Royal Milk Tea (Video) ロイヤルミルクティー

A popular drink in Japan, Royal Milk Tea is made with Assam or Darjeeling tea leaves and milk. You can add sugar or honey to suit your taste. It’s a delicious drink to serve when you have friends over for tea time.

Royal Milk Tea (ロイヤルミルクティー) is a popular Japanese drink that you can find hot or cold anywhere, whether it be at the Japanese market, convenience store, or any vending machine. Made with Assam or Darjeeling tea leaves and milk, Royal Milk tea is a delicious drink to sip and relax with or to serve when you have friends over for tea time.

My son and I are both Royal Milk tea enthusiasts, always ordering the tea from menus at cafes or purchasing bottles of Royal Milk Tea from vending machines in Japan. I find myself craving a cup of milky goodness from time to time. Because the specific kind of tea is unavailable in the U.S., I figured I should learn how to make the popular drink from home.

What is Royal Milk Tea?

Royal Milk Tea was invented by the tea company Lipton and quickly took Japan by storm, capturing the hearts of tea enthusiasts and casual consumers alike because of its higher ratio of milk compared to other teas. The rich creaminess of the milk weakens the bitter taste of strong tea, thus making a delicious balance.

I always get Royal Milk Tea from Japanese vending machines. My favorite brand is Kocha Kaden (紅茶花伝) and Gogo no Kocha (午後の紅茶). Have you tried them before?

Royal Milk Tea is also noted for its cooking method because of its similarity to Masala Chai. Tea leaves are simmered in milk rather than steeped in hot water in both cases. This technique produces a more rich and creamy brew that distinguishes these two drinks from other traditional teas. The only difference that royal milk tea has from the latter is that it does not include any spices such as cardamoms, ginger, and cinnamon that chai might include.

In Japan, there are vending machines that sell different kinds of drinks all over the place. My husband and children love them as they can try out many different flavors, and they get thirsty often since we walk almost everywhere.

How to Make Japanese Royal Milk Tea

The Ingredients You’ll Need

• Water
• Black tea leaves
• Milk –If you don’t take dairy, you substitute regular milk with oat, almond, soy milk, or non-dairy creamer; however, the taste might vary. I don’t recommend almond or coconut milk as they overwhelm the flavor.
• Sugar – I used organic white sugar, but brown or coconut sugar would work. You can use other sweeteners such as agave, honey, maple, and simple syrup.

The Cooking Steps

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add tea leaves and reduce heat for 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
3. Add milk and slowly bring to a simmer.
4. When the tea is about to boil, remove it from the heat. Strain it with a tea or fine mesh strainer and pour it into your serving cup.

The Best Tea to Use for Milk Tea Recipe

I recommend using a robust black tea with a strong flavor as the base for your milk tea. I personally like to use Assam tea as its full body and malty, spicy character come out beautifully after the addition of milk and sugar. It also yields a rich color for the tea. Another delicious option is the hearty Ceylon tea.

If you have English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast at home, you can use them too. They typically consist of a blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Tanzanian black tea.

For lighter-color tea, you can use Darjeeling tea. For a non-caffeinated version, you can use rooibos tea.

I do not recommend non-black teas, such as jasmine tea or green tea for milk tea.

Recipe Tips and Techniques

• Use a pre-warmed cup to maintain the temperature of the tea.
• When making Iced Royal Milk Tea, cook the tea leaves slightly longer so the ice cubes will not dilute the flavor as much.
• Use freshly brewed tea

Turn Your Milk Tea into Boba Tea

If you are a fan of boba milk tea, you can add tapioca pearls/tapioca balls (boba pearls) to the royal milk tea, which will taste just like your favorite bubble tea!

Storage Tips

• To store: Keep in the fridge for a day for the best freshness. 
• To reheat: Microwave or use a saucepan to reheat.

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Royal Milk Tea

4.84 from 56 votes

A popular drink in Japan, Royal Milk Tea is made with Assam and Darjeeling tea leaves and milk. You can add sugar or honey to suit your taste. It’s a delicious drink to serve when you have friends over for tea time. Enjoy with some homemade matcha cookies or mochi!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Video

Cook Time: 5 minutes mins

Total Time: 5 minutes mins

Servings: 2 teacups (2 x 200 ml per batch)

Ingredients

  

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For 1 Teacup

• ▢ ¾ cup water (75% full with a teacup; preferably use warm water that was heating up the cup first)
• ▢ 2 heaping tsp black tea leaves (about 8 g; To make dark-colored tea, use Assam tea and to make light-colored tea, use Darjeeling tea)
• ▢ ½ cup milk (for a regular teacup, 50% full)
• ▢ sugar (or honey, optional; If you know how much sugar you like to add already, let the sugar dissolve first before pouring into the cup)

For 2 Teacups

• ▢ 1 cup water (100% full with a teacup; water is not doubled when you make 2 teacups because evaporation is the same as when you make 1 cup; preferably use warm water that was heating up the cup first)
• ▢ 3 heaping tsp black tea leaves (about 12 g; To make dark-colored tea, use Assam tea and to make light-colored tea, use Darjeeling tea)
• ▢ 1 cup milk (for a regular teacup, 100% full)
• ▢ sugar (or honey, optional; If you know how much sugar you like to add already, let the sugar dissolve first before pouring into the cup)

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Gather all the ingredients.
  
• In a milk pot or small saucepan, add ¾ cup water and bring to a boil. (If you‘re making 2 teacups, add 1 cup water instead.)
  
• When the water is boiling, stir in 2 heaping tsp black tea leaves and reduce the heat and simmer for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. (Add 3 heaping tsp black tea leaves for 2 teacups.) To make iced royal milk tea: You can cook the tea leaves a slightly little longer so ice will not dilute the flavor as much.
  
• Add ½ cup milk and slowly bring just to simmer. (Add 1 cup milk for 2 teacups.) Meanwhile, keep your serving cup nice and hot with hot water (drain the water before you serve tea).
  
• When the tea is about to boil, remove from the heat and pour the tea through a tea strainer or fine mesh strainer and into your serving cup.
  
  
• Serve with sugar or honey and sweeten it to your liking.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Royal Milk Tea

Serving Size

 

1 teacup

Amount per Serving

Calories

76

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

4

g

6

%

Saturated Fat

 

2

g

13

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Cholesterol

 

12

mg

4

%

Sodium

 

56

mg

2

%

Potassium

 

205

mg

6

%

Carbohydrates

 

6

g

2

%

Sugar

 

6

g

7

%

Protein

 

4

g

8

%

Vitamin A

 

198

IU

4

%

Calcium

 

138

mg

14

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Author: Nami

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: milk tea

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