Aloe Vera Boba Tea: A New Way to Use Your Garden Aloe

If you have lived in Arizona for very long, you have probably seen Aloe vera growing in someone’s yard, at a business, or in a landscape around town. Aloe is one of those plants that grows extremely well here, and it is beautiful enough that we often plant it simply because we like the way it looks.

But aloe is much more than a pretty landscape plant or something to rub on a sunburn. Its clear inner gel can be used in a variety of ways when it is properly prepared. One of my favorite discoveries is using fresh aloe gel cubes in place of tapioca pearls in a boba drink.

Aloe vera and Aloe barbadensis are two names you will commonly see for the same plant. This is the edible aloe that I am using to make Boba Tea. It has yellow flowers that are usually on a tall forked stem. The other aloe that is most common in our landscapes is Aloe Chinensis. This aloe is a bit more spotted and has orange flowers, often on a single stalk. Chinensis is not edible, but is still good for external applications to our skin.  I go into more detail about that in this article: How to Tell Which Aloes are Medicinal and How to Use Them,

You probably won’t know what kind of aloe you have growing in you landscape until it flowers, because chinensis and barbadensis look that similar. This photo above is the one you are looking for.

When I first moved to Arizona from Seattle, I was so excited to see that we had aloe growing in our new yard. I knew aloe was useful and I couldn’t wait to cut a leaf and use it.

So I cut one open.

It smelled like onions.

There was yellowish sap coming out of it, and the taste was absolutely awful. I assumed I had the wrong kind of aloe.

I didn’t.

I just didn’t know how to properly prepare it.

It wasn’t until many years later that I finally learned what I had been doing wrong. I wrote a much bigger post about aloe and how to harvest and prepare it once I figured it out.

That changed the way I looked at the aloe growing around me.

Instead of being something I grabbed when I got a sunburn, I started thinking of aloe as an important homestead plant that I wanted to have in abundance.

And now I’m always looking for new ways to use it.

The first thing to know is that you can’t simply cut open an aloe leaf and start eating the gel.

The yellowish sap or latex needs to be removed, and the clear inner gel needs to be properly prepared and rinsed.

If you have never prepared fresh aloe before, the first thing to do before peeling it is to soak the cut end of the leaf in water for about 15 minutes to draw out much of the yellow sap. This keeps the bitter aloin from penetrating the gel as you peel it.

Once the leaf has been properly prepared, you will have clear aloe gel that is ready to use. You can completely peel all sides and slice into cubes, or leave one side attached while you cross hatch it before slicing.

Aloe doesn’t taste or feel exactly like traditional tapioca pearls. Tapioca is chewy and gummy, while aloe is softer, juicy and slippery.

But cut into small cubes (make sure they fit through your boba straw), rinsed and chilled, aloe makes a really refreshing addition to a fruit drink or milk tea.

Here is what you need:

1. Freshly prepared aloe gel
2. Your favorite tea or fruit drink
3. Honey, simple syrup or another sweetener
4. Milk or milk alternative, if desired
5. Ice
6. A wide boba straw, if you have one

1. Put a spoonful or two of the aloe cubes into the bottom of a glass.
2. Add ice and pour in your cooled tea or sweetened juice.
3. Add milk and additional sweetener if you want it.
4. Give everything a stir and enjoy.

Once you have prepared aloe cubes, there are lots of different combinations you can try.

Some of my favorites would be:

1. Black tea + honey + milk + aloe
2. Sweetened Jasmine green tea + milk + aloe
3. Matcha + honey + milk + aloe
4. Prickly Pear Lemonade + aloe
5. Hibiscus tea + aloe
6. Cool Mint tea + aloe
7. Mango juice + Coconut milk + aloe

You could even make a batch of aloe cubes and keep them ready to add to different drinks. What a healthy way to use what is already growing in your garden or pots.

Caution: Don’t go hog wild having aloe in your diet every day. There can still be trace amounts of irritating aloin in the gel that could upset your stomach if you consume too much.