Brown sugar syrup is a luscious thick caramel-like syrup that is a must for making boba. Not just that, this easy-to-make syrup is very versatile and can be used to sweeten and flavor all sorts of drinks. Please note that it differs from the simple syrup in terms of its thickness and consistency. This post is a quick guide to making perfect syrup every time.
I love to use brown sugar syrup for milk tea. I can choose to make my milk tea with or without boba pearls, but brown sugar syrup is essential.
Days when I feel lazy, I end up using other sweeteners like maple syrup, or honey. These are good alternatives, but they never yield the characteristic boba flavor that we are addicted to.
So how about making a large batch of this brown sugar syrup and never worry about sweetening the boba pearls and milk for your next bubble teas.
Why should you try this recipe?
- This recipe uses very basic ingredients. Just one ingredient. Brown sugar!
- It needs no expertise. Most basic, simple, and easy recipe. But the flavor it will bring to your drinks is just outstanding.
- A recipe with multiple applications. You can use this syrup not just in your bubble teas, but in all sorts of milk teas, black tea, brown sugar coffee syrup, latte, sweet iced teas, smoothies, slushy, etc. Or use it as a syrup for your pancakes, air fryer waffles, etc.
- It is the perfect recipe. This will not crystallize on storage.
- Long shelf life. You can make it once and use it all month. It does not go bad that easily.
- This recipe is versatile. There is just one ingredient, but it could be replaced with many other substitute sugars, and you will still have a luscious thick syrup.
- Speed up the boba/ bubble tea-making process. If you love boba and plan to make it at home, you must make this syrup ahead in larger quantities and store it. This makes the process of making boba tea so quick.
- Versatile recipe. You can flavor it to match your taste and liking. You can add whatever flavoring you want.
Ingredients for brown sugar syrup recipe
There is no list of ingredients. You just need brown sugar for making this syrup. Rest are all optional ingredients. Though we will discuss them all.
Brown sugar
You can use whichever type of brown sugar you have on hand. Be it the light brown or dark brown sugar. Just that the syrup made with dark brown syrup will be darker than the one made with light brown sugar. Also, the dark brown sugar has more molasse than its light partner. Hence the taste of the syrup will differ slightly.
If you are going to use this syrup to make black tapioca pearls, it is better to go for dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar.
Types of sugars used for making syrup for boba tea
Brown sugar is a popular choice for making boba syrup, because of its easy availability. But other alternatives are unique to boba. Let us discuss a few of them.
- Taiwanese brown sugar: It is a type of brown sugar that is native to Taiwan. It is darker as it has more molasses but is less sweet than brown sugar. The sweetness is more like that of coconut sugar.
- Dark or light muscovado: A dark unrefined sugar, muscovado is perfect for making syrup for boba. I love its taste in tiger milk tea, and rose bubble tea. It can be easily used to replace brown sugar with flavor boba milk. It makes a better tasting, more caramel-like syrup.
- Japanese black sugar: This Japanese sugar is black due to the prolonged cooking at low heat. It is rich in molasses and hence the flavor is what we love in Tiger Sugar boba tea recipes. Black sugar syrup is widely used in Japan, Taiwan, and China for making syrup for bubble tea.
- Other nontraditional possibilities: Other types of sugars that can be used to replace brown sugar are Jaggery ( Indian brown sugar), Panela( Latin American unrefined sugar), or Sucanat. These are not traditionally used in boba teas. But you can use them safely without altering the taste much.
Process: How to make a thick brown sugar syrup for boba
Step 1 Measure the ingredients properly
One cup of brown sugar means one packed and leveled measuring cup.
This simply means measuring the sugar correctly. If you pack the sugar loosely, your syrup will take much longer to come to the right consistency. You will waste time thickening the syrup. But if you measure the cups correctly, the brown sugar syrup will be ready in just 5 minutes.
Step 2 Making brown sugar syrup
Combine water and brown sugar in a pan or saucepan. Now place the pan over medium-high heat and let all the sugar dissolve on its own without stirring it. Let it cook for additional 4-5 minutes or until the syrup starts to become bubbly. Now, add corn syrup or lime juice.
Reduce the flame to its lowest and check the syrup temperature. It should have reached a temperature of around 228-230 0F. Anything around this range is great. Remove the pan from heat and let the syrup cool.
Syrup cooks very fast from this stage onwards. So, stay alert and do not overcook it. If syrup reaches the temp of 2350 F, it enters the soft-ball stage and it gets very thick for our boba or milk teas. We must stop right before this stage.
If you do not have a candy thermometer look for the appearance of bubbles. As soon as the bubbles form, remove the pan from the flame.
Step 3 Cooling and storing brown sugar syrup
Now let the syrup cool completely before storing it. Store it in an airtight bottle or jar of glass and use it whenever, and however, your heart desires.
Then use it in your favorite bubble tea like chocolate milk tea, mango bubble tea, etc.
