Pearl Milk Tea Nutrition Information
Pearl milk tea (also known as bubble tea) is made with milk, green or black tea, ice, tapioca, sugar or honey, and a flavoring agent (like fruit, juice or syrup). It can be prepared as either a high-calorie drink or a health-conscious one, depending on the recipe.
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Milk
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Whole milk is 4 percent fat and 28 percent calcium, and it has 8 g of protein and 146 calories per cup. Low-fat milk is 2 percent fat and 35 percent calcium, and has 10 g of protein and 120 calories. Skim milk is 50 percent calcium and has no fat, 8 g of protein and 86 calories.
Tea
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Black and green tea both only contain 2 calories per cup. They also lack sugar, fat or cholesterol. (They both come from the same plant; their names refer to how much the tea leaves are processed.)
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Honey
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Honey has about 64 calories per tbsp. and contains nutrients like antioxidants, protein and enzymes. Because it's a natural product that the body digests more slowly and is sweeter than sugar, less of it is needed.
Sugar
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One tbsp. of sugar equals 46 calories. More sugar is needed to flavor the drink, though, and it lacks much of the nutrients that honey contains.
Tapioca
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The tapioca pearls in the tea also give the drink calories. Approximately seven of them total 100 calories, and since the drinks can contain around 30 pearls, that's more than 400 calories just for the tapioca.
Fruit
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The calories and sugar content of the fruit depends on the type you use. One popular bubble tea flavor is lychee, which has 125 calories, 29 g sugar and 1 g fat per cup.
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