So first off, what is the tea bomb trend that’s sweeping social media? Tea bombs are not unlike hot chocolate bombs – the hollow balls of chocolate that we obsessed over any time they burst open on contact with hot milk.
Those tea bomb videos everyone keeps posting on TikTok? We. can’t. stop. watching.
It’s a welcome pattern interrupt for our daily doomscrolling, helping us to shake off some of the gloom of January, and it’s exactly the kind of rainbow content our own grids could do with, too.
Bring us *all* the likes.
This, however, is our time, tea-drinkers.
Tea bombs have been described as mysterious ‘crystal balls’ – always translucent and often glittery – that melt in hot water to release dried tea leaves (or herbal tea bags) and flowers inside the cup.
Unlike chocolate bombs, which made us feel all warm and fuzzy in autumn, colourful tea bombs make us look ahead to spring and they’re all kinds of mesmerising.
On TikTok, the hashtags #hotteabombs and #teabombs have had almost 5million combined views. Sure, views of the hot chocolate bomb trend reached dizzy heights of more than 119.4 million but tea bombs are just getting started.
Now we just need to know how to jump on this hype (thankfully, it’s way easier than it looks).
Without further ado, here’s how to make your very own hot tea bomb…
For one tea bomb, you will need…
- One cup of Isomalt crystals
- 70mm Semi-circle round silicone mold (such as this Etsy bomb mold)
- Food colouring
- Herbal tea bag
- Dried flowers
Method…
- Melt down one cup of Isomalt crystals over a medium-high heat in a heatproof pan. (Make sure the crystals are spread evenly over the base of the pan by shaking it gently, not stirring it).
- When the mixture is clear and liquid, decant it evenly into two semi-circle molds using a metal spoon. The mixture will be hot but it will cool and solidify rapidly, so work quickly!
- Colour the mixture using food colouring of your choice dripped into the molds and then combine by stirring.
- Once it’s mixed, use your spoon to coat the molds with the mixture making sure there are no gaps or spaces. Then allow it to cool at room temperature.
- When the mixture has solidified, pop out the top semi-circle from the mold and add a herbal teabag (along with any dried flowers or decoration) into the bottom half while it remains in the mold.
- Use a hot pan to gently melt the edges of the top half for a few seconds so that it will adhere to the bottom half.
- Place it on top of the bottom half to make the two halves stick together and then pop the whole bomb out of the mold. Et viola!
