So I thought maybe a thread dedicated to it might be a nice start.
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That tea is not Ceylon tea, though -- tea that takes to milk naturally is Assam tea. Ceylon teas were originally Chinese varietals, then became hybrids in many places after Assamica teas were introduced to sites that already had the Chinese teas. Because of this, Ceylon tea has never been as strong as pure Assam, so coaxing it into playing nicely with something like evaporated milk that tries to smother any drink it is a part of requires a bit of adjustment. Some folks will add to the challenge by mixing in some portion of Chinese teas for aroma, making it even harder to get a good milk-tea flavor. There really does seem to be a trick involved, which I think is why they have annual competitions for the best milk tea in Hong Kong, even though this is a bit like having a Dunkin' Donuts barista challenge in the U.S.Bok wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:23 amIs it? Take the nastiest tanninny Hongcha you can find, add the most artificial thick condensed milk available and mix until you get the HK milk tea red according to your Pantone swatch... serve in thick porcelain cups - easy as pie. Just as you’d brew a builders cuppa for the lads of the colonial overlords.
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Ceylon tea can be pretty tannic too and just as nasty as the most tannic assam. You seem to keep mentioning idealized forms of ceylon teas and milk pulled tea.mbanu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:09 amThat tea is not Ceylon tea, though -- tea that takes to milk naturally is Assam tea. Ceylon teas were originally Chinese varietals, then became hybrids in many places after Assamica teas were introduced to sites that already had the Chinese teas. Because of this, Ceylon tea has never been as strong as pure Assam, so coaxing it into playing nicely with something like evaporated milk that tries to smother any drink it is a part of requires a bit of adjustment. Some folks will add to the challenge by mixing in some portion of Chinese teas for aroma, making it even harder to get a good milk-tea flavor. There really does seem to be a trick involved, which I think is why they have annual competitions for the best milk tea in Hong Kong, even though this is a bit like having a Dunkin' Donuts barista challenge in the U.S.Bok wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:23 amIs it? Take the nastiest tanninny Hongcha you can find, add the most artificial thick condensed milk available and mix until you get the HK milk tea red according to your Pantone swatch... serve in thick porcelain cups - easy as pie. Just as you’d brew a builders cuppa for the lads of the colonial overlords.
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Hong Kong-style milk tea originates from British colonial rule over Hong Kong. The British practice of afternoon tea, where black tea is served with milk and sugar, grew popular in Hong Kong. Milk tea is similar, except with evaporated or condensed milk instead of ordinary milk.[1]
A dai pai dong-style restaurant called Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園)[2] claims both silk-stocking milk tea and Yuenyeung were invented in 1952[3] by its owner, a Mr. Lam. Its claim for the latter is unverified, but that for the former is on the record in the official minutes of a LegCo council meeting from 2007,[4] lending it significant plausibility.
Hong Kong-style milk tea is made of a mix of several types of black tea (in the Western sense, often Ceylon tea), possibly pu'er tea, evaporated milk, and sugar, the last of which is added by the customers themselves unless in the case of take-away. The proportion of each tea type is treated as a commercial secret by many vendors[8] A variation uses condensed milk instead of milk and sugar, giving the tea a richer feel.
The key feature of Hong Kong-style milk tea is that a sackcloth bag is used to filter the tea leaves. However any other filter/strainer may be used to filter the tea.[10] Sackcloth bags are not completely necessary but generally preferred. The bag, reputed to make the tea smoother, gradually develops an intense brown colour as a result of prolonged tea drenching. Together with the shape of the filter, it resembles a silk stocking, giving Hong Kong-style milk tea the nickname
In my experience, I've never had a Ceylon tea that you can give a 5-minute steep and it will tolerate a good amount of whole milk, let alone evaporated milk -- the milk dominates rather than the tea harmonizing as it does with a good fresh Assam. My least favorite blends are Assam-Ceylon blends because of this -- blenders rarely use aromatic Ceylons anymore, so it just thins the Assam out, I imagine to make it play more nicely with semi-skimmed milk, and it still never tastes quite right.LeoFox wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:20 amCeylon tea can be pretty tannic too and just as nasty as the most tannic assam. You seem to keep mentioning idealized forms of ceylon teas and milk pulled tea.
Have you made it yourself? Do you actually like it? You say you've had "the hardest time" with this type of tea. What do you mean by that? Hardest time as in most difficult to reason through or hardest time in making it yourself?
From what you are saying, this milk tea is "hard" because you dont know how ceylon can work with evaporated milk based on your experience of brewing Assam, assam-ceylon blends and ceylon teas with milk. It is not clear from this whether you have experimented with evaporated milk. It is also not clear if you have actually attempted to make hk milk tea. Can you describe your attempts? Did they taste worse than you anticipated? And by anticipated - I mean against some reference like hk milk tea from hk.mbanu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 12:36 pmIn my experience, I've never had a Ceylon tea that you can give a 5-minute steep and it will tolerate a good amount of whole milk, let alone evaporated milk -- the milk dominates rather than the tea harmonizing as it does with a good fresh Assam. My least favorite blends are Assam-Ceylon blends because of this -- blenders rarely use aromatic Ceylons anymore, so it just thins the Assam out, I imagine to make it play more nicely with semi-skimmed milk, and it still never tastes quite right.LeoFox wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:20 amCeylon tea can be pretty tannic too and just as nasty as the most tannic assam. You seem to keep mentioning idealized forms of ceylon teas and milk pulled tea.
Have you made it yourself? Do you actually like it? You say you've had "the hardest time" with this type of tea. What do you mean by that? Hardest time as in most difficult to reason through or hardest time in making it yourself?
By hardest I mean adjusting the brewing parameters to make it work when you are fighting against the base ingredients. My first breakthrough was realizing that you needed to boil the tea, as though you were making an Indian-style chai, even though it is often categorized as a British-style tea rather than an Indian-style. Thinking of it as a British-style tea created a blind spot for me, as in British-style tea it is essential to make sure the tea itself never boils.
I have! Strangely enough, the recommended brand, Black & White, does seem to make a difference, although I struggle to understand why. Maybe this is my ignorance over what makes one type of evaporated milk different than another? Alternately, it could just be advertising.
Water is not water, why should milk be milk?
I don't think it's a desirable goal for them... it's something not very hip and usually the best ones are the greasy spoon ones. Try to make it in a sophisticated way and you'll kill the appeal of it.
The impression I get is similar to Bok's, that there is a cultural divide that would make this less likely. I'm not sure what the Australian equivalent would be, but in America, it would be like the distinction between donut-shops and coffee-shops. While some people treat donut-shops as specialized bakeries, ordering donuts to-go, they are also known for being a place to get coffee, and are often social gathering spots like coffee-shops. However, if you were to call the person making your coffee a barista, people would assume you were joking. Part of this is related to social-class -- donut shops are mainly viewed as working-class coffee-shops, so even if the actual role is the same (making and serving coffee), it is categorized differently.