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Milk tea is more than just a cup of tea with milk. It’s a cup of creamy deliciousness that can make even the gloomiest day bright. Get your saucepan and tea leaves out and get ready to brew. We’ll show you how to make the best cup of roasted oolong milk tea.

What is oolong milk tea?

Oolong milk tea is a tea made with oolong tea leaves, milk, a bit of sugar, and water. You may add other ingredients too, but even on its own, it tastes absolutely delicious. Some roasted oolongs are a great alternative for regular strong black teas because they are strong enough to pair them with milk. They may have delicious roasted, nutty, dark chocolate and fruity notes. But, to get the best roasted oolong milk tea, you need to choose the best roasted oolong tea. So, exactly what is roasted oolong?

What is roasted oolong?

Oolong tea is a type of tea that falls anywhere between green and black tea. It can be lightly oxidized with a greener color and lighter flavor, or heavily oxidized with a darker color and deeper flavor. Both may be roasted. Roasted oolongs can be light, medium or heavily roasted. When choosing the perfect oolong for making milk tea, choose teas with a deeper, darker color, thicker mouthfeel and intense flavor. Lighter oolong teas with floral and fresh notes taste better with no condiments and that includes milk too.

Some of the best teas for making oolong milk tea:

• Da Hong Pao tea which is usually heavily roasted
• Formosa oolong tea with roasted and fruity notes
  
• Oriental Beauty, typically not roasted or only lightly roasted, but has intense honey and muscatel notes

When making milk teas, it’s always best to use more tea leaves. Since oolong is lighter than black tea and usually has larger leaves, use at least 2 heaped teaspoons of tea leaves – preferably 3.

How to make the best milk tea?

Now that you know how to choose the best tea, you need to choose other ingredients and proper utensils too. To make the best tasting milk tea, simmering is a better method than steeping – especially if you are using semi-ball shaped oolongs. To simmer the tea leaves, you will need a kitchen strainer and a small saucepan. Next, choose the right milk. Milk with a higher fat percentage (around 3%) is usually a better choice for making milk teas. Both white and brown sugar and honey will go well with roasted oolong milk tea. If your tea has a natural honey and ripe fruit notes, honey is a wonderful option. But if you only want to balance out the flavor, white sugar will be the best choice.

Roasted oolong milk tea recipe

Since roasted teas have a wonderful natural flavor, adding other ingredients is not necessary. You could, however, try to enhance the flavor notes by adding flavor extracts such as almond and vanilla, add cocoa nibs or even cinnamon. You can also add tapioca pearls and ice and turn it into a creamy boba tea. This recipe is for one cup of roasted oolong milk tea and will take about 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

• 3 heaped teaspoons of oolong tea leaves
• 1 cup of water
• ½ cup of whole milk
• 1-2 teaspoons of sugar (one will be enough if you prefer lightly sweetened teas)

Instructions:

1. Add fresh water and tea leaves into a small saucepan.
2. Bring it to a boil over a medium heat.
3. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Add sugar and milk, turn up the heat, and bring it to a boil again.
5. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for a few more minutes.
6. Strain and serve hot or over ice.

If you are adding flavor extracts, add them with the milk and if you are adding spices or cocoa nibs, add them together with tea leaves. If you are adding honey, add it after you’ve strained the tea.

Looking for more inspiration? These 5 teas all go well with milk.