Follow Hong Kong immigration and listen to Hong Kong stories: Hong Kong people love milk tea, and Hong Kong-style milk tea is a representative of Hong Kong's culinary culture. Many tea masters dream of brewing the perfect cup. With a unique skill set honed over sixteen years, former primary school teacher Mok Pui-ling conquered the competition with cup after cup of smooth, non-bitter milk tea, becoming the first female "Golden Tea Master" in Hong Kong at the 2013 International KamCha Competition Hong Kong Finals this August.
In Hong Kong, most tea restaurant and tea bar masters are accustomed to adding milk before tea when preparing milk tea, but Mok Pui-ling does the opposite.
With her long hair tied back, Mok Pui-ling, who brews nearly a hundred cups of milk tea every day, stands alone in the small, sweltering tea bar, fully focused. Her right hand picks up a can of evaporated milk, preparing to pour it into the cups of hot tea before her. In an instant, she lifts her hand, flicks her wrist forward, and the evaporated milk pours down from the can, straight into the hot tea.
At the same time, Mok Pui-ling watches the center of the hot tea intently. The moment the milk floats to the surface, she immediately pulls back her hand, stops the flow, and quickly moves to the next cup. In less than a minute, more than a dozen cups of hot tea have been filled with milk, with a light layer of foam forming on the surface.
"When the milk floats to the surface, it means there is enough," Mok Pui-ling explains. This unique preparation method allows for an accurate 6:4 ratio of tea to milk, even when using vessels of different capacities. Another key to her technique is to keep her hand as high as possible while pouring, which allows air to enter the tea and break down the tannins, ensuring the resulting milk tea does not have a bitter taste.
Seeing Mok Pui-ling skillfully prepare cup after cup of milk tea, it is hard to imagine she was once a teacher. About 16 years ago, the primary school where she taught closed due to insufficient enrollment. She put down her chalk, left the classroom, and picked up the teapot and "stocking" tea bag, entering the tea bar to study the art of brewing milk tea.
For the first six years, Mok Pui-ling followed two tea masters, learning how to blend tea leaves and the basic techniques such as the tea-boiling process. She describes brewing milk tea as "easy to learn but difficult to master." Her right hand was once scalded by hot water because she couldn't hold the hot teapot steady, and the momentary bitterness in her heart made her think of giving up.
Moreover, for Mok Pui-ling, who started drinking milk tea at the age of 8, a good cup of milk tea must be silky, rich, and full-bodied, while also carrying the fragrance of the tea—both are indispensable. However, when she first started, she could never brew a cup of such standard, receiving more criticism than praise.
"It is only by getting hurt and making mistakes that you learn how to avoid repeating them in the future and keep improving yourself." After re-evaluating her techniques, Mok Pui-ling encouraged herself not to give up easily, thinking, "There is no reason why a cup of hot milk tea should defeat me!"
Afterward, Mok Pui-ling started fresh, continuing to humbly seek advice from many veteran masters on tea-brewing techniques. She also frequented different shops to taste their milk tea, learning to appreciate the strengths of others before returning home to reflect. Through over a decade of hard work and study in the tea bar, she gradually mastered the techniques and finally developed the mature skills she has today.
In addition to her unique preparation techniques, Mok Pui-ling also revealed that she personally selects 6 types of tea from a variety of light, medium, and dark leaves to create her exclusive tea blend. "I personally take a cup for each type of tea, brew it, smell it, and taste it to understand whether each type is bitter, sweet, or fragrant. Finally, I blend them according to the color, aroma, and taste of the different leaves."
"Most places outside only use 3 types of tea. That might be okay for hot milk tea, but it wouldn't have enough tea flavor for iced milk tea," Mok Pui-ling points out. Blending 6 types of tea ensures that even iced milk tea has a rich tea fragrance rather than just being sweet or milky, though the process of blending the tea leaves is the most arduous part.
Mok Pui-ling has been working in a simple tea stall in a quiet small village in Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong, for nearly 14 years. She faces the stove for almost 10 hours every day, but she has never had the slightest thought of "brewing" her way into the city center. She explains that she loves the rural atmosphere, the freedom, and chatting with customers—it is a joy.
Looking at Mok Pui-ling, one sees no fancy clothes or jewelry. Even after becoming famous for her brewing, she has kept the price of her milk tea at 10 HKD per cup and does not mind sharing her techniques with others.
As the first dual international and Hong Kong "Female Tea Master," Mok Pui-ling laughs and says that if the public is interested in learning, she is happy to teach them in person, allowing more people to understand this Hong Kong specialty—milk tea—and pass on the culture. She says, "It's probably an occupational disease left over from my time as a teacher!"