Across Sri Lanka, milk tea is brewed strong in the pan with milk and sugar, then pulled: poured back and forth between two cups from as high as your arm will reach. It looks like a party trick, but it does a real job, cooling the tea to drinking temperature and whipping up a soft, frothy head. Ceylon black is the natural choice, being the island's own tea and malty enough to hold its own against the milk.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Ceylon Pulled Milk Tea recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/chai-tea/ceylon-pulled-milk-tea/
Do not worry about a tidy pour the first few times; practise over the sink until you find the rhythm. Start to finish, it takes about ten minutes.
You'll need
- 2 tea bags of Dilmah Premium Ceylon Black
- 200ml freshly drawn water at 100C, just off the boil
- 200ml whole milk
- 3 pinches of light brown sugar
- 1 320ml tea glass, warmed
- 1 medium saucepan with lid
- 2 metal cups for the from-height pour
Method
- Warm a tall glass. Pour the water and milk into a saucepan and drop in 2 tea bags.
- Bring to a slow simmer over a medium heat for 4 minutes; keep it gentle and do not let it boil over.
- Take it off the heat, stir in the brown sugar, then lift out the bags.
- Pour the tea into one metal cup, then pour it into the second from about 30cm up.
- Pour it back again from the same height, and repeat a third time, until a soft foam builds on top.
- Pour into the warmed glass and drink it hot, foam and all.
- Pour higher for more froth, but start low until your aim is in; spills are part of learning.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Dilmah Premium Ceylon Black, 25 Tea Bags 50g
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