Autumn is a perfect time to get ready for the first snowy days with a few delicious recipes up your sleeve.

What is white tea?

White tea is one of 6 types of Camellia sinensis tea – white, yellow, green, oolong, black and dark. It’s considered the gentlest of all types and it’s rarely served with condiments. But not all white teas are gentle. Some may have a delicate flavour and look almost translucent; others may have a stronger mellow flavour and deep colour. Stronger white teas may have similar flavour notes to black teas, although they will never be as strong or full-bodied. Still, you can use them to make delicious lattes too.

Ingredients for making a white tea latte

To make a spiced white tea latte, you will need a strong white tea, semi-skimmed milk or a milk substitute and spices. This latte is easy to make, and you can adjust the ratio of spices, but don’t add too much. Too many spices will overpower the flavour of white tea. Unless you prefer your drinks super sweet, you won’t be needing any sweetener. The natural sweetness from the tea and milk will be enough. You will also need cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, but less than you would need to make a regular chai.

Which white tea can I use for this recipe?

While most black teas are great for making lattes, for making a good white tea latte, you can only choose from a few types. Your tea should have darker leaves, give a yellow-brown or yellow-orange drink and few or no buds. Tea with broken leaves or tea dust will infuse into a stronger cup. However, tea dust may sometimes have a bitter flavour, so you may want to add some sweetener too. This recipe is made with Chinese Shou Mei white tea, which is a very common tea and often used for white tea blends.

Read more:

• Can you drink white tea with milk?
• 5 milk alternatives for tea tested

Can I substitute dairy milk for a milk substitute?

If you want to avoid dairy milk, you can choose a milk substitute with a flavour similar to dairy milk. Almond, cashew or oat milk will all be a great option, rather than strong flavours like hazelnut or soy milk. White tea is light, so you can use semi-skimmed milk.

Which sweetener can I use?

If your tea is not bitter, you won’t be needing any sweetener. For stronger, more bitter teas, you can add a ½ to 1 teaspoon of honey with a neutral flavour, regular sugar or a flavourless sugar substitute, such as xylitol or silver birch sugar. By avoiding sweeteners and using semi-skimmed milk, you will reduce the total amount of calories, and this really will be a guilt-free treat with up to only 50 kcal per serving. Which is approximately 1/2 of an apple.

Can I use other spices?

Absolutely! You can make your own spice blend but add less than you would typically use for making a chai. Add whole ingredients when brewing tea and mix tea powders into milk. Add only a pinch of spices, and not more than 1-2 cloves, cardamom pods or star anise.

How to make a perfect froth?

The perfect latte is all about the right ratios of tea to milk and the perfect froth. The most indispensable kitchen tool for making homemade lattes is a simple electric frother. It will help you save time, and your latte will be ready in a matter of minutes. Use a small but high saucepan and start frothing immediately when you turn on the heat. Milk is ready once all the big bubbles are gone. Make the tea first and start heating the milk once you strain it. It will take only a few minutes to make the perfect frothed milk and use it immediately.

Lightly Spiced White Tea Latte Recipe

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Spiced White Tea Latte

Low-calorie, lightly spiced white tea latte

Course Drinks

Keyword Autumn, Latte, Milk Tea, White Tea

Prep Time 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Calories 50kcal

Equipment

• Kettle
• electric hand frother
• Teaspoon
• 300 ml glass for serving
• Cupfor brewing and a tea filter or a teapot

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons of white tea leaves use 1-2 teaspoons more if your tea has larger leaves
• 150 ml of water boiled and cooled to 90°C/194°F
• 2 cloves
• A pinch of cinnamon
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 100 ml of semi-skimmed milk

Instructions

• Bring water to a boil and wait for a few minutes until it cools down to 90 degrees Celsius.
• Steep tea leaves and cloves for 5-8 minutes.
• Strain the tea into a serving glass.
• Add 100 ml of semi-skimmed milk and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg into a small, tall saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium-low and start frothing it with an electric frother.
• Slowly add milk and froth.

