Hong Kong–style milk tea

Hong Kong–style milk tea is a tea drink made from Ceylon black tea and evaporated milk (or condensed milk). The drink originated in the mid-20th century during the British rule of Hong Kong, and was inspired by the British's afternoon tea.

The Hong Kong variant uses a stronger blend of tea leaves, which traditionally is brewed with a stocking-like cloth and using a unique technique recognised by the Hong Kong government as an intangible cultural heritage of the city. These, along with the use of evaporated milk instead of fresh milk, results in a more intense and creamy flavour, differing from the light and diluted taste of British milk tea.

The drink is usually part of lunch in Hong Kong tea culture. Hongkongers consume approximately a total of 900 million glasses/cups per year. Although originating from Hong Kong, it can also be found overseas in restaurants serving Hong Kong cuisine and Hong Kong–style western cuisine. In the show Top Eat 100, which aired on 4 February 2012, Hong Kong–style milk tea was listed as the 4th most popular food/drink in Hong Kong.

Origin
Hong Kong–style milk tea originates from the British colonial rule over Hong Kong. The British practice of afternoon tea, where black tea is served with fresh milk and sugar, grew popular in the colony. However, this was only served in hotels or high-end Western restaurants, and thus were out of locals' reach. This prompted local diners, like bing sutts and dai pai dongs, to localise the British ingredients and create an affordable variant suited to Hongkongers' palates. This included substituting regular milk for evaporated milk, which was cheaper, easier to store, and more concentrated.

A dai pai dong–style restaurant called Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園) claims that both silk-stocking milk tea and yuenyeung were invented in 1952 by its owner, Lin Muhe. Its claim for yuenyeung is unverified, but that for silk-stocking milk tea is supported by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

In its early days, Hong Kong–style milk tea used a much stronger blend of tea leaves and had an extremely strong flavour. This was marketed towards the city's many labourers in the 1940s, which desired a high caffeine content to "replenish their energy". A few decades later in the 1960s, the drink became more widely available at cha chaan tengs and thus began to also appeal to office workers, who opted for a less intense tea. This eventually transformed the drink into its current state, which is still stronger and creamier than the lighter British milk tea.

Naming
It is called "milk tea" to distinguish it from "Chinese tea", which is served plain. Outside of Hong Kong, it is referred to as "Hong Kong–style milk tea". It has another name, "silk stocking milk tea" which originates from the appearance of the sackcloth tea leaf filter bag. In the 1950s and 1960s, the main customers of Hong Kong–style milk tea were workers and labourers, who thought that the sackcloth looked like pantyhose.

Culture
Hong Kong–style milk tea is considered culturally significant and a symbol of the Hong Kong identity. This emerged in 2007 when the Hong Kong government removed Queen's Pier, a local landmark reminiscent of the city's colonial era. This prompted many young Hongkongers to contemplate the local identity, which coupled with rising localist sentiments to make Hong Kong–style milk tea symbolic of the city's culture.

With this symbolic status, Hong Kong–style milk tea may be considered by some overseas Hongkongers as comfort amid homesickness, providing a reminder of their childhood and identity. For those who have emigrated for political reasons, such as in the exodus that began in 2020, the drink may also be seen as a political statement. To them, drinking Hong Kong–style milk tea is an effort to preserve Hong Kong culture and "a form of silent resistance" amid perceived cultural erasure. In the UK, where many of these emigrants reside, this has led to an increase of Hong Kong–style milk tea brands and cafes.

In 2017, the Hong Kong government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department declared "Hong Kong–style milk tea making technique" as one of the intangible cultural heritages (ICH) of Hong Kong, under the domain "traditional craftsmanship" as specified by UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH.

Preparation
Hong Kong–style milk tea is made from a mix of several types of black tea. The exact blend varies between cha chaan tengs, which treat the recipe as a commercial secret. In its standard form, the tea blend consists of:


 * 30% broken orange pekoe (BOP, medium-grade tea leaves) that give the aroma
 * 30% broken orange fannings (BOF, leftover smaller pieces of tea leaves) that give the deep reddish brown colour
 * 30% dust (very fine particles of tea leaves) that gives the taste
 * 10% Lipton (BOP and Ceylon tea) that enhances the aroma and texture

Traditionally, the tea blend is put into a sackcloth bag, a signature of Hong Kong–style milk tea. The sackcloth helps filter out the tea leaves and any astringency (bitterness), and makes the tea smoother. Its resemblance to a silk stocking has given Hong Kong–style milk tea the nickname of "pantyhose" or "silk stocking" milk tea. This nickname is used in Hong Kong but less so in mainland China and overseas communities.

First, hot water at 96–98 C is poured over the tea blend, which is allowed to steep for 12 minutes. The water is poured at a height of 60 cm to apply sufficient pressure to the leaves, which results in an "even taste" and "fragrant aroma". Eventually, the tea leaves become half afloat, which cues the tea master to pour the tea back and forth from the sackcloth bag four times, in a process called "pulling". Pulling too many times overextracts the tea leaves, while pulling too few times causes the tea to lose its punchiness. After brewing, the tea is kept at 94 C for up to an hour.

Before serving, a milk variant is added to the tea; an original-style milk tea would be 30% evaporated milk and require the customer to add their own sugar. Using evaporated milk, which is more concentrated than fresh milk, reduces the amount of liquid needed to achieve a smooth milkiness, therefore preventing overdilution of the tea's intensity. The most commonly used and best-known evaporated milk is produced by Dutch brand "Black&White", which tea makers say produces the smoothest brew. Naturally sweet condensed milk may also be used, giving rise to a variant named Cha jau. Other cafés prefer using a filled milk variant, which is a combination of skimmed milk and soybean oil.

Milk tea is a popular part of many Hongkongers' daily lives, typically served as part of afternoon tea but also at breakfast or dinner. It enjoys nearly the same ubiquitous status that coffee holds in the West. Whilst not offered by more traditional Cantonese restaurants or dim sum teahouses, milk tea is standard fare in Hong Kong–style western restaurants and cha chaan teng, as well as Hong Kong's historic dai pai dong, with a price between HKD$12–16 for a hot serving and two to three dollars more for a cold serving. A cup of hot milk tea is usually either served in a ceramic cup, a tall cylindrical glass, or a metal cup.

The first criterion of a good cup of milk tea is its smoothness (香滑), i.e. how creamy and full-bodied it is. Another criterion for tasty milk tea (and also bubble tea) is some white frothy residue inside the lip of the cup after some of it has been drunk. This white froth means that the concentration of butterfat in the evaporated milk used is high enough. Higher quality milk tea can be identified by the presence of hints of oil on the top following brewing. The oil is what remains from the roasting process during tea production.

Iced milk tea
In most restaurants, cold milk tea is prepared simply with ice cubes. However, this results in the drink getting gradually diluted as the ice melts, leading to some restaurants preparing their cold milk tea via ice-less methods as a selling point. For instance, the restaurant chain Tai Hing puts their cup of milk tea in a bowl of ice, known as "ice bath milk tea", an idea it says was inspired by the ice buckets used for beers.

Before the prevalence of ice-making machines, cold milk tea was commonly prepared with the refrigerator. Today, this type of glass-bottled milk tea is rare in Hong Kong, though cold milk tea served in metal cans or plastic bottles can be found in many local convenience stores, such as 7-Eleven and Circle K.

Varieties
Apart from the classic evaporated milk, Hong Kong–style milk tea can also be made with naturally sweet condensed milk, which results in a variant named Cha jau. Some cafes may also use filled milk, which is a combination of skimmed milk and soybean oil.

Hong Kong–style milk tea may be combined with coffee to make yuenyeung.