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Fruit Bubble Soda with Popping Boba

Recipe by The Cozy Bowl Kitchen

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  • Total Time5 minutes
  • Yield1 tall glass (about 400ml) 1x

The Signature Sips formula, built at home: two fruit syrups, a squeeze of citrus, ice-cold soda water and popping boba. Five minutes, and it works for any of the twelve flavour pairings on our menu.

Ingredients

Scale

For one glass

  • 2 tbsp popping boba, drained (mango, strawberry, lychee, passion fruit or pomegranate)
  • 2 tbsp first fruit syrup or purée, chilled (for example mango)
  • 1 tbsp second fruit syrup or purée, chilled (for example lychee)
  • 2 tsp fresh lime or lemon juice
  • Ice, enough to fill the glass
  • 250ml soda water, well chilled

Optional finishing touches

  • 1 lime wedge, or a thin slice of apple
  • 2 or 3 mint leaves
  • 2 tinned lychees, or a few fresh berries

Simple syrup, if you need to adjust sweetness

  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100ml water

Instructions

Get everything cold

  1. Chill the syrups, the soda water and the glass for at least 10 minutes. Room-temperature syrup will melt a third of your ice on contact.
  2. If you are making simple syrup, warm the sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves, then cool completely. It keeps in a sealed bottle in the fridge for up to a month.

Build the drink

  1. Drain the popping boba in a small sieve — the syrup they are packed in is very sweet — and spoon them into the bottom of the glass.
  2. Add both fruit syrups and the lime or lemon juice. Taste. It should be slightly too sweet and slightly too sharp at this stage, because the ice and soda will soften both.
  3. Fill the glass to the top with ice. Fill it properly — more ice means a colder, less diluted drink.
  4. Hold a dessert spoon upside down just above the ice and pour the soda water onto it, so it runs gently down the side of the glass. This keeps the fizz.
  5. Stir once, slowly, lifting from the bottom to the top. Do not stir hard or you will flatten it.
  6. Clap the mint leaves between your palms to release the oils and drop them in, add the lime wedge and any fresh fruit, and serve with a wide bubble tea straw.

Notes

Popping boba are never cooked. They are juice-filled spheres that come ready to use in a tub. Do not confuse them with dried black tapioca pearls, which must be boiled and are used in milk teas.

Drain the boba. The syrup they sit in is heavily sweetened. A small sieve takes ten seconds and stops the drink being cloying.

Twelve flavour pairings from our menu. Tropical Hush is lychee and mango. Blush Harmony is pineapple and strawberry. Lush Mirage is mango and pineapple. Velvet Whisper is mango and strawberry. Eden Spark is red and green apple. Whispering Lotus is lychee and apple. Ruby Mist is pomegranate and apple. Lemon Orchard is lemon and apple. Hushed Crescent is melon and lychee. Guava Glow is guava and pineapple. Mango on a Mission is mango and guava. Soft Pink Moon is lychee and guava.

Two fruits, not one. One rounded and sweet, one sharp or floral. That is the pattern behind every pairing on the list.

Make it a jug. Multiply by four, build in a jug with plenty of ice and add the soda just before serving. Put the boba in the individual glasses rather than the jug so everyone gets some.

Make it a slush. Blend the syrups, citrus and 250g of ice until smooth, then spoon the boba in.

Make the base ahead. Mix the syrups and citrus in a bottle and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add ice, soda and boba to order.

Equipment. A tall glass of about 400ml, a small sieve, a long spoon, a dessert spoon for pouring the soda, and a wide bubble tea straw — an ordinary straw will not lift the boba.

Allergens. Popping boba, fruit syrups and cordials vary widely by brand and some contain sulphites, colourings or milk derivatives. Always check the label of every ingredient you use, as recipes and allergen information can change. People with food allergies or intolerances must also consider cross-contamination. Popping boba are small and slippery, so use your judgement with very young children.

This is a home recipe inspired by the Signature Sips range at The Cozy Bowl. It is not the restaurant’s exact commercial recipe.

Find it online: https://thecozybowl.co.uk/fruit-bubble-soda-popping-boba/