HK STYLE TEA
Originating among speckled Formica table tops, patterned floor tiles and outdated copper green tableware, the “Pantyhose” or “Silk Stocking Milk Tea” is the product of a mid-century Hong Kong culinary fusion. A close cousin of Indian chai or the Malaysian teh tarik, Hong Kong Style Milk Tea equally emerged in the juncture of colonial influences, merging South Asian black tea, British tea culture and Chinese brewing practices.
Native to the Cha chaan teng – a classic tea diner and local equivalent of the “greasy spoon” – Hong Kong Milk Tea prides itself on its complexity of flavour and equally intricate brewing technique. The classic beverage is produced by repeated straining through a sackcloth filter, thus yielding a stronger and smoother brew. This unique brewing technique has additionally attracted the curious add-on of “Pantyhose” to its name, resulting from the resemblance of the tea-stained filter to women's stockings.
Although it may have inspired the Taiwanese Bubble Tea, the original Hong Kong version differs by its strength and depth of flavour, reflecting its humble working class origin in the 1950s and setting it apart from its 1980s-born culinary nephew.
The perfect cup of Hong Kong Style Milk Tea should be smooth, sweet, bitter, creamy, full-bodied, potent, and fragrant – all at once.
We believe our own carefully crafted Hong Kong Milk Tea recipe is true to its origins and produces the same complexity of flavours that has made the original beverage famous.