How to remove Impurities (sleaze) from the brown sugar syrup
Most often unrefined sugars will have some sort of impurities in them. While making the syrup you might observe dirty foam floating on the top. These gathered impurities are usually called sleaze. In Indian cuisine, we make all sorts of syrups as most of our desserts are syrup-based. So, a hack that we commonly use is 2 teaspoons of whole milk.
Add two teaspoons of milk to the boiling syrup. The milk will coagulate and bring all the impurities to the top. Then you can use a ladle to scoop the dirt gathered at the top of the cooking syrup. The final syrup will be clear, clean, free from impurities, and will have a longer shelf life.
Tips on how to store homemade brown sugar syrup for better shelf life
Usually, simple syrups have shorter shelf life than the syrup that the brown sugar we made for boba. So, if a simple syrup would last 2 weeks in a fridge, this syrup will easily last for 4-6 weeks, if stored correctly.
- The first tip is to use a clean and dry glass bottle or jar with an airtight lid. Sugar is a natural preservative and does a good job until it is contaminated. So, a clean and dry bottle is a must.
- Make sure to remove the impurities from the syrup.
- If you are making a large batch, consider putting the bottle in an oven at 320 0F for 15 minutes to kind of sterilize the glass container (jar or bottle).
- Make sure to close the lid tightly and refrigerate it. Thereafter ensure to close the lid tightly after every use.
How to prevent crystallization of brown sugar syrup
- Air bubbles and impurities in the syrup act as a catalyst for the crystallization of thick syrups like this one. Our best bet is to have clean syrup and store it in a clean jar. Also, minimize stirring while cooking the syrup. Stirring induce a lot of unwanted air bubbles into the syrup, which later acts as initiators of crystallization.
- Adding ingredients to prevent crystallization: Crystallization may be prevented by adding an interferent, such as acid (lemon, vinegar, tartaric, etc.) or glucose or corn syrup, during the boiling procedure.
Variations of brown syrup for boba
You can enhance the flavor of the brown sugar syrup by adding any of the following. These can enrich or modify the basic flavor of the syrup.
- Molasses: adding a little bit of molasses to the brown cooking syrup enhances the flavor and makes it more caramel-like.
- Other sugars with a deeper flavor. Like muscovado sugar or jaggery.
- Spices like cinnamon, and nutmeg. A pinch of these spices can go a long way in syrup.
- Flavoring extracts like vanilla.
- Dry flowers like hibiscus, lavender, rosemary, rose petals, saffron, etc.
- Fruit zest, like orange rinds or orange zest.
Simple brown sugar syrup vs brown sugar syrup used in boba
Let us put the difference between these two in pointers.
- Simple syrup is runnier or thinner than the brown sugar syrups used in boba.
- This syrup has a dense caramel-like flavor. The simple syrups do not give that taste.
- Simple syrups have a shorter shelf life and spoil in 1-2 weeks, whereas this syrup has a longer shelf life.
- Brown sugar syrup ratio. In simple syrup sugar to water ratio is 1:1, whereas the syrups used for sweetening boba have a 2:1 sugar to water ratio.
Tips & Tricks to make a perfect brown sugar syrup for boba
- Substitute brown sugar with muscovado, Taiwanese brown sugar, Japanese black sugar, jaggery, or sucanat.
- Measure the sugar accurately. One cup of brown sugar means one packed measuring cup.
- Never let the syrup boil to 235 0F. Put the flame off as you start seeing some bubbles. If it reaches that stage add 1 tablespoon of water to bring it down.
- Add two teaspoons of milk to the boiling syrup. The milk will coagulate and bring all the impurities to the top. Then you can use a ladle to scoop the dirt gathered at the top of the cooking syrup. The final syrup will be clear, clean, free from impurities, and will have a longer shelf life.
- Avoid stirring the syrup. Just use a wet pastry brush to clean the edges of the pan. This prevents the syrup from gathering excess air and prevents crystallization during prolonged storage.
- To prevent crystallization add an interferent, such as acid (lemon, vinegar, tartaric, etc.) or glucose or corn syrup, during the boiling procedure.
- Add cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, orange zest, hibiscus flower, etc. to enhance the flavor of the brown sugar syrup.
- But if you are going to strictly use the brown sugar syrup for flavoring boba, it is best to keep it pure and avoid adding flavorings.
- Refrigerate the syrup in a clean airtight glass jar or bottle for prolonged shelf life.
Frequently asked questions
No. The syrup used in boba tea is much ticker than the simple syrup. The simple syrup made with brown sugar, or any type of sugar is thin and runny. It is made with an equal quantity of sugar and water. This means in 2 cups of water we add 2 cups of brown sugar. Whereas to flavor boba, the thicker and denser syrup is used. That is what this recipe is aiming to teach.
Brown sugar syrup is the major sweetener in boba. It is used in two major forms in boba recipes.
First, for making the boba pearls. They are sweetened with brown sugar syrup. A syrup of brown sugar is prepared and then tapioca flour or starch is combined into the syrup. The tapioca starch is partially cooked in the warm syrup which makes it pliable so that dough could be formed and further made into small pearls. The exception is the clear or white boba pearls that are made in white sugar syrup.
