Cooling Off Drinks

I've been wearing my inventor's hat the past couple of days.  The hot weather just begs for some kind of cool, hydrating drink.  And because I'm me, those drinks are best served in whimsical, colorful ways.  Here are my two newest creations:

Rhubarb Bubble Tea

5 plain black tea bags (caffeinated or not)
a cup or two of extra-large tapioca pearls (any color you please; I used white)
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 pint rhubarb syrup*
sweetened condensed milk or vanilla soy milk
ice cubes

Plan on starting this recipe at least 2 hours before you are going to serve the tea, as it needs time to cool down and chill.  Fill a large saucepan with water and set to boil over high heat.  Once boiling, add the tapioca pearls.  Cook the tapioca, stirring occasionally, until the "bubbles" soften and become almost completely transparent.  This can take up to an hour for large pearls, and you may need to add a little more water as it steams out.  Check for doneness by picking out a pearl and eating it; it should have a pleasant chewiness without any hardness or crunchiness.  When the tapioca is cooked, drain the water, then spritz tapioca with nonstick cooking spray and stir to coat.  Set aside.

Set a tea kettle full of water to boil.  Pull the tag off the tea bags (if they have any) and put them in a large heatproof bowl.  When the water boils, pour it over the tea bags; set bowl aside to let the tea steep and cool down.

Make the simple syrup: Pour the 1/2 c granulated sugar in a small saucepan; add about a cup of water and stir.  Heat the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and liquid thickens slightly.  Set aside to cool.

Remove the tea bags from their bowl; discard.  Pour tea into a large pitcher, followed by simple syrup and rhubarb syrup; stir well.  Add enough water or ice cubes to the pitcher to fill within a few inches of the top.  Add sweetened condensed milk or vanilla soy milk to taste and stir well. You may need more or less depending on how sweet your rhubarb syrup is.  Add the tapioca pearls just before serving and stir well again.  Serve bubble tea in large glasses over ice--extra wide straws optional.

*A note about the rhubarb syrup:  I used syrup that a friend and I made using the rhubarb from her backyard.  We cut the rhubarb in small pieces and boiled it for a long time with water and sugar until it was softened and stewed.  Then we put the mixture through a food mill and put back on the stove to reduce to a syrup.  We canned ours, but it's not necessary if you're making just enough for this recipe.  Extra syrup would be good in any number of drinks, or drizzled onto ice cream!  The New York Times has a similar method here.

Makes a large pitcher of tea, serving 6-8 people.

Damn-it's-hot Mango Lassi

about 1 mango's worth of frozen mango pieces (Trader Joe's sells these frozen and ready to go; you can also cut up a mango and freeze it beforehand)
1 single-serving container plain non-fat Greek yogurt
a pinch of ground cardamom
fruit juice (most any kind will do as long as it has some sweetness to it; I used leftover rhubarb bubble tea minus the bubbles!)
1/3 lime

Cut 1/3 of a lime and squeeze juice from smaller section into blender; reserve the rest of the lime for another use.  Dump the yogurt into blender, followed by the frozen mango pieces.  Sprinkle in some cardamom.  Add just enough fruit juice to allow the blender blades to work properly.  Blend until the mixture is completely smooth.  Pour into a large glass and serve immediately.

Makes enough for 1 large or 2 small drinks.

For posterity's sake, here I am with my mango lassi, amused by the fact that my straw matched my drink and my drink matched my dress!  I wonder what kind of dress I'd wear to match my rhubarb bubble tea?