Hong Kong Style Milk Tea 熱港式奶茶 - South by Square Eight

MOP 40, approx US$4.97

Like Hong Kong, Macau has a very strong milk-tea drinking culture. I have no idea why milk-tea is so popular in Macau. People here always order it in breakfast and afternoon tea and snack times. May be Macau’s proximity to Hong Kong just makes everything that is popular in Hong Kong also popularity in Macau. The popularity of drinking milk-tea here is like drinking coffee back in the USA. I think milk-tea drinking has been catching on in the USA also, thanks to Starbucks for making Chia tea mainstream, the Thai restaurants for popularizing the Thai Ice Tea, and the Taiwanese restaurants and bakeries for bringing the Boba Milk Tea to the USA. But I personally like the Hong Kong style milk tea the most. It is more flavorful than the Taiwanese Boba milk tea, and it doesn’t taste like perfumy like the Chai. The Hong Kong milk tea has this good rich tea aroma and flavor but it doesn’t have the tartness and bitter undertone of the English tea. I personally it’s a beautiful love child between milk and the English tea! I like the Hong Kong style milk tea because of it’s delicate sweetness, milkiness and great flavor of tea. It’s like the Thai Ice Tea which is in my opinion too sweet. I just prefer the sweetness in Hong Kong style milk tea.

I think the Hong Kong style milk tea that I ordered at this restaurant is decent so far. It's so much better tasting that the previous bland milk tea that I had back in Los Angeles. This milk tea is the soul mate for the classic afternoon sack here in Macau and of course Hong Kong, the Pineapple Bun & Butter Sandwich! Together, they are the twin stars of Hong Kong's peasant tea culture. This milk tea is a lot more expensive than the ones that I normally got from the tiny mom & pop cafes but I’m will to pay for the  extra for the dining comfort in here… Call me vain.