Guide To The Best Teas For Milk Tea (And How To Make Your Own)

Having the right kind of tea for your milk tea is essential. Without it, you might end up with weak and unsatisfying tea that’s overpowered by other ingredients, so much so that you might feel you’re drinking sweetened milk.

The best tea for milk tea is black tea, like Assam tea or Ceylon tea, but you can use whatever you prefer, like barley tea and oolong tea. To get the best results, heat milk and water in a pan, add tea leaves, and brew them for 5 minutes. Then, strain it and top it with sugar and cream. 

So let’s look at some of the best loose-leaf black teas you can use for black milk and the right way of making delicious milk tea at home. We’ll also discuss some variations that you should definitely try out if you’re not much of a milk tea fan. 

What’s the Best Kind of Tea for Milk Tea?

Pouring milk into cup of hot masala tea on table

Typically, most people use black tea to make milk tea. However, you can find many different styles and blends of black tea, like Assam tea from India, Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka, and flavored teas like Earl Grey from England.

Other kinds of tea often used for milk tea include barley tea, oolong tea, jasmine green tea, and even regular milk tea. You can use any tea you like to make this drink—you’ll just have to experiment with the amount of tea leaves you should add to get the perfect flavor.  

The Best Loose Leaf Black Teas for Milk Tea 

The right blend plays a vital role if you want to get delicious milk tea. Here are some of our top picks.

Assam Black Tea by Organic Positively Tea 

Assam tea is known for being highly flavorful, and this one is no different. This textured and complex Assam tea is characterized by its robust yet sweet flavor.

Many people swear by it because of the smoothness it promises. And given its strong natural flavor, it’s an excellent blend for milk teas, especially since adding dairy won’t subdue its natural flavor.

Tetley Premium Loose Leaf Tea

Tetley loose-leaf tea is made using premium tea leaves and promises a rich and aromatic brew. This English breakfast blend isn’t as potent as other blends available today, but it pairs pretty well with traditional breakfast foods, especially biscuits.

Vahdam Assam Black Tea

Another good blend of Assam tea is this one by Vahdam. It can be best characterized as a well-balanced, earthy, sweet, and sour tea that promises a unique but tantalizing taste, smooth texture, and rich mouthfeel. It also has undertones of wood and waxy flowers, making this a must-try if you want something more premium. 

Lipton Loose Leaf Tea

Lipton loose-leaf tea combines orange pekoe and pekoe cut tea that promises the perfect cup. And who doesn’t like Lipton? It’s been around for years, and there’s no denying how delicious it is. It also has a smooth taste, invigorating aroma, and intense color that’s hard to resist. 

FGO Organic English Breakfast Tea

This blend of English breakfast tea is made using a combination of fine organic teas from India and China. With this blend, you can get a nuanced and deep flavor that you can enjoy both hot and cold. Whether you combine it with honey and milk or have it on its own—you’re in for a treat!

How to Make Milk Tea At Home

Pouring milk into cup of black tea

Making milk tea at home is quite easy, and there are many ways to do so. However, here’s one method that guarantees creamy and delicious milk tea. 

What You’ll Need

  • A cup of water
  • A teabag or 2 teaspoons of black tea
  • ¼ of whatever milk you prefer
  • Sugar or any other alternative sweetener to taste 

Process

Most people first brew the tea separately and add milk directly to the cup. But if you want better results, you should heat the tea and milk together in a pan to allow the flavor to blend (unless you’re using tea bags). 

Use filtered water and let the tea brew for around 5 minutes. Remember that the longer you brew it, the stronger it’ll become. If you brew it for too long, it’ll become bitter. If the color of the milk is too dark, you can add in more milk to adjust it just how you like it. 

Once the tea is as strong as you like, strain it in a cup. If you like your tea sweet, add a bit of your preferred sweetener. While most people use sugar, you can try other alternatives like honey, caramel sauce, maple syrup, or muscovado sugar. Stir well until the sugar dissolves.  

If you want to make your tea smoother and richer, you can add a splash of cream and enjoy your tea!

Other Good Tea Options for Milk Tea

Tea has been around for centuries, and it is no surprise that different countries and cultures have experimented with and made their own version of milk tea. Here are some variations of milk tea that you should definitely try out.

Masala Chai

Indian spiced milk tea or masala chai is quite popular in India but has recently gained traction in the West, where it’s also commonly known as chai tea.

Masala chai uses milk tea at its base mixed with many spices such as clove, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper. The tea also has a little sugar to sweeten the spice slightly and is milk-heavy. This can also be made using a chai concentrate.

Thai Milk Tea 

Thai milk tea is refreshing and cool and is a great way to beat the heat.

The tea is made using Ceylon or black tea with added ingredients like cardamom, tamarind, cinnamon, and star anise. Thai tea is served over ice and made with condensed and evaporated milk and a bit of sugar.

Milky Bubble Tea

Another southeast Asian favorite that has globally become a revered drink is milky bubble tea. The tea is characterized by the chewy tapioca balls and creamy taste and is made with a tea base topped with your preferred milk and some sugar syrup to sweeten it up.   

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