Discovering Milk Tea & Origins 

The first time I tried milk tea was a few years ago in Toronto’s ChinaTown, while looking for a mobile dessert option I could enjoy while exploring the shops. Milk tea originates from Hong Kong, a recipe that was likely influenced by a few countries and cultures. For example, Tibet (now occupied by China) was documented to be the first place to introduce adding milk to tea (ref: artful tea blog, 2024). Tea was historically first enjoyed in China (ref: tealeaves blog, 2024), while the British were known for adding sugar to tea and the regular practice of drinking tea in the afternoons (reference: artful tea blog, 2024). 

Today you can enjoy many variations of milk tea all over the world, including the viral toasted milk tea beverage which I plan to recreate and review for you today! (More on this shortly…)

Ask for “Half Sweet” 

If you are like me, I usually find commercial beverages on the sweet side. Did you know most places will modify your orders if you ask for reduced sweetness? I’m always asking for “half sweet” when I order out.  Canada’s Food Guide recommends that we limit added sugars in drinks, so one of the benefits of making your own milk tea at home is you inherently have more control of the ingredients and can reduce the added sugars, to get the sweetness just right.  

Social Media Increases Exposure to Diverse Recipes & Potential for New Food Trends 

As a registered dietitian and avid traveler, I’ve always been an advocate for exploring global cuisines, not just for their inherent nutritional diversities but also for the wonderful opportunity they present in elevating our culinary skills. With each culturally diverse recipe we try, we not only introduce our palates to an array of new flavor combinations but this exposure also challenges our kitchen competence, challenging us to try different cooking techniques and become familiar with different ingredients. 

You may have noticed that gaining exposure to culturally diverse recipes is much more commonplace and effortless with the prominence and popularity of recipe sharing on social media. Recipes that were once a family tradition and possibly also a secret are now going viral. Some of these recipes meet all the criteria for a successful social media recipe – they are entertaining to watch, easy and affordable to make, while also being incredibly tasty and nourishing. Some of these viral recipes in actuality are recipe flops (in my opinion)… where it seems as though the main focus on the recipes have been to go viral and entertain rather than other important factors (um… taste!!). 

I myself have been drawn in by many of these trendy recipes. And despite my kitchen competence, I have experienced many failed attempts at recreating these recipes at home. Some of these viral recipes simply create buzz but do not measure up to their social media success. 

This is why I have partnered with The Canadian Sugar Institute to review 6 viral recipes over the next 6 months for our Food Critic Series. Let’s consider the subject of this month’s recipe review — the viral Toasted Milk Tea.  I will walk you through the steps I took to recreate this viral recipe followed by my Dietitian review of the recipe from 3 important standpoints: 

1) Ease of preparation 

2) How accessible and affordable this recipe is 

3) Taste /sweetness factor and nutrition