Hong Kong styled milk tea, which is also known for its direct translation from Chinese, “silk legging milk tea”, is one of the most iconic beverages in Hong Kong culture. You’ve probably heard of Bubble tea and Boba milk tea, but Hong Kong styled milk tea is slightly different than those ones. There aren’t any leggings or stockings involved in the tea making process. The reason why it has this name is because the white sackcloth bag used to filter the tea leaves gets tinted and therefore, looking like a woman’s silk legging.
Chinese people love drinking tea and the history goes back all the way to the ancient times. There are many ways to make tea and some people get very creative with that. I love to drink milk tea because I don’t like the bitterness in coffee. No matter how much sugar I add into it, I still don’t like it. That is why I drink milk tea instead because I know every drop will be delicious.
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Milk tea making came from the British people because they also have a rich tea drinking culture. Diving a little into the history of Hong Kong for more context, Hong Kong was under the British rule for 99 years before the handover in 1997. That was when the influence of making milk tea sprouted for the Hong Kong people and they gave a little twist to it and it has now become an internationally recognized beverage. Moreover, the Hong Kong style milk tea making technique was declared as an intangible cultural heritage of Hong Kong.
The tea base usually uses a mixture of Ceylon and black tea leaves. After being brewed and strained, that’s when milk and sugar is added. Some people like to use evaporated milk or condensed milk, and that is up to one’s preference. I need about three packs of white sugar for one cup of Hong Kong styled milk tea because I think the tea itself is very strong. A healthier replacement for white sugar would be honey. I like to use honey with my milk tea because the texture is much smoother than plain white sugar.
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A hack that I do when I get tea at fast food restaurants is that I ask for black tea and then I get cream and sugar or honey to make my own cup of milk tea. Next time when you’re at McDonald’s or A&W, you can try this hack and taste for yourselves.
“Looking Hong Kong through a cup of Milk Tea”