Photos taken by ILCAA staff and associates are posted here once a month; most of them are taken during their field research in Asia and Africa.

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Hong Kong-style milk tea served in London

Hong Kong–style milk tea is a unique tea drink that originated in mid-20th-century Hong Kong. Made from Ceylon black tea and evaporated milk, this milk tea was clearly inspired by the British habit of drinking tea with milk but soon developed its own distinctive taste, much stronger and richer than the British version. Having been favored by Hong Kongers for more than half a century, Hong Kong–style milk tea is now considered one of the symbols of the former colony, to the extent that its recipe is recognized by the Hong Kong government as an intangible cultural heritage of the city. With the recent exodus of Hong Kong residents, Hong Kong–style milk tea has become increasingly common in the United Kingdom as well, as many emigrants try to preserve their local culture by brewing and serving the drink in their newly formed communities overseas. Thus, Hong Kong–style milk tea, a legacy of British colonial rule, has made an ironic “homecoming.”

August 30th, 2023
Brick Lane, London
Photograph by Kota Sasha Oguri