Hocaa Bubble Tea's Oreo Crème Brûlée Milk Tea combines the design and concept of bonsai milk tea and dirty milk tea, both of which, according to Hocaa manager Tony Cheng, have become popular in East Asia in recent years. Cheng says bonsai milk teas have a milk cap (a thick milky foam on top) and dirty milk teas are made using the technique of “walling the cup” with syrup so that it stays on the walls of the cup as one sips.
“We put Oreo cookie crumbs on top of the milk cap,” says Cheng. “And instead of using syrup, we wall the cup with a special homemade flavor cream. We named it ‘crème brûlée cream' as it has both vanilla cake flavor and caramel sea salt flavor. This cream makes this cup of milk tea taste more exquisite and diversified.”
The drink is comprised of select black teas, lactated milk, condensed milk, sugar, caramel, sea salt and chewy tapioca pearls (which Cheng says they call the drink's brown sugar bubble). Available year-round, the drink can be ordered hot or cold.
With any order, customers can choose how much sugar or ice they want in their beverage, with the sugar level available as 0 percent, 30 percent, 50 percent, 70 percent or 100 percent. Non-caffeine and non-dairy drinks are also available for order. Don't miss Hocaa's bubble waffles with ice cream.
220 E. 3rd St., Bethlehem | 610.419.6966 | hocaabubbletea.com
Published as "Drink This" in the January 2023 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
