Boba tea is an incredibly delicious beverage that has increased dramatically in popularity in recent years. It has been a big hit and an ever-evolving trend all over the world. This popularity only grows as more and more varieties of boba tea arrive.
Also referred to as bubble tea, one of the latest boba tea trends is crystal boba. However, despite its increase in popularity, even the keenest of boba tea drinkers aren’t too sure what to expect.
Today, we want to clear things up. In this post, we’ll answer the common questions that surround crystal boba. This includes what it is and what it tastes like.
If you’re new to the world of boba tea or if you’re a boba tea expert wanting to enjoy a new variety, you’ve come to the right place.
Let’s get started!
What Is Boba Tea?
Bubble tea, known around the world as boba tea, is a refreshing tea-based beverage that was first created in Taiwan in the early 1980s. It initially became popular in the West when Taiwanese immigrants introduced the beverage to California.
Since then, the drink has grown and grown in popularity, quickly becoming one of the most talked about beverages in the world. One of the greatest things about boba tea is its versatility.
There are more than six different types of boba tea and hundreds of different flavors. Some of the most popular types of boba tea include milk tea, black tea, fresh milk, fruit tea, and smoothies.
What makes boba tea so unique is the small boba pearls that sit at the bottom of the beverage. If it wasn’t for these pearls, boba tea would taste similar to any iced tea or juice.
Bursting with flavor, the boba tea pearls give the beverage a unique consistency, offering the drinker a break from boring textures.
What Is Crystal Boba?
So, what exactly is crystal boba? Well, to put it simply, crystal boba tea is another variety of boba pearls used to make boba tea. These pearls aren’t too different from other boba tea pearls but they make an impact.
To be more specific, crystal boba tea is boba pearls made from white agar powder. For those that don’t know, white agar is a gelling agent. Due to the characteristics of white agar powder, this variety of boba tea is white in color.
It is also slightly transparent, hence the name crystal boba. Similar to other types of boba tea, crystal boba also has a gelatinous texture.
Crystal boba tea is usually pre-sweetened to give it plenty of flavors. This flavor can vary to make it a more versatile drink option. Thanks to the crystal pearls, we can also color the boba in any way we like.
Where Can You Buy Crystal Boba?
Crystal boba is very easy to get hold of. You’ll easily find this type of boba tea at most food markets and boba shops. There’s a good chance you’ll find it at most pop-up boba cafes too.
If you’re willing to put the effort in, you could even make your own boba tea using crystal boba. Crystal boba is so abundantly available that you can even buy the pearls from grocery stores and online.
If you want to buy some crystal boba pearls online, we recommend looking on Amazon. Amazon has a number of good retailers that sell ready-to-go crystal boba pearls.
Once you have the pearls, you only need a handful of other ingredients to make your very own crystal boba tea.
What Does Crystal Boba Tea Taste Like?
Now you know more about crystal boba tea and where you can buy it, we can tell you a bit more about how it tastes. If we’re being totally honest, crystal boba doesn’t have much of a flavor. However, don’t let that get you down.
When we say crystal boba doesn’t have much flavor, we simply refer to crystal boba pearls. If you were to simply have the chewy, gelatin-like crystal boba pearls, you wouldn’t be in for much of a surprise.
However, thanks to their plain flavor, we can use them to unlock the most amazing boba tea flavors.
We can work our magic with crystal boba tea pearls to create something creamy, fruity, sweet, and vibrant.
Crystal boba pearls can be immersed in sweet, strong-tasting syrups. Some of the most popular flavors include sweet citrus fruit. Grapefruit is a fine example.
When mixed with milk, crystal boba has a creamier flavor. On the other hand, it can have a more earthy flavor when mixed with tea. Going with virtually anything, soaking crystal boba in brown sugar is a common trend too.
How Many Calories Are In Crystal Boba?
It is worth mentioning that crystal boba is much healthier than other varieties of boba. Most varieties of boba are fat-free. Whilst this is good, they make up for the lack of fat with a higher calorie composition.
Crystal boba tea has neither. Instead, this type of boba is low in fats and calories. This is in part down to the fact it consists mostly of carbohydrates.
As a result, 100 grams of crystal boba only contains approximately 70 calories. Having said that, you do then have to take into consideration the other ingredients you mix with it.
For example, crystal boba mixed with brown sugar will contain more calories than just crystal boba.
Bear this in mind if you want to make a healthier boba tea beverage.
How To Make Your Own Crystal Boba?
A lot of people don’t actually realize that you can make your own crystal boba at home. In fact, doing so is actually quite easy.
To make your own crystal boba, you start by adding coconut water to a saucepan on low heat. After that, simply add a mixture of agar powder and jelly to the saucepan and stir the mixture until both have dissolved.
After 5 minutes of simmering, stir the mixture and let it rest for roughly 10 minutes. You can then pour the mixture into a squeeze bottle and squeeze it out into a bowl of water. The pearls will set in the water, sinking to the bottom when they’re ready.
After that, the pearls are ready!
Final Thoughts
In this post, we’ve explored what crystal boba is and how it tastes. We’ve shown you that crystal boba doesn’t actually have much of a taste until it is flavored. We also explained how it is this plain flavor that makes it one of the most versatile varieties of boba.
We even finished this post by showing you how to make your own boba pearls. Now you know everything there is to know about crystal boba, why don’t you buy some or try making it yourself and see what you think?
You could experiment with unique flavors to see what you like best!
Hi, I’m Aubrey, and I have been a chef for close to 8 years. Cooking has always been a passion of mine, as long as I can remember. I loved my play kitchen when I was a kid, and would offer my parents my own (albeit gross) cookie recipes to taste!
Here at ButterandSaltGatherings, I want to offer a wide range of ingredients, flavors, meals and recipes so that you can start living each day to the fullest, and enjoy only the best food.
