Hong Kong-style milk tea has more than a hundred years of history

Howie Wong（Vice-chairman of Association of Coffee & Tea Hong Kong）: I am Howie Wong. I actually grew up in Canada.

Simon Wong (Chairman of Association of Coffee & Tea Hong Kong): Even though Howie grew up in Canada, his fate has been intertwined with Hong Kong-style milk tea.

Howie Wong: When I came back (from Canada), I chatted with my dad and got to know more about his work. I found what he has been doing is very meaningful. When I saw how much effort he had put in, I wanted to help out. From the coffee shops of the old days, called ‘ice room’ (literally cold drinks shops) to their transition into Hong Kong-style cafes, then into Hong Kong-style fast food restaurants, milk tea has always been a staple.

King Choi (Hong Kong-style Cafe operations director): The most important things in a Hong Kong-style cafe are milk tea and lemon tea. When young people visit Hong Kong-style cafes, no matter what they eat, it is always accompanied with a drink.

Howie Wong: At first, a set meal was always come with a cup of milk tea. So it never received much attention from everyone. But we thought, the milk tea has been made so lovingly by the tea masters. Why not give it the spotlight and promote it as a representative part of Hong Kong’s culture?

Ben Yeung(Champion of KamCha Competition 2015): It’s so cold today.

Howie Wong:It’s freezing! Stay warm.

Ben Yeung: In the old days, we visited Hong Kong on our own. We tasted a lot of milk tea from different shops over there. We couldn’t forget the unique taste of milk tea. After coming back, none of the milk tea here tasted or felt the same, as the ones we had had in Hong Kong. It was nothing compared to that from Hong Kong. It couldn’t pass the test of our taste buds.

Howie Wong: My father also suggested why don’t we organize a competition? Because a lot of our tea masters were always working in the back of the Hong Kong-style cafes. The customers didn’t have a chance to know them. We organized the first milk tea competition some ten years ago.

Ben Yeung: The typically thing I did back then was to carry a thermal flask. When visiting Hong Kong, I would pour the milk tea I bought into the flask, then swiftly got back by train (to Guangzhou). Then at night, after our shop was closed, we went searching for different types of milk at the market, try matching different types of tea leaves with different milk, trying to figure out how it was done. Gradually, I started to gain my own insight. After three years, the opportunity finally came, so we entered the competition.

Howie Wong: ‘Drink milk tea in the new year, blessed with wealth and splendor all year round’.To work in a family business, the most important thing would be getting to know each and every step of the operation thoroughly, like how to match different tea leaves; how to work with senior and experienced tea masters and learn from them about how to make the tea. I also have to pay attention to other aspects of the family business. For example, how to manage a group of companies etc. Every little detail counts.

Simon Wong: To be honest, he is very pragmatic and down to earth. I’m saying this not because he is my son. He listens it’s more than just the willingness to listen. He digests it, and filters it, choosing what is suitable for him or beneficial to the company.

Ben Yeung: Here, in the mainland, Mr. Wong (Simon) is often tied up with work. Howie often provides us with assistance. When we organize promotional events, Howie is always very supportive in promoting Hong Kong culture.

Howie Wong: Yes, because when you pull, this tea can...We hope to pass on this legacy. We saw that, oh, what we are doing is actually very meaningful. More and more young people are joining in and spread Hong Kong culture to other places.

Ben Yeung: Chairman’s commitment and endeavors in promoting Hong Kong milk tea has really inspired us. So, these ten years or so, I was able to focus on the milk tea itself, and keep doing it to this day.

A female staff: I’ll teach you a line. Husband is coffee, wife is tea. Let’s have a yuan yang (couple) with milk tea. Wow, it’s awesome!

Howie Wong: Husband is tea, women is coffee...is it? Come and take a look, you don’t want to miss it

Since 2009, Simon and Howie Wong, the father and son had begun the application process for Hong Kong-style milk tea to become part of Hong Kong’s intangible cultural heritage. After years of perseverance, they finally succeeded and the approval was granted in 2014.

Hong Kong restaurants and cafes make an average of

2.5 million cups of milk tea per day.