Watch the method first, then follow the written steps below.
Taro milk tea is one of the few flavours customers order by name, and the version in the video is the one we demonstrate to new stockists. It is sometimes sold as a taro dirty cup, where the taro chunks sit at the bottom of the cup and streak up through the milk as it is poured, giving the drink its marbled look without any extra work from the operator.
In Taiwan, taro, yùtóu (芋頭) in Mandarin and ō͘-á (芋仔) in Taiwanese, grows almost anywhere in the country with minimal maintenance. Before the Taiwan Miracle made rice affordable to everyone, taro was one of the main staples. Nowadays it turns up mostly in desserts and drinks. Supermarket varieties range from about the size of a brussels sprout to longer ones the size of a football. Taro chips are a common snack, harder and nuttier than potato chips, and taro balls served on ice or deep fried are a traditional favourite.
What do I need for a Taro Fresh Milk Tea?
| Ingredient | Per cup |
|---|---|
| Fresh milk | 250 g |
| Taro Powder | 45 g |
| Sugar | 20 g |
| Ice (full cup) | 250 g |
| Sweet Taro Dice | 80 g |
How do I make a Taro Fresh Milk Tea?
- Heat the milk, then whisk in the taro powder until it is fully dissolved with no lumps.
- Once dissolved, add the sugar and a full cup of ice.
- Shake to combine the sugar, ice and taro milk tea.
- Pour into the serving cup over the taro chunks and serve.
Notes for cafe service
- This is taro fresh milk tea, not taro milk tea. They are two different drinks. This one is built on fresh milk, so the body comes from the milk itself and no separate creamer is needed. Taro milk tea is a different drink built on hot water, and that version does need creamer added back: roughly 40 g Taro Powder, 30 g creamer and 10 ml fructose to 250 ml hot water. Keep them as two separate items on the menu rather than treating one as a variation of the other.
- The powder already contains creamer and sugar. Our Taro Powder is pre-mixed, which is why the fresh milk version needs nothing else to carry the texture.
- Dissolve the powder in hot milk before the ice goes near it. Taro powder will not disperse properly in a cold base and you end up shaking lumps through the cup.
- The taro chunks go in the cup, not the shaker. Shaking breaks them up and you lose the marbled look that makes the drink photograph well.
- One 1kg bag of taro powder makes roughly 22 cups at 45 g per serve. Use that to work your cost per cup against your menu price.
- Sweetness is the easiest thing to adjust for a local market. The 20 g of sugar here is a starting point, not a fixed rule.
Stocking up? See our flavoured powder range or register for wholesale pricing.
