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5 glasses filled with different colored drinks with multiple colors of boba.

Naturally Colored Homemade Boba (Black & Other Colors)

Last Modified: June 5, 2020 // by Tracy Ariza, DDS // April 19, 2019 I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post. Learn more here.

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Overhead view of 5 bowls of homemade boba in a variety of colors, with uncooked homemade boba next to the bowls.

Making your own black boba or tapioca pearls in a vibrant rainbow of colors is actually quite simple to do naturally, and it’s a lot of fun!

Overhead view of 5 bowls of homemade boba in a variety of colors, with uncooked homemade boba next to the bowls.
Homemade naturally colored boba, cooked and uncooked.
Pin this recipe for later!

Why make your own boba (aka. Tapioca pearls)?

A couple of years ago, I showed you how to make your own homemade boba for bubble tea. I had tried boiling some tapioca pearls that I had bought at a local Asian supermarket, and no matter what I tried, I failed to make boba with a nice consistency. They were dry, hard, and opaque in the center while they would get mushy and sticky on the outside.

Back then, I actually came to the conclusion that it was easier to make boba from scratch at home than to try to boil the ready-made boba for sale!

While I have since learned some tips and tricks for getting a better consistency when making ready-made boba, I still prefer making boba from scratch because it allows me to make them exactly how I want. And, as always, it keeps me in control of the ingredients.

If you’ve ever made pasta at home, you’ll know that homemade pasta cooks perfectly and almost immediately because it retains the moisture throughout the thickness of the pasta. In the same way, homemade boba cooks immediately and perfectly!

Many of you enjoyed that post and used the recipe to make your own boba, but you also wanted a way to make black boba. To make things even trickier, you were looking for a natural solution.

Homemade black boba being spooned out of a green matcha latte

How to make black boba

Over the years, many readers speculated as to how black boba was made.

Taiwanese Black sugar?

Several people claimed that Asian black sugar was what gave black boba its characteristic color, but others tried making boba with black sugar and said that it only darkened the boba somewhat. (At the time, I figured that that would make sense as black boba are very dark and the tapioca starch is very white. I assumed that you’d need to add something with a lot of color to have the color shine through.)

I haven’t specifically seen Taiwanese black sugar ever listed on any of the packages of black boba that I have studied (online, as I’ve never seen black boba for sale locally), but many have an ambiguous “caramel” listed as an ingredient.  Perhaps a caramel is made with a very dark colored sugar and that could darken the boba.

My suspicion is that maybe “black” boba were originally made with a dark sugar like that one, but that to get a more extreme black color, modern boba use a bit of extra help.

Food coloring

After studying the ingredients of several types of black boba, I noticed that few clearly stated that they used black food coloring. Most had a mixture of chemical-sounding ingredients along with either “caramel” or “caramel flavoring” as one of their ingredients. I’m not sure if it’s the chemicals or the “caramel” that give their boba the characteristic black color.

The “normal” way that black boba are colored is still a bit of an enigma to me.

Blue and green bubble tea with homemade black boba.

Activated charcoal

A comment on my other post is what finally pushed me to give making black boba a try.

Hi! I’ve been making store-bought boba since 2011! I recently saw a video on Facebook by Insider that shows how boba is made at the only self serve boba bar. They use activated charcoal to create black boba right in shop! I’m looking to recreate it using your recipe and some activated charcoal.

Another reader had already commented on how she had added a bit of activated charcoal to her homemade boba and that they had come out perfectly black and beautiful!

I decided to learn from my readers and give it a try.

How much natural colorant/activated charcoal should you use?

I experimented with different amounts of activated charcoal to get different shades of black boba.

When coloring my homemade boba dough with various natural colorants, I was actually quite surprised to find that I didn’t need as much colorant as I thought I would need. While the tapioca starch is very white, only a small amount is needed to get the dough to turn a dark color.

More importantly, though, the boba turn translucent when cooked. The bright whiteness disappears and the uncolored boba become almost colorless. That, in itself, allow the colors you add to shine through. (Notice below that the uncooked boba are a light gray color, but the cooked boba in the bowl look black.)

