There was a season when I got absolutely hooked on milk teas. Serenitea got me started on my drinking dependence and I almost needed to attend Milk Tea Anonymous for all the sweetened and milked teas I was guzzling. Not to mention those little jelly marbles they call “pearls” or sometimes it’s “nata” or aloe vera or grass jelly. I even ask for the sugar level to be down 50% or 70% (or sometimes I pay a little extra for Splenda) but I drink too much milk teas then that in total, my sugar level has probably increased to 1000% percent.
Then there was Happy Lemon, Cha Time, and Gong Cha that got me tossing more milk teas down. How can you not with the Green Tea with Rock Salt and Cheese (and extra cheese for P25) of Happy Lemon, Taro Milk Tea and Tie Quan Yin of Cha Time and Wintermelon Milk Tea of Gong Cha with that burnt caramel-tasting syrup? Dark circles form under my eyes and my eyeballs get all bloodshot without my swig of milk tea comfort.
I eventually tried to water down my addiction. Literally taking water and nothing else. You see, I’m not a big cola, coffee, beer or juice fan. Only water flowed through my system until my milk tea discovery in 2010 broke that regularity. Late last year, my love for tea started again – this time, more hot than cold. My collection at home grew when friends started giving me tea sets / boxes of tea / and tea mugs. It was great since tea leaves have antioxidants that help me detox from stress.
My friends substantiate this sign at my place by gifting me with supplies of teas.
And yes, laughter. And love.
Just recently, I received another package that contained boxes of tea. I thought it’d be the same as the others I have received in the past but this one struck a not so distant memory. It’s an actual milk tea in a tea bag and it has an interesting name, 3:15PM Milk Tea, something that I feel a Taiwanese brand would think of. Upon further inspection, it was in fact made in Taiwan – the land of milk teas and honey.
Apparently, 3:15PM Milk Tea is the only brand that makes milk tea from natural tea bags in the world. It comes with a guarantee that it does not contain artificial flavorings and free from pesticide. It’s an ISO-certified product. What does that mean if the taste is not there?
There are 5 flavors available.
Original Milk Tea
Roasted Milk Tea
Rose Fruity Milk Tea
Earl Grey Milk Tea
Coffee Milk Tea
I’ve only tried the roasted milk tea variant so far and it was good. I like that it’s not overly sweet that it will make me roll my eyes. You can get different depths of the tea flavor when you alter the infusion time.
Directions for Hot Milk Tea:
Pour 180cc or 7oz of boiling water into a cup, leave the bag for 3 minutes to have milky sweet flavor, or leave for 5 minutes to have less sweet but strong tea flavor.
If the taste is still a little too sweet for you, leave the tea bag longer in the cup or add a little water. Vice versa, if you want it sweeter, add less water. Take note that it’s only 7oz of water to maximize the flavor.
Directions for Cold Milk Tea:
Pour hot water into 1/3 of the container then leave the tea bag in it, steeping the tea for 5-10 minutes then add some ice cubes to serve the drink. Another alternative is to pour 200cc or 8oz of hot water into the container then leave the tea bag for 3-5 minutes, cool the container down then leave it in the refrigerator to serve the drink.
A good trick is to slightly press the tea bag with teaspoon while steeping so that the flavors would really leak out. If you’re sharing tea time with a friend, which is always a better scenario, the tea bag can be re-steeped twice or more, you can add some sugar or cream to regain the first steep flavor.
3:15PM Milk Tea is currently available in Unimart, Cash and Carry, Makati Supermarket and Robinsons supermarkets. Packaging size is 20 grams per sachet and there are 6 tea bags in a box, which cost P120. P20 per milk teabag ain’t bad at all. 3:15PM makes for a good idea since milk tea cravings can easily be quenched by pulling a teabag out of your bag, drawer or kitchen pantry.
I love 3:15PM Philippines Milk Tea ♥
Nice pictures and I am really loving your blog.
Much love,
Rochelle Rivera
http://www.rochellerivera.com