Thursday, September 18, 2008

Caffeine culture in Hong Kong

Caffeine culture in Hong Kong is different from our general conception of coffee or tea as it had taken in a much different form in Hong Kong since the colonial era began in the early 18th century.

Inherited and modified based on traditional English tea, the different forms of 'teas' that Hong Kong people invented have gradually contributed to the evolution of caffeine culture that does not fit into the West's schema of tea or coffee at all.

For example '' is a tea which is boiled in leaves more than 7 times, leaving an intense flavor, not to mention its intense level of caffeine. Milk tea tastes like the Indian Chai tea but is more milk-based and is very strong.

A more peculiar form of caffeine drink in Hong Kong is ''. Yuan Yang is a drink that mixes milk tea with coffee. It is welcomed by many locals and is an especially popular drink during workers' teabreaks, usually around 3:15 PM. Yuan Yang is usually served with an egg tart or other sweet buns.

Many tea houses in Hong Kong serve 'milk tea' and 'Yuen Yeung' as well as other peculiar drinks, like iced lemon coffee and hot lemon coke .

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