Strawberry Cheese Tea is the perfect beverage for spring. Fresh strawberries, oolong tea & rich creamy topping. Make this trendy cheese tea at home!
One thing I noticed when in Hong Kong this time, there are lots of drink shops. Boba & tea are really trendy right now. Instead of the classic milk tea with boba, there are more varieties. Brown sugar milk, fruit juice, fruit tea, and of course, cheese tea!
Cheese tea sounds a bit crazy, but it makes more sense when you drink it. The cheese topping is actually made of little bit of cream cheese, milk, heavy whipping cream, and sugar. It’s whipped until foamy and then pour over a drink. Before you drink, mix well. It tastes like a richer version milk tea. You can barely taste the cream cheese, it’s more the cream and milk.
The tea that I used is Tieguanyin (鐵觀音), that my mom gave it to me. It’s an oolong tea, which is semi-oxidized. Compare to green tea and black tea, oolong tea is somewhere in between. It’s stronger than green tea, but not as strong as black tea. If you can’t find Tieguanyin, use your favorite green tea or black tea.
When the tea is chilled, blend with fresh strawberries. The tea is strong enough to come through and you get the freshness from the strawberries. It’s so tasty and refreshing. It’s really good on its own. But if you’re looking for something richer, you have to add the cheese topping.
Strawberry season is official here. Get some strawberries today and give this a try!
Strawberry Cheese Tea
Ingredients
- 12 grams oolong tea leaves (about 4 ounces)(I used Tieguanyin)
- 3¼ cups water
- 3 tablespoons sugar, plus 1½ tablespoons
- 8 ounces fresh strawberries (rinsed, hulled and cut into ½-inch cubes)
Cheese Topping:
- 20 grams cream cheese (about 0.7 ounces)(at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- Pinch of salt or sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add tea leaves and water. Cook over medium heat for 11 minutes. It should just come to a boil. Strain the tea into a glass pitcher. Reserve the tea leaves for other use. Add 3 tablespoons sugar into the tea and stir to melt. Transfer the pitcher into the fridge and chill until cold, about 6 hours.
- In a blender, add cold tea, strawberry cubes and 1½ tablespoons. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust with more sugar if needed. Place the blender container along with the tea to the fridge and keep cold.
- Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese for 1 minute. Add milk and beat for another 2 minutes. Add whipping cream, sugar and salt. Beat until no lumps and foamy, about 2 minutes.
- Pour the tea into 2 serving glasses until 4/5 full. Top with cheese topping. Stir and serve immediately.
Notes
- Tieguanyin can be ordered here. If you can’t find tieguanyin, use green tea or black tea.
- Taste to see if your strawberries are sweet or tart. If they are sweet, you may want to reduce the amount of sugar that add with the strawberries.
- If you don’t want cheese topping, just skip it. The strawberry tea is good on its own.
I love oolong tea, always have it in my cupboard. And cheese tea does sound a bit crazy to me, but very interesting idea :).
LOL! Yea, it’s definitely different. But it kind of makes sense once you tasted it. Let me know if you get a chance to try it. ?
Very delicious, I am thinking of trying it was fruit cream cheese.
Greetings from a Pakistani kitchen. I want to say you are a star! I have been using your cheese foam for cold teas and it is soo good! I longer need to spend a fortune on store-bought bubble tea. many thanks
Thank you for your sweet comment! You made my day! It’s exciting to know you are enjoying the cheese foam. Thanks for writing back to me and letting me know. Have an amazing day! ?
I tried your recipe with Da Hong Pao oolong (the only one I had at home), but it didn’t work. The color turned brownish. I indeed think your choice for Tie Guan Yin was right, I guess I have to visit a Chinese supermarket soon 🙂
The cheese topping was great by the way.
Good point! Thank you for letting me know. Hope you will get some Tie Guan Yin tea soon! Glad to hear you liked the cheese topping. ?