If you are a Fancy Navajo then you probably have had or heard of boba tea. If you haven’t, let’s catch you up to speed. Boba tea is an Asian tea drink (black or green tea)that is combined with milk to make a sweet dessert drink. It is typically sold in most Asian restaurants or at boba tea houses. If you live in the Chandler, AZ area, Boba Tea House is my favorite place to get boba tea (my favorite is the Thai Iced Tea Slush). The most notable part of the drink is the boba, which are soft chewy tapioca balls that are slightly sweetened. They have the same texture as a gummy bear, but far less sweet. My favorite part of boba tea is the fat boba tea straw, and slurping up the boba! Combined with the milk tea, it is a fun and refreshing drink.
Boba also makes a striking resemblance to sheep poo. Yep! I said it sheep poo! I remember the first time I introduced my family to this drink, everyone made this comment! Must be a Navajo thing! Hahaha!! Thankfully the two only resemble each other in apperance. It is definitely a fun drink to have people try. I wonder what my grandma would say if I served her this drink. I will have to give that a whirl one of these day. I always feel fancy drinking boba tea, so I wanted to put a Fancy Navajo twist on it using Navajo tea and almond milk!
It is a very simple recipe, so I wanted to also share how to make your own almond milk. I am slightly lactose intolerant so this is a yummy non-dairy alternative. Also once you realize how simple it is to make your own almond milk, you will never want to buy it again! But if you are in a time pinch and want Fancy Navajo Almond Milk Tea, store bought almond milk or regular milk will work just fine! If you follow me on Instagram then you may have followed along as I demonstrated how to make almond milk on my IG stories. If you didn’t make sure to follow me. I occasionally will show snippets of the things I make as I am cooking.
Let me know if you make this! Tag me in a photo or use the hashtag #TheFancyNavajo so I can see!
Fancy Navajo Boba Almond Milk Tea
Makes about 2 cups of Tea
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raw almonds (I bought mine from Sprouts grocery store)
- 2 cups water plus extra for soaking
- Honey
- 2 cups Navajo Tea (You can use fresh Navajo tea or packaged Navajo Tea like Yanabah Navajo Tea)
- 1 cup cooked Boba Tapioca Pearls (I bought mine from Amazon)
- Cheese cloth and/or reusable mesh strainer
- Blender
- Medium pitcher to hold almond milk
- Cute cups
- Boba Straw (I used these stainless steel ones)
- Rinse and soak almonds in water overnight. Almonds should be completely submerged into water with about 2 inches of water above. Cover with a loose cloth and let it sit on your counter overnight.
- The following day, rinse almonds and place into a blender along with 2 cups of water. Blend for 1-2 minutes or until you see all almonds have been ground.
- Place cheesecloth over strainer and put over pitcher. Slowly pour the almond milk mixture into the strainer so the liquid pours into the pitcher.
- Continue to do this until all liquid is strained and bundle up almond mixture and squeeze out excess almond milk.
- Voila almond milk! You can stop now and sweeten with your choice of sweetener. This will keep for 2 days in the refrigerator.
- Boil water for Navajo tea. You can use fresh Navajo tea or a Navajo tea packet.
- Follow the instructions on how to prepare boba. I like to sweeten mine with honey.
- Once all items have cooled assemble boba tea! Add the cooked boba first then the tea and milk. I like doing 50/50 Navajo Tea and Almond Milk. You can adjust to your tastes.
- Add a boba straw and and enjoy!
*** If you use this for cultural workshops or food demonstrations please give credit to my website TheFancyNavajo.com. If you are interested in sharing recipes with your company or organization please email me TheFancyNavajo@gmail.com for permission***
