Hong Kong Milk Tea Recipe

If Hong Kong had a national drink, it would probably be milk tea, a rich, creamy drink made from strong black tea and condensed milk. The drink is so iconic that it has been immortalized on magnets, T-shirts and other memorabilia, and is served on board Cathay Pacific, the national airline that many Hong Kongers consider part of the city’s identity. In many cafes, milk tea also comes with its own mug: a red and white teacup with a cow on it, meant to resemble Black & White canned evaporated milk, the Dutch brand traditionally used to prepare the drink. For those who have roots in Hong Kong but live overseas – myself included – milk tea is a comforting, nostalgic drink that tastes like home.

Although Hong Kong milk tea can be easily found throughout the city, it is typically enjoyed in cha chaan tengs – “tea cafes” or Hong Kong-style restaurants – alongside other local specialties, such as French toast, soft pineapple buns, and spam and egg sandwiches. These dishes may not seem traditionally Chinese, but they belong to a key genre of Hong Kong cuisine called “Western soy sauce”, where the dishes aren’t quite British or Chinese, but fall somewhere in between.

A Brief History of Hong Kong Milk Tea

Hong Kong milk tea rose to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s, when the city was still a British colony. Eager to taste the tea and milk that the British regularly drank and which were only available in expensive hotels and restaurants, locals came up with their own version. Instead of using fresh milk – a rare and luxury ingredient at the time – Hong Kongers turned to canned evaporated milk, an affordable option that gives milk tea its silky, smooth mouthfeel.

Traditionally, tea is “pulled” from one strainer to another: it is poured back and forth to create a bold, concentrated brew and help aerate the tea, then filtered into large pitchers. Some places draw the tea with the condensed milk, while others stir in the condensed milk just before serving. Some call this drink “silk stocking tea” or “tights tea”, referring to the resemblance between the strainer and women’s clothing.

Although some places opt for good oolong tea, most establishments use Lipton black tea, a versatile and economical blend of Assam and Ceylon. As for condensed milk, many locals are proud and deeply devoted to the Black & White brand, which they believe produces the sweetest milk tea. It’s possible to find the tea sweetened, but most of the milk tea I’ve had is unsweetened, with most establishments leaving it up to the customer to decide how much sugar they want to add.

Recreating Hong Kong Milk Tea at Home

Since this drink is ubiquitous in Hong Kong, most people don’t bother to make it themselves. And if you live outside of Hong Kong, in a city with a large Cantonese population, like San Francisco, Vancouver, or Toronto, there’s probably a cafe near you that serves it. Because I live in the suburbs of New York, where there are no good cha chaan tengs—let alone Chinese restaurants—within a 20-mile radius, the only way to get a solid cup of milk tea is to make it myself. Lucky for me, the drink takes less than 10 minutes to make and requires just three ingredients: black tea bags, condensed milk, and sugar. (And yes, water to make tea.)

Simmer your tea

The key to a good cup of Hong Kong milk tea is making sure it’s strong: it should be fatty and bitter enough to make you shiver slightly if you try it without the evaporated milk and sugar. For a regular, non-Hong Kong cup of tea, you’ll probably use one tea bag for each cup of water. For a truly robust cup of tea, I simmer five black tea bags in three cups of water, which produces a concentrated brew that tastes just like what you’d find in a cha chaan teng and is caffeinated enough to keep you going for hours.

Yes, you can go the traditional route of pulling the tea back and forth with cloth strainers for an extra-smooth, airy brew, but at home I’ve found simmering to be the easiest and most consistent method for achieving the strength and texture of tea.

Evaporated milk is essential

Some of you will wonder if the half and half, heavy cream, or dairy-free options will work here. Of course, you can use it, but your tea won’t taste like real Hong Kong milk tea. Canned evaporated milk is milk that has had about 60% of its water removed, resulting in a rich, creamy dairy product that gives milk tea its silky mouthfeel while rounding out the tea’s bitter tannins. My recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of condensed milk, but if you’d like it a little richer, feel free to add more to taste.

Sweeten to taste

Some recipes call for sweetening the tea with condensed milk, but I find it easier to use granulated sugar. A little condensed milk goes a long way, and even an extra teaspoon can quickly take your tea from pleasantly sweet to cloying. Condensed milk also changes the dairy-to-tea ratio of your drink, resulting in a less potent brew.