FOOD ADVENTURES – Bubble Tea

Lify Wellness (lifywellness.com) offers four sugar-free tea-based beverages packed with super herbs like ginseng and turmeric that also incorporate daily doses of vitamin C and collagen. The four drinks – Unwind (hibiscus and blood orange), Energy (turmeric and ginseng), Recover (oolong and goji) and Radiance (matcha and rose) are bottled and distributed by local firm Hong Kong Cannery. 

Currently on the menu at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong’s brunch, Saicho’s (saichodrinks.com) sparkling teas are cold brewed and presented as an alternative to wine with dinner. It’s offered in several varieties, including Hojicha sparkling tea (best paired with fish) and a champagne-like jasmine sparkling tea. Brewed with green tea leaves from Fujian province with fine, floral aromas and hints of apple sherbet, fresh lychee and vanilla, it’s the ideal tipple to pair with dessert like a crème brulee. 

Fronted by local nutritionist Winston Lau, premium craft soda brand Mindful Sparks (mindful-sparks.com) offers sparkling pu’er and sparkling Earl Grey bottles. The teas are cold extracted at 6 °C for 22 hours, and this really captures the Earl Grey’s classic citrus and bergamot aroma and tea flavour. The carbon dioxide, meanwhile, brings out the subtle sweetness from the tea. Want more? Its sparkling mocktail range includes passion fruit and green tea.

One overseas sparkling tea brand that’s found favour in Hong Kong is the Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company (sparklingtea.co), which utilises delicate white teas to more intense, full-bodied black teas in its offerings. Examples include Rød, with crisp notes of berries and hibiscus and Grøn, a citrusy, green tea number. Sample them at Ming Court, the Miramar hotel and the Ritz-Carlton.