Capsules, beers, an app – that old drink, tea, seen as ‘a gateway to Chinese culture’, evolves to draw Gen Z in Hong Kong

Historically tea has been prepared in various ways, and new ones come along – look at the recent fad for bubble tea. Hong Kong tea sellers offer their own takes

From cold-brewed tea to tea-infused beers and tea capsules – in one case, with an accompanying health app – they are gaining new fans for an ancient drink

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Tea Chateau’s Pu’er capsule and tea. Tea sellers in Hong Kong are reinventing the drink, seen as a gateway to Chinese culture. Photo: Tea Château

Published: 1:15pm, 19 Feb 2023

When Ip Wing-chi, the owner of Hong Kong tea retailer and teahouse LockCha, was asked to serve something with oomph for the June 2018 opening of heritage and cultural centre Tai Kwun – in which one of his Chinese tea-houses resides – he went with something totally off-menu.

Filling 5,000 reusable bottles with water, beneath each lid he hid a clip for holding a tea bag. The bottle would be turned upside down when it came time for steeping, and right-side up to avoid prolonged soaking.

Ip says he chose to create cold-brew teas because there was no way his team could boil water fast enough to serve the swathes of visitors; they were also a means to build a rapport with younger customers, who were likely to prefer a chilled drink on a sweltering summer day.

Since then, LockCha has undertaken other projects not normally associated with traditional tea-houses.

Ip Wing-chi, founder of LockCha, is open to projects not usually undertaken by traditional tea-houses. Photo: LockCha,

The interior of LockCha’s Tai Kwun branch, which opened in 2018. Photo: LockCha

Ip, for instance, has collaborated with local brewery Heroes to roll out four types of beer, made with rose red tea, phoenix oolong, jasmine green tea and even the acclaimed pu’er – a prized commodity that, as of December 2021, has landed on Sotheby’s’ prestigious auction podiums.