Two batches of homemade black boba, using different amounts of activated charcoal. One batch is slightly darker than the other batch.
Here you can see two different batches of homemade black boba. One used half the amount of colorant of the other. (One used 1/4 tsp, while the other used 1/2 tsp. for 1/2 cup of tapioca starch.)

Depending on how dark you want/need them to be, you can consider adding a different amount of activated charcoal. For most uses, though, I think they are both dark enough.

In the photo, I can better appreciate the difference in color between the two batches of cooked boba, and I can even see that I accidentally switched the boba without even noticing my mistake. I put the darker uncooked boba next to the bowl of lighter colored cooked pearls. Oops!

Making Boba in Other Natural Colors

After being successful at making homemade black boba, I set off to make boba in a rainbow of colors! (And flavors?)

I already had some experience in making homemade natural food colorings. I have since been playing with more colorings and have been wanting to not only update that post, but I also plan on updating my post for a homemade, magical color changing food coloring. When I wrote that post, I was excited to see that I could make a variety of pH-dependent colors from the leaves of red (purple?) cabbage. The problem with red cabbage, though, is that you need a lot of it to get a deep color, and the flavor of the cabbage in large quantities can be off-putting in certain recipes.

Overhead view of homemade blue boba in a white bowl

Making bright blue boba

Rather than try to use red cabbage to make a natural blue coloring, I instead used “blue matcha.”

What is blue matcha?

OK, let me start off by saying that blue matcha isn’t really a type of matcha. Blue matcha is really just the ground flowers of the butterfly pea tea. You can find both the whole, dried flowers or the powder for sale. As I stated earlier, the powder is often referred to as “blue matcha,” but it has no relation to the popular green matcha that is known for its antioxidant properties and health benefits.

That said, the Clitoria Ternatea flowers (aka. butterfly pea flowers), may also have some health benefits of their own. They may help with anxiety and depression, but it’s not exactly known why or how. If you are sensitive to caffeine, it’s also great to know that because this type of “matcha” doesn’t come from the tea plant, it is also naturally caffeine free.

The main selling point of this tea, though, is its beautiful color!

Blue is a color that is otherwise very difficult to obtain naturally, and this flower easily imparts its beautiful, vibrant color without needing to add a lot, and without having to add any off-putting flavors. The flavor of the butterfly pea tea is subtle and a bit earthy (for lack of a better way to describe it).

Overhead view of 6 glasses of naturally colores teas, the bottom two made with butterfly pea tea.
The bottom two teas were made with butterfly pea tea and a splash of homemade coconut milk. To make the purple one, I just added a squeeze of lemon.

Making a purple tea

One thing that makes the blue butterfly pea tea even cooler is that its color is also pH dependent. By adding a bit of lemon to your tea, it goes from a beautiful vibrant blue color to a stunning violet!

I sort of missed the opportunity of trying to make violet boba by adding an acid along with the butterfly pea powder to the dough. Perhaps I’ll try that next time I’m looking for a boba fix.

If someone does give it a try, I’d love to hear how it goes!

Homemade green boba in a white bowl

Making Green Boba

Because boba is normally served in tea, I decided to use natural teas to color my boba whenever possible. That’s why it’s probably no surprise that I colored my green boba with matcha powder.

I’m a huge fan of matcha, and drink it almost every day. Not only is it anti-inflammatory, but it is packed with antioxidants and it may help boost your metabolism. It’s rich in chlorophyll, which is why it’s such a beautiful shade of green.

closeup of two bubble teas: one green with blue boba and one blue with green boba.
I had fun adding blue boba to the green tea and green boba to the blue tea

I actually had a lot of fun playing with both the green and blue boba, and I tried putting the green boba in a blue butterfly pea tea latte, and the blue boba in a green matcha latte.

They also look quite nice in a tea of the same color and flavor.

Overhead view of a bowl of homemade bright pink boba with some uncooked pink boba next to the bowl.

Making Bright Pink Boba

While I could have tried using my homemade beetroot powder for making bright fuchsia boba (just like I made my bright pink paleo sprinkles), I decided to stick with the “tea” theme and used ground hibiscus powder instead. That worked wonderfully because the color was gorgeous and the flavor was perfect for adding to berry-based teas.