The post Spiced White Tea Latte appeared first on All That Tea.

What is white tea?

Just like all other real teas, wite tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis plant. It’s often considered the least processed type of tea, hence the delicate flavour. However, not all white teas taste delicate, and some may have more caffeine than some green and black tea. Until recently, white tea was almost exclusively grown in China. Today, many other countries are producing delicious white teas, including Kenya, Sri Lanka, India, Malawi and Vietnam. 

What are the most popular types of white tea?

The most popular types of white tea still come from China, mostly Fujian Province. Silver Needle (or Yin Zhen) and White Peony (or Bai Mu Dan) are the two most popular types, although these categories include many different teas. Other popular white teas are Gong Mei, Shou Mei and Yue Guang Gai, a truly amazing tea from the Chinese Yunnan Province. Indian Bihar and Darjeeling white tea and Sri Lankan Nuwara Eliya white teas are receiving great attention too.

Out of all these teas, only a few will go well with milk. In theory, you could make a really strong, over-steeped cup of any white tea and still serve it with milk or sugar. But in that case, you would be missing out on some amazing flavours.

Which white teas may go well with milk?

If you want to drink white tea with milk, search for pure white teas that have darker leaves or white tea blends that contain ingredients and flavours such as chocolate, caramel, coconut, or spices. These blends will usually contain white tea with a stronger, naturally more intense flavour. You can use many white teas in traditional tea bags for making white tea lattes too, as they will mostly have a very strong flavour and dark yellow colour. White Earl Grey blends or White Chai blends will probably be great for serving with milk too, both as loose tea and tea bags.

But pure white teas may also be strong enough for drinking with milk. A great example is a Chinese tea Shou Mei tea. This tea looks similar to White Peony tea, but with darker leaves, more twigs and fewer (sometimes no) buds.

Teas that may go well with milk:

• Flavoured white tea blends with darker tea leaves and chocolate, caramel, coconut, hazelnut and spice flavours
• Pure white teas in traditional tea bags
• White Earl Grey loose tea or tea bags
• Pure white teas with stronger flavour and colour, darker leaves and/or twigs
• White teas blended with black tea
• White Chai loose tea or tea bags
• Some white tea cakes

Which white teas to enjoy pure?

Delicate, fresh and less oxidized white teas should never be mixed with milk. The highest quality of Silver Needle and White Peony will always be delicate with green and white leaves, that will brew into a very light-coloured tea. Not only would they not pair well with milk, but it would be a shame to ruin their flavour by adding any condiments, including sugar, honey, or lemon. Many Indian white teas are stronger than Chinese white teas, but they should also be appreciated with no condiments.

Don’t add milk to:

• The highest quality white teas
• White teas with very green leaves
• White teas that contain silver buds only
• Teas that have a very pale colour and flavour

How to make white tea with milk?

So, once you find the perfect strong blend, it’s time to prepare a perfect cup. If you are making a regular cup of tea with milk, simply use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves or one tea bag and steep it for 3-5 minutes at around 80 degrees Celsius. Strain and add only a splash of milk. If you are making a latte, use double the amount of tea leaves and steep it for 5 minutes.

You can choose either a regular dairy milk or a milk substitute with a lighter, more neutral flavour. If your tea contains nutty and chocolaty notes, milk alternatives with a stronger flavour may be a good alternative too.

Try it with:

• Regular semi-skimmed milk
• Milk alternative that tastes like regular dairy milk 
• Almond milk
• Cashew milk
• Oat milk
• Lighter coconut milk

White teas that go well with milk will usually have woody, nutty, fruity, sweet, and hay notes.

Recap

When choosing a white tea that would go well with milk, follow a simple rule: If the leaves are light, bright, large and fluffy, don’t add milk. If they are dark, with little or no white hairs, and especially if they are broken and small, you can give it a go. Every tea is different, so taste it pure first. If it’s strong enough, it will probably go well with milk.

Try:

– Spiced White Tea Latte Recipe

The post Can you drink white tea with milk? appeared first on All That Tea.