy milk undertones if you're feeling bougie.
Honey Black Tea by TeaUp is REALLY good. Sometimes a bit bitter or too sweet, but overall it is the closest thing to milk tea I have ever had
Jazzy Boba tasted kinda bad. This coming from an LA Asian
One thing I'd like to mention is that most of Capella's "sweet" flavors and TFA Strawberry Ripe have a lot of Ethyl Maltol in them. It's a nice sweetener, but much more than half a percent and it's mute city. Like Skiddlz suggests I'd go simpler and use different strawberries. Looks solid to me otherwise. I've been looking for a recipe like this for a friend.
Here's something I mixed up a while ago after various tests:
http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/682301/Jazzy+Boba+Clone
I know some of the percentages with the creams look whack, but this fits what I'm looking for in a bobba tea vape.
I get the chewey note that you mentioned, plus a very rich milk. They key here is the slightly bitter/earthy FA Green Tea (pushed higher than normal) + the floral FA Jasmine balanced with the sweeter milk notes.
I would like to revisit this with FE Sweet Rice thrown in to add a bit of starch as that wasn't present at all in my mix.