Vegan Mocha Bubble Tea

Combining chocolate and coffee is not a risky thing to do. We know it’s delicious. But when you’re combining it with home made tapioca balls to create an iced mocha bubble tea recipe, things can go awry… Thankfully for us, our amazing recipe creator has got this one down pat and the chewy chocolate ‘bubbles’ in the boba tea recipe make for delicious, chewy treats nestled amongst the vegan chocolate coffee coconut milk. 
 
This is a rich, uplifting take on the traditional pearl milk tea recipe, using coffee as a pick me up and chocolate combined with manuka honey for sweetness. Creamy coconut milk finishes off the flavour profile, giving a sumptuous creaminess, with a chilled finish to keep it fresh for summer. 
 
If you’re wondering what the difference is with bubble tea vs boba, they’re actually the same thing and they’re usually available in a variety of flavours like mango bubble tea, strawberry boba and passionfruit pearl milk tea, so we’ve chosen a non-traditional version that combines and Eastern tradition with Western flavours. 
 
This is almost a meal in itself, and a delicious one at that, and is such a fun thing to make as a special weekend treat. Who knows, it may just become your new favourite weekend coffee recipe!  

INGREDIENTS

• 8 tablespoon tapioca flour 
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (sifted) 
• 3 tablespoons boiling water 

• 1/3 cup black coffee 
• 1 tsp cocoa powder 
• 1 tbsp manuka honey 
• 1/3 cup coconut milk 
• A pinch of cinnamon 
• Splash of vanilla essence 

• 1 tsp cocoa powder 
• 1 tbsp manuka honey 
• 1 tbsp warm water 

Chocolate Tapioca Pearls 

• Give it a few seconds for the slimy paste to form. Fold in tapioca starch with a fork until they start to stick together. Transfer to a flat surface and knead until the dough becomes smooth. 

• Divide the dough into 2 and roll each forming thin sticks. Cut them into small pieces. Try to make them as even in size as possible and should be small enough to pass through your straw. Roll each piece in between your palms to turn them into small balls.  
  
  
  

• Bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil in a small pot or saucepan. Add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water and let it cook for 15 minutes or longer until the desired consistency (soft or chewy) is achieved. They will also become darker as they cook. 

• Remove from heat and let it rest for a few minutes. They will shrink back to the original size and will turn black at this point.  
  
  
  

• Transfer tapioca pearls into a honey syrup or a bowl with a little water to prevent them from sticking together. 

Vegan Mocha Manuka ‘Tea’ 

• Brew your coffee as you like it, in our case it is strong and dark! Then pour over ice to cool down immediately. We use a cocktail shaker to do this, as it comes with a handy sieve, and it’s easier to pour into a glass, but you can use a sieve to strain out the ice. 
  
  

• Mix your manuka honey and cocoa powder with 1 tbsp  warm water in a glass until everything is well combined and the honey is no longer clumpy. 

• Slowly add ¼ cup of cold coffee, stirring as you go, to avoid lumps of honey and cocoa. 

• Add the cocoa manuka mix into the iced coffee in the cocktail mixer, along with another 2/3rds of a cup of coconut milk, and give it a good shake until it’s well combined and a little bit frothy. 

• Mix up a ¼ tsp of cocoa with 1 tsp of manuka honey with a little bit of water (around 1 tbsp) and stir into a paste. 

• Pour 1/3 cup of your chocolate tapioca pearls into the bottom of your glass, top with your cocoa manuka paste. 
  

• Fill 2/3rd of the glass with your coffee manuka mix from your cocktail shaker. 

• Pour coconut milk into top of glass. 
  
  

• You can now top with whipped coconut cream or dust with cocoa powder and enjoy! 

The yummy manuka cocoa syrup at the bottom of the glass adds a sweet surprise, a bit like a caramel sauce, and the chewy pearls are delicious sucked through a straw. 

If you’re a fan of the chewy caramel sauce that comes on an iced coffee, try using our squeezy manuka to drizzle some over the top of your bubble tea. 

Enjoy every chewy slurp! x