Cheese Tea
Cheese-topped tea
US
Cheese-topped tea? It sounds implausible and unappealing. But, as with bubble tea, it has spread at an accelerating rate over the past seven years, from the food stalls of Taiwan.
An article this month in Conde Nast Traveler is headlined “taking over China and invading the US.” It clearly represents a major trend, not a gimmick. Stores are expanding rapidly and customers are lining up from Shanghai to LA.
The basic idea is to add a foamed, creamy whipped white cheese topping to China tea. It offsets the initial bitterness of the tea that is by far the biggest single dislike of the younger (and trendier) target market. The lightly salted taste plays up the floral tea flavors and makes it taste smooth and creamy.
Unlike bubble tea, most chai lattes and floral/fruit flavored blends, cheese-topped concoctions use high quality, varied leaf, not CTC and dust commodity ingredients. Heytea, one of the leaders, offers jasmine, matcha and oolong teas. Much of the appeal is to the health-conscious: options include low-fat, low-sugar cheese toppings. Customers can customize their tea with fresh fruits, including strawberries and grapefruits.
The trendy element shows up in the deliberate highlighting of the exotic. LA’s Little Fluffy Head café sells Dirty Mess Milk, Chedd-Cha, and Camouflage Matcha. The founder of Flamingo Bloom summarizes the innovation: “Nobody would ever think that cheese, mango and strawberries would go together with China jasmine tea… but when you play with all these flavors, they come together so nicely.”
So, the next big thing or hype and hope? The best response is a blogger who is “intrigued and terrified.”