What Is In Cheese Tea?
Have you ever heard of Cheese Tea? It is a tea covered in cream cheese that in some ways may remind you of the American cheesecake dessert. It seems to be the latest tea trend in Asia. It all originated in 2010 in Taiwan, home of, among other things, Bubble Tea (a drink made from tea, fruit juice and tapioca pearls that I mentioned here). From Taiwan, the quaint fad has spread to China (in Mandarin they call it zhī shì chá), Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles, and then on to Europe.
How is Cheese Tea Prepared?
The base is almost always an Earl Grey, the classic bergamot tea, which, by the way, I love. The tea can be had either hot or cold. Freeze-dried milk is added to it. The glass is filled 3/4 full with tea and the last part is the cheese that is cottage cheese (or soft cheese) whipped with cream. Final touch: crumbled cookies to give it a little crunch.
The original Taiwanese recipe called for powdered cheese, but more and more around the world I have read that people are turning to researching real cheeses, sometimes linked to local productions. In short, room for imagination!
What Does Cheese Tea Taste Like?
Whatever cheese is used, it is processed with milk until it is frothy like whipped cream so, in the end, many simply describe it as a tea milkshake, iced tea with whipped cream, or something like a cheesecake.
What do I think of it? Well, I agree with those who say that the cheese part is so reminiscent of whipped cream. The choice of bergamot in my opinion is great because it gives some freshness and aromaticity to the whole thing. Plus tea in general has this amazing ability to cleanse the mouth and so, all in all, the ricotta with cream goes down nicely. The only thing I didn’t really like was that the tea I tried was already sweetened and for my taste the end result was too much too sweet. Cream (or something similar on top), super sweetness underneath…I admit I didn’t make it to the end of my first cheese tea.
Otherwise, an experience to repeat? Why not. I am always open to new things and would be curious to try other interpretations since everyone in the world seems to be creating their own cheese tea recipe. Of course a cup of good tea is a whole other movie however it is curious to see how this age-old beverage is interpreted differently at different historical moments and in different countries.