Hong Kong Milk Tea Boba Ice Cream

30g (¼ cup) Ceylon tea (loose leaf black tea)
375ml (1½ cups) heavy whipping cream (sub for coconut cream or refrigerated canned coconut milk for vegan)
150g (½ cup) condensed milk (sub for sugar or maple syrup for vegan)
¼ tsp salt

Combine the Ceylon tea and heavy whipping cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and cover for 30 minutes to let it steep. Let cool, and refrigerate (I like to refrigerate it overnight to intensify the flavours even further - highly recommended).
Strain out the tea leaves through a fine sieve and press out every last drop of the liquid (to extract the most intense flavours)!

The ratio for making boba is 10 cups of water to every 1 cup of boba.
In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil and add in the tapioca pearls.
Once the tapioca pearls float to the top, turn the heat down to medium, and cook it for 30 minutes, while stirring every 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat after 30 minutes and cover with a lid for another 30 minutes. The tapioca pearls should then be fully cooked. If there is still a white spot in the centre, that means it’s still not fully cooked - repeat step 3 and 4 until there are no white spots.
Drain and rinse the pearls under cold running water (this will give it that chewy and bouncy texture).
In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar and a little water together and bring to a simmer until the sugar melts, to make brown sugar water. Turn off the heat and add in the cooked pearls and mix everything together. You can let it sit for a few minutes to let the pearls soak up everything. Your pearls are now ready to use.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the HK milk tea ice cream mixture until medium-stiff peaks.
Add in the condensed milk and salt and whisk until incorporated.
Fold in the boba until combined.
Pour the mixture into a loaf pan or airtight container and freeze for 4-6 hours, or overnight.
When ready to serve: let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before scooping. Enjoy!