(Untitled)

[shooporama]

Toast Box has a stall at a food court in Hong Kong. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a Singaporean venture as the food court is called Food Republic.

For the princely sum of HKD26, you get this.

Comments

[hposnm]

I can do better la. I send you a stash of the loot! HK so open, no need to quarantine or anything right?

Actually, I thought "nanyang red tea" was adapted from the HK milk teas!

[shooporama]

Wah thanks! But I don't know if the difference is in the tea leaves or the milk. It might be the latter you know? I saw them make it and they basically use condensed: evaporated in 2:1 ratio. Normal HK milk tea is basically a teh si i think. But i think even teh si has a little bit of condensed milk? You're the conosseiur of all milky beverages- enlighten me!

Big news: i found some Yeo's CANNED kaya at the supermarket!!!! For the reasonable price of 9HKD (~$2). Can lah. Still have to crack it open for a taste... The other option was some bright green malaysian kaya. Like the ge tai of kayas.

[hposnm]

My palate unfortunately isn't as acute as it used to be. All I know is based on empirical evidence -- Tea dust is very tasty but also very low quality and can leave that 'siap siap' taste. Tea leaves often have the added benefit of an olfactorial effect but also very expensive. So the solution is to alternate between the 2 extremes and use Lipton or BOH.

From what I understand, teh si strictly doesn't involve any condensed milk but they make up by the liberal inclusion of sugar. That's what I do with my GST (Geri's Signature Tea) too. If you've tried the Royal Milk Teas of the Japanese variety, they're very much like Teh-Si too only they add the equivalent of MSG for beverages and other essences so it smells extra nice too!

[shooporama]

Wow. You sure have studied your teas.

What is Royal Milk Tea though? I have not heard of this. What is beverage MSG? Enlighten me please, Tea- queen!

[apriltuna]

I think sensei-sama refers to the Jap teas having some additives like flavourings to make them smell nicer.

I personally prefer full leaf chinese teas these days to the angmoh teas. That being said, Thai Milk tea is very good and they use tea dust!

Sensei-sama dun drink BOH... Dilmah or Twinings FTW!!

[shooporama]

Eh! Don't knock BOH leh. I have a soft spot for their plantations. But i have to say my current English Breakfast tea is Twinings (loose leaf- tea bags are such a rip off!!!). Would go for Dilmahs but cannot find EBT.

Flavoured tea like Mint bubble tea type?! Is it syrup that changes the colour of the drink? I haven't tried any Japonis milk teas yet (not even at UCC). It goes against the natural order of 'tea'.

[hposnm]

Why d'ya have a soft spot for their planters?

You drink those chinese tea types? I only know babao (8 treasures) tea. The rest is all a blank.

[shooporama]

I've spent many happy days out at the BOH plantations in Cameron Highlands. They've renovated the cafe but they still serve overpriced (the Malaysians were aghast) good scones, nasi lemak, curry puffs and of course, a good pot of tea. Great view too!

You should go, plenty of nice food in the area. Though the upper plantation is more popular, the lower plantation is also nice.

[hposnm]

Actually I mostly just drink lipton. I suspect it's mostly the yellow packaging that appeals more to me but I haven't drunk BOH in ages.

Oh, I love Thai milk tea! It's nice too. Not as aromatic as the Jap or HK ones but very nice too. Tea dust is so tragic lor.

I watched a docu once where they showed these people sweeping tea dust from the floor and packaging it into those tea bags for commercial sale. It was so revolting! Imagine! The next time you steep your tea, you could could almost be steeping/infusing someone's pisai as well! :(

[hposnm]

I don't know exactly but it's probably a combination of flavour enhancers. It's often termed as "xiang liao" (fragrant ingredients, loosely translated).
ou only need to read the ingredients list to figure that out. And that's also why there's always a nice aroma when you open the bottle.

(For that reason, milo truck milo always tastes better even tho it's exactly the same stuff that you put into your own milo!)

Royal Milk Tea is the Japanese version of the HK naicha or SG tehsi. Pokka recently launched it in a bottle. But Kirin has been doing it for years.

What is your beverage of choice?

[shooporama]

TEH!
Or ice lemon tea (with real lemon and real tea. Not those tea concentrates.)

If i am not wrong, most tea bags such as Liptons contain sweepings, sometimes from multiple factories. Hygiene wise, you should see some of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in dim sum restaurants and hotel kitchens.