To make the hibiscus powder, you can take some dried hibiscus flower tea and place it in a coffee grinder and grind it up

Overhead view of homemade yellow boba

Making Bright Yellow Boba

With the popularity of turmeric lattes in the healthy food circles these days, it’s probably not too surprising that I colored my yellow boba with some turmeric powder. These boba were actually very tasty and ended up being one of my favorite flavors. (I think the green matcha ones were my favorite.)

I, of course, thought that they were best served in a turmeric latte. You can see how to make a turmeric latte and some of its possible benefits on my friend Krystal’s blog.

The yellow boba darkened up considerably once cooked, so you may not need to add as much turmeric as I did. I really liked having the turmeric add a bit of flavor to the boba themselves, though, so I’m pretty happy with how they turned out as is.

A Blue Teapot shown with five bubble teas made in a variety of natural colors

Watch the Process of Making Boba in a Rainbow of Natural Colors

Naturally Colored Boba for Bubble Tea

(Black and Other Colors)

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5 glasses filled with different colored drinks with multiple colors of boba.

Naturally Colored Boba (Black & Other Colors)

Making your own black boba or tapioca pearls from scratch for homemade bubble tea is quick and easy. Fresh boba are so much better than dried tapioca pearls found in stores. By making them yourself, you can avoid unwanted ingredients, and make them in any color of the rainbow!
5 from 3 votes
Print Rate
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2 servings with 25 tapioca pearls each
Calories: 104kcal
Author: Tracy Ariza, DDS

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch
  • 1/4 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 tsp. activated carbon up to 1/2 tsp.
  • 1/4 tsp. matcha, turmeric, hibiscus powder instead of activated carbon for other colors
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup or coconut syrup or honey
Switch units back – Convert units

Instructions

  • Boil the water.
  • Add the tapioca starch to a bowl, followed by either the activated carbon or one of the other natural colorants. (Read the post above to know which colorants you can use.)
    Depending on how vibrant you want the color to be, you can add more or less colorant. Keep in mind that the colors will get darker when the boba are cooked and become more translucent. I found that around 1/4 tsp. worked well for most colors. I added a bit more of the hibiscus powder, and also added more activated carbon to half of the black boba. 
  • Mix together the colorant with the tapioca starch.
  • Add the boiling water. I work the water in little by little because in most cases you won’t need the full amount. You want to have more than enough boiled and ready, though.
    Kneading with your hands is the best way to incorporate the water and make a non-sticky dough. Be careful not to burn yourself, though. You need to add the water while it is still very hot to get the tapioca starch to partially change its texture and make a pliable dough. 
  • Keep kneading until you have incorporated all of the flour.
    You may now repeat the recipe to make boba of a different color if desired.
    Overhead view of tapioca dough in 5 colors, ready for making homemade tapioca pearls (boba).
  • Once you have a workable dough, the easiest way to make tapioca pearls is to roll the dough into long snakes of dough, cut them into small pieces and roll them into tiny balls.
    Overhead view of a knife cutting rolls of yellow tapioca dough surrounded by homemade boba already formed in a variety of colors.
  • To cook your homemade boba, boil at least twice as much water as the volume of tapioca pearls that you are going to cook.
  • Add your homemade boba to the boiling water. The boba should float to the top. When that happens, you can begin to check on the texture of the boba.
  • When you are happy with the texture, remove the boba from hot water with a slotted spoon, and transfer them to a bowl with either a sweet syrup like maple syrup or coconut syrup or some honey. The syrup will help preserve them until you are ready to use them while slightly sweetening them and keeping them from sticking to each other.
    Overhead view of spooing black boba from boiling water, ready to place in a prepared bowl of coconut syrup.
  • Add them to your tea! They have the best texture when warm, so if you want cold bubble tea, it’s best to add them first to your glass while they are warm, and pour the cold tea over top, serving immediately!
  • Enjoy!
Course Beverages, DIY Pantry Foods
Cuisine Asian
Keyword boba, bubble tea
Other Diets Dairy free, Gluten free, Paleo, Vegan
Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @thethingswellmake or tag #thethingswellmake!
Serving: 25boba | Calories: 104kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Iron: 0.4mg

For Troubleshooting and storage tips, check out my original post about how to make tapioca pearls/homemade boba.

