Cheese Tea, or naigai cha, has taken Asia by storm and we wonder could it become the next big thing in European cafés? It was developed by street vendors in Taiwan in around 2010 and has spread across the region and is very popular in China. It has made inroads in the USA and in Europe, although it’s not quite reached the same momentum yet.
The increasingly popular cheese tea has variants made with salty or sweet cream cheese and also versions made with cheddar cheese. Tea masters recommend drinking the beverage straight from the edge of the cup at a 40 ° angle and not blending the layers. Straws are not generally used with this drink.
The base of the drink is normally a cold regular green or black tea or matcha tea and the cheesy topping floats on the surface. Sometimes other flavours are added such as fruits and spices, even chocolate and coffee are used. As a drink it is meant to be more like a milkshake, not like the hot milky tea we traditionally drink here in Ireland. Cheese tea has been trending in coffee shops in Asia and increasingly in the US and Europe. It’s also been trending on instagram with over 89,000 posts with the hashtag #cheesetea.
It might sound strange to many to add cheese to drinks, but cheese has also been part of Scandinavian beverages traditionally. Kaffeost is coffee poured over cubes of cheese, the coffee cheese is made from milk and rennet which is heated, allowed to solidify to curd and then baked in the oven. It is reminiscent of cheesecake.
These are some more of the #cheesetea images from Instagram. Do they inspire you to offer Cheese Tea to your customers?
Read more:
Atlas Obscura
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffeost
Cup and Leaf Blog
The Guardian
Ingredient Solutions Ltd supply a wide range cheeses to the food industry. Our Yellow Road cheese is the leading food service brand in Ireland and we export cheese all over the world to over 30 countries.
Get in touch with our team to order cheese ingredients for your food business.
Catherine’s role is Technical Assistant and she is one of the newer members of the Ingredient Solutions team. Catherine recently graduated in Food Science and Innovation at WIT and is motivated, positive and enjoys working in a team. Catherine says, “I always see the good in every challenge that approaches me as they can lead to opportunities to learn more.” She is looking forward to focusing on the areas that she can control and learning how to perfect them.
Ted is the Factory Manager, he is the man that keeps everything running smoothly, supporting production and technical operations. He ensures that all the machinery within the factory functions at maximum efficiency and is properly maintained.
Suma has worked for Ingredient Solutions for two years as Technical Manager – leading the technical team. Before working for Ingredient Solutions, Suma worked in Asia, the Middle East and Europe and has over twenty years experience in management and leadership in food and other industries.
Pina is our UK Sales Support Administrator and has worked for Ingredient Solutions since 2012. She works alongside Gary Davies and the sales team providing them with sales information and supporting the team especially when they are on the road. Pina works remotely for Ingredient Solutions from her base in Luton in the UK.
Marek is based near Lublin, that’s not a typo we don’t mean Dublin, he’s our man on the ground in Eastern Europe.