Second, for dunking the cooked boba and sweetening the boba drink bubble tea. The cooked boba is dunked in brown syrup to prevent it from sticking to each other and hardening. Also, brown sugar is added to the milk to make brown sugar milk. This brown sugar boba milk is the key sweetener in bubble tea. The classic brown sugar bubble tea is nothing but the magic of brown sugar syrup.
The syrup is runny when there is relatively more water in the syrup. The simple syrup has a 1:1 ratio of sugar and water. But if you are aiming to make a syrup for bubble tea, you might need a thicker syrup with a 2:1 sugar to water ratio.
There are two ways to fix a runny syrup:
One, by cooking more: By cooking the syrup, we evaporate the excess water, and the syrup will become thick eventually. This method is right for you if your syrup needs a very little adjustment. Cooking for 3-4 more minutes might fix it. But if the syrup is very runny, like simple syrup and you want to make it into a boba syrup, cooking is going to be a wasteful exercise. Sheer wastage of time and energy. I suggest you try the second method.
Second, by adding more sugar. Say for example you made a simple syrup and now you want to use it to make tiger milk tea. Your only solution is to add more sugar to make the syrup thick.
Brown sugar boba glaze is used to glaze or smear the sides of the boba glasses and top the boba drinks is nothing but a brown sugar syrup made by combining 2 parts of sugar with 1 part of water. Then you need to cook the solution until the sugar melts, and everything comes to a boil. And you have a perfect syrup to glaze your boba or bubble tea.
No, you can use any kind of sugar that you like or have to make the boba pearls. In white boba pearls or pastel-colored boba pearls, white sugar syrup is used. Other sugars that are widely used in making boba pearls are Japanese black sugar, muscovado sugar, and brown sugar.
Related recipes
- Tiger Milk Tea: Classic Brown Sugar Boba Recipe
- Chocolate Boba: Homemade Chocolate Milk Tea
- Strawberry Milk Tea: Boba Tea with fresh Strawberries!
- Lychee bubble tea: An easy lychee boba tea recipe
- Rose Milk Tea | Homemade Rose Bubble Tea
- Mango Bubble Tea: Homemade Mango Milk Tea
- Peach Syrup for Tea and Drinks
Did you make it?
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Till then,
Make it delicious!
Recipe card of brown sugar syrup for boba
Brown sugar syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar 215g
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon corn syrup/ or juice of half a lime
Instructions
Step 1 Measure the ingredients properly
- Measure the sugar correctly by using one leveled and packed measuring cup of brown sugar.
Step 2 Making syrup
- Combine water and brown sugar in a pan or saucepan. Now place the pan over medium-high heat and let all the sugar dissolve on its own without stirring it.
- Let it cook for additional 4-5 minutes or until the syrup starts to become bubbly. Now, add corn syrup or lime juice. Reduce the flame to its lowest and check the syrup temperature. It should have reached a temperature of around 228-230 0F.
- Turn off the flame and remove the pan from heat.
Step 3 Cooling and storing brown sugar syrup
- Now let the syrup cool completely before storing it. Store it in an airtight bottle or jar of glass and use it whenever, and however, your heart desires.
Notes
- Substitute brown sugar with muscovado, Taiwanese brown sugar, Japanese black sugar, jaggery, or sucanat.
- Measure the sugar accurately. One cup of brown sugar means one packed and leveled measuring cup.
- If you do not have a candy thermometer look for the appearance of bubbles. As soon as the bubbles are formed, remove the pan from the flame. Never let the syrup boil to 235 F. Put the flame off as you start seeing some bubbles.
- Add two teaspoons of milk to the boiling syrup. The milk will coagulate and bring all the impurities to the top. Then you can use a ladle to scoop the dirt gathered at the top of the cooking syrup. The final syrup will be clear, clean, free from impurities, and will have a longer shelf life.
- Avoid stirring the syrup. Just use a wet pastry brush to clean the edges of the pan. This prevents the syrup from gathering excess air and prevents crystallization during prolonged storage.
- Crystallization may be prevented by adding an interferent, such as acid (lemon, vinegar, tartaric, etc.) or glucose or corn syrup, during the boiling procedure.
- Add cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, orange zest, hibiscus flower, etc. to enhance the flavor of the brown sugar syrup.
- But if you are going to strictly use the syrup for boba, it is best to keep it pure and avoid adding flavorings.
- Refrigerate the syrup in a clean airtight glass jar or bottle for prolonged shelf life.
Nutrition facts
Sarah Johanson
Actually, I took it so far. 237 0F on my thermometer. I had to add water to fix it. Eventually managed to save it. It was good on pancakes. Just wanted to say thanks.
Sou Wyong
I am planning to put a pinch of cinnamon into the syrup. At what stage should I put the cinnamon powder into the syrup?
Meenakshi
Dear sou, use a cinnamon stick instead of cinnamon powder. Add it right with water. Hope it helps.