Category: Beverages & Smoothies, MIY Pantry Basics

About Tracy Ariza, DDS

Tracy Ariza, B.A., D.D.S., left dentistry and the United States to found Oh, The Things We’ll Make!, writing to you from the Spanish Riviera. She loves making things herself in order to keep control of what goes in them. While far from perfect, she strives each day to live a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. April Blake

    February 8, 2021 at 8:50 PM

    OMG this is so cool! I got premade bobas last year and they were always suspiciously moist in the package so I didn’t feel comfortable using them anymore. This seems just as easy once I procure tapioca starch!

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza, DDS

      February 9, 2021 at 10:16 AM

      Awesome! I hope it goes well for you!
      Here, they only have the super dry ones available, but I was never able to cook them right- that’s how this whole process started. 😉

      Reply
  2. Deanna Hutchinson

    February 1, 2021 at 12:50 AM

    I used boilng pomegranate juice instead of water with no coloring and they came out pretty dark. Sort of a medium burgundy after resting in coconut syrup. I bet if another red was added they’d end up pretty vibrant. They also tasted incredible.

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza, DDS

      February 1, 2021 at 11:11 AM

      Interesting! Thanks for the tip, Deanna!

      Reply
  3. Juliette

    November 1, 2020 at 7:20 PM

    Can u change tapioca starch for corn strach

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza, DDS

      November 2, 2020 at 10:10 PM

      Hi Juliette,
      I’m afraid that wouldn’t work. Tapioca starch has a very specific type of texture that is necessary for making boba.

      Reply
  4. Daleen Pretorius

    October 17, 2020 at 6:52 PM

    Hi Tracy
    Thanks for sharing your boba pearl recipe with us. I am from South Africa where we grow rooibos tea. There is another tea similar to rooibos called Honeybush tea but I think if you really want red boba pearls, you could try to use some beetroot powder. That colour would make you heart go bumpity-bump.
    Daleen Pretorius.

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza, DDS

      October 21, 2020 at 7:19 PM

      Hi Daleen,
      I had actually considered that too. I make my own beetroot powder, but didn’t have any on hand that day. The hibiscus turned out great too, though. Perhaps the next time I make beetroot powder, I’ll give it a try!

      Reply
  5. Freya

    August 21, 2020 at 4:10 AM

    5 stars
    Wow, you really went all out experimenting with boba colors and natural ingredients! So happy to have found this article…I’m crazy about bubble tea but not about all the junk it has in it. After making a rooibos milk tea for myself today on ice (no boba), I think I might try your boba-making method tomorrow! Thanks for sharing your experiments. 😀

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza, DDS

      February 9, 2021 at 10:57 AM

      Awesome! Thanks, Freya!

      Reply
  6. Anna

    May 6, 2020 at 1:35 AM

    5 stars
    I’m excited to try my hand at making boba pearls. I can only buy the rainbow ones at our local Asian store and I would really like to try to make black ones. I’d love to try making the brighter color ones too without using artificial food coloring!! It would be great for children too!! My only question is:

    Do the colored bobas taste heavily of their added flavors (ie: charcoal, tumeric, matcha, hibiscus), or is it a rather dull, unnoticeable boba pearl flavor?

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza, DDS

      February 6, 2021 at 11:24 PM

      Hi Anna,
      Actually, no. I didn’t notice the flavor that much. If anything, it was a nice addition. 😉

      Reply
  7. Jovan Welch

    January 11, 2020 at 7:33 PM

    I’m not a fan of pink, but i love red! Have you tried rooibos tea powder?

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza

      January 16, 2020 at 2:39 PM

      Hi Jovan,
      No, that’s an interesting thought. I’m not a huge fan of the flavor of rooibos, to be honest. I don’t remember it being as red as one would like for a colorant. (I could be wrong, though. It’s been a while since I’ve bought and used it.)

      Reply
  8. Sharona

    October 21, 2019 at 6:06 AM

    Can I use liquid colouring to make the boba Pearl’s.

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza, DDS

      February 6, 2021 at 7:55 PM

      Yes, you can do that too.

      Reply

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Hello, I’m Tracy!

I love making my own natural products like soaps and lotions and my own pantry items like yogurt and salad dressings.
Why do I do it? Sometimes to save money, sometimes because it's healthier, but I always love having control of the ingredients!​
Oh, the things we'll make!...

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