How to Make Rose Milk Tea at Home?

These days people need differences more than ever. As we exploit all the diverse dishes and exotic tastes in drinks, we look forward to a new excitement in our daily consumption. Rose tea is one of these unique and deliciously satisfying beverages that most people have not discovered yet. Though this tea is not a typical drink, there is no doubt that it fits many tea-lovers' taste preferences. Combined with milk of any type, Rose milk tea can bring a feast to taste buds and leave you wanting more. It has a vibrant color and memorable floral undernotes. Once you try this tea, you will be tempted to order another one to go.

How to Make Rose Milk Tea?

You can get this heavenly drink ready from nearby tea shops like Bontea cafe, or prepare your batch at home. This guide will share the details of how to make classic rose milk tea and unique twists to classic instructions. 

Classic milk tea with rose flavor requires only a few ingredients. However, ingredients change depending on whether one uses rose water or rose syrup in preparation. Rose water is easily accessible in Asian markets. It brings the floral flavor to the drink, but it is not very sweet. Hence, a recipe with rose water requires additional sweetener, such as honey. However, if the rose syrup is made or bought, there is no need to mix other sweeteners. With the instructions below, one can get two cups of rose milk tea. We created different versions of rose milk tea recipes so that if you want to have a slightly twisted drink than the classic one, you will not mess up with the beverage. Enjoy this heart-warming drink!

Rose Milk Tea with Rose Syrup

For Rose Syrup

1 Cup Water

1 Cup Sugar

½ Cup Dried Rose Petals 

2 Dried Hibiscus Petals (optional)

For Rose Milk

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Water

2 Tea Bags

2 Tbsp Rose Syrup

Instructions for Rose Syrup

If you have previously made sugar syrup, you will find the instructions for rose syrup simple. The best part of this type of rose milk tea is keeping the syrup for later usage. The syrup works well with other drinks, such as coffee, lemonade, cocktail, or milkshakes. To make the syrup, you need to mix water, sugar, and rose petals and put it on medium heat to boil. Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes. The sugar should dissolve completely. When the syrup is ready, it will thicken. 

In this stage, you can add hibiscus petals. It is recommended to keep hibiscus only 3-4 minutes in the syrup because we do not want it to affect the flavor. Hibiscus acts as a coloring element. Yet, if you like hibiscus, you can keep it. After a few minutes, strain the syrup to discard petals. You can push the petals with the back of the spoon to get as much flavor as possible. Besides, it is also possible not to use hibiscus at all. The syrup's color will be slightly different, much like a pale red, but its taste will not be affected. 

The only time-consuming part of making this milk tea is the preparation of the syrup. It will take around 15 to 20 minutes for the syrup to be ready. You can get around 250 ml of syrup with these ingredients. However, one can also purchase ready syrup in stores and add it to the tea. 

Also, keep in mind that it is possible to use edible rose petals instead of dried ones. However, it is not easy to find edible petals. Besides refined sugar, you can use coconut, palm, or brown sugar to prepare the healthier syrup. 

Instructions for Rose Milk Tea with Rose Syrup

Once the rose syrup is ready, you can proceed to make the tea. First, prepare the black tea by infusing tea bags in water. Add the syrup and milk to it. The recipe requires two tbsp of rose syrup and a cup of milk. However, you can change the amount based on your preference. Instead of whole milk, almond, soy, or coconut milk can be used. Plus, it is possible to use green tea instead of black tea. For better appearance, one can top up the rose milk tea with dried petals or petal dust. That's it- your drink is ready to serve!

Keep in mind that some people prefer a strong rose flavor in their drinks. Hence, they can add a few drops of rose water to the beverage. Rose water does not have much sweetness, but it has an intense floral aftertaste.  

How can I Check if the Syrup is Ready?

The ready syrup will have a thickened consistency. If you mix it with a spoon, you will see that the syrup lightly covers the spoon once you raise it. Also, the syrup should not flow down quickly like water. Another technique to check the consistency is that you can draw a line with your fingertip on the spoon when cooled. Alternatively, you can put a little syrup on a separate plate and again move around the syrup with your fingertip. The thick texture of the syrup will close this line slowly as if it is resisting. However, liquidy texture fills the line immediately. 

Can I Store Rose Syrup?

The great part of this recipe is that you will be left with much pre-made syrup for your future drinks. You can add a little syrup, to your taste, to other teas, milkshakes, alcoholic beverages, or bubble tea as a taste booster. After the syrup cools, you can keep it in the fridge for as long as three months, if space is maintained clean. 

I do not Have Time for Rose Syrup…

There is a much quicker version of rose milk tea, prepared with rose water instead of rose syrup. As mentioned before, the most time-consuming part of this beverage is preparing the syrup. Instead, you can use store-bought rose water. In this case, the ingredients change slightly. 

Rose Milk Tea with Rose Water

2 Cup Water

2 Black Tea Bag

2 Tsp Honey

2 Tsp Rose Water

½ Cup Milk

Instructions 

These ingredients are for two cups of rose milk tea. It is effortless- all you need to do is steeping the tea, adding rose water, honey, and milk. Yet, some details need to be clarified. First, it is enough to keep tea bags in boiled water for three to five minutes. Before adding other elements, remove the tea bags. Besides, milk should be hot. Therefore, either heat the milk on low heat or use a milk frother. Instead of honey, one can use any other sweetener. It is also possible to prepare the drink with plant-based milk. Some people even add tapioca pearls to make a rose milk bubble tea.

As it is clear already, there are not many differences between preparing rose tea with rose syrup or rose water. The main point is that rose water is not sweet enough. Hence, in a recipe with rose water, you need to add honey. However, rose syrup already includes sugar, so it has desirable sweetness. In any case, rose milk tea is a delicious beverage when it is cold or when you have a romantic date with your beloved one.