Hong Kong Milk Tea 101

History

Hong Kong Milk Tea was first seen when Hong Kong was a British colony in the 1950s. It was when the British practice of afternoon tea, where black tea is served with milk and sugar, grew popular in Hong Kong. It is also often called "silk stocking milk tea", which refers to the appearance of the sackcloth tea leaf filter bag.

Back in the 1950s, most of the milk tea consumers were laborers and workers as they worked very hard and used plenty of energy. As a result, they needed a strong drink to replenish their energy. Hong Kong Milk Tea has since gained a lot of popularity among all other classes of people in Hong Kong and is currently one of the daily drinks for many local Hong Kong people, regardless of social and economic status.

Ingredients

Hong Kong Milk Tea is a tea drink made of a mix of several types of Ceylon black tea and evaporated milk. The proportion of each type black tea varies across restaurants, therefore the appearance, aroma and flavor also vary.

In general, the tea blend of Hong Kong Milk Tea comprises three kinds of black tea, including Broken Orange Pekoe leaves, which contribute to the aroma, BOF Fannings, which gives a deep reddish/brown color, and Dust, which contributes to the strong taste. Some tea masters may also add a small portion of Lipton tea, which enhances aroma and texture.

Preparation

In addition to letting the tea steep in a heated teapot for fifteen to twenty five minutes, depending on the recipe of specific restaurants, the procedure also involves pouring the tea through a filter bag back and forth ("pulling") four to six times to enhance its flavor and aroma, before adding evaporated milk and sugar to complete the process. This unique tea making technique earned itself one of the Intangible Cultural Heritage items of Hong Kong.

The high level of complexity makes it very difficult to make a cup of high quality Hong Kong Milk Tea at home. 

Taste and Food Matching

Hong Kong Milk Tea is smooth, rich and flavorful. It matches well with most common food categories, including bread, rice, noodles or meat. It is also a reason why it remains popular while consumers' choices are ever increasing over the years. 

Finally It's Coming Home

Kong Tea has spent countless rounds of R&D to make the impossible possible. With the meticulously crafted in-house tea blend, and premium tea filters directly imported from Japan, we manage to shorten the steeping time while without needing the use of tea pots. Our core product design principle is to make high quality Hong Kong Milk Tea with merely a cup and hot water at anywhere, anytime! And this is finally happening after so many decades since Hong Kong Milk Tea first appeared!