In the beginning of the pandemic, my mom lived in understandable fear of the pandemic. She would not let my family order DoorDash or even buy anything from Amazon for nearly two months.

She loosened up on the Amazon shopping (thank God) after about a month, but it was only after I took my AP exams in May that she let me DoorDash the boba order I swear by: an original milk tea with boba and mango or lychee jelly with no ice and 50% sugar. If you know me, you know boba is to me what water is to other people. Because of this, the idea that I would have to go two months without my favorite drink in the world was a little disconcerting.

So, I went to YouTube and found a few good tutorials on how to make the all-important drink. After a few test runs, I think I have perfected my recipe.

Obviously, the most important ingredient is the boba itself. Based on YouTube recommendations, I ordered the WuFuYuan Store Tapioca Pearl- Black Sugar Flavor from Amazon. This variety is easy and quick to make, the perfect choice for any first-time boba makers.

Having procured all my ingredients, I started by heating some water and soaking three green tea bags in the water for about 20 minutes. Afterward, I immediately put the container in the fridge so the tea could chill in time.

Then, I got to work making the actual boba, which was not very hard because the exact procedure is outlined on the back of the package. I boiled some water, poured in the uncooked tapioca pearls, then covered the pot and let it cook until it was the texture I wanted. 

After this is the most important part: creating your simple syrup. I boiled equal parts sugar and water and then added the solution to both the boba and my tea.

With all these steps completed, I was ready to assemble the drink. I added my boba into a cup, then my tea and I topped it off with a little bit of milk because boba is not boba if it is not milk tea. The process took around 30 minutes as opposed to around a 20-minute trip to go to my nearest boba store, but I would say the extra 10 minutes is worth it.

In retrospect, I’d say my boba-making experience rated a 10/10:  Boba tastes even better when you know you’ve made it yourself.