Study Buddy (Explorer): Kong Tea kits bring Hong Kong-style milk tea to Canada
Each week, this page presents a light article with questions to test your comprehension.
Pep So Shun-wah and Stanley Tsui Hok-wang’s Kong Tea offers authentic Hong Kong-style milk tea kits for home brewing. Photo: Handout
Content provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Pep So Shun-wah is very particular about his Hong Kong-style milk tea. He learned how to make the steaming hot drink of black tea, evaporated milk and sugar in a cha chaan teng – a traditional Hong Kong cafe. The 38-year-old moved to Vancouver two years ago. His friends had told him on a prior visit that the milk tea in the city was not very good. He was determined to do something about it.
[2] After about a year of trial and error, So and his business partner, Stanley Tsui Hok-wang, launched Kong Tea in December 2023. The company sells kits for making silky, flavourful cups of Hong Kong-style milk tea at home. They contain packets of tea leaves, sugar and canned evaporated milk.
[3] The kits also include a filter that can fit into most teacups, with paper arms that hang over the sides. The loose black tea is poured into the filter, followed by 250 millilitres of boiling water, a little at a time. “If the water is not hot enough, the tea does not filter through fast enough, so the water must be hot,” So said.
[4] He weighs his cup on a scale to ensure he is using the correct amount of water; 250 grams is the weight of 250ml of water. He then leaves the tea to steep for 15 minutes. The tea cools down during the steeping process, which is why the instructions tell those brewing at home to reheat their cup of tea in the microwave for 30 seconds.
[5] The instructions then say to gently lift the filter on the cup up and down like tea masters do. This is part of the “pulling” process – pouring the tea back and forth between vessels to achieve the desired strong flavour. The next step is to make two holes in the lid of the can of evaporated milk. Then, pour 60ml into the cup in a circular motion and stir in white sugar. The result is a hot, strong, smooth cup of tea with a balance of sweetness and bitterness, just like you would find in a good Hong Kong-style cafe.
[6] So and Tsui aim to transport customers back to their favourite Hong Kong cafes. The packaging features slang typically used on cha chaan teng bills, such as “9” – a homonym for milk – and “T” for tea. Around half of Kong Tea’s kits have been sold in British Columbia. The rest were sold in Ontario and as far away as Nova Scotia.
[7] So said that what makes the cha chaan teng so endearing to Hongkongers is how they feel like home. “If you eat a tasting menu at a French restaurant, you feel you should dress up ... But in a cha chaan teng, you don’t need to dress up. It’s like your home; maybe you sit with your leg up on the chair, or you don’t wipe your mouth,” he said. “Everyone accepts this is your own space to do what you want. You can be loud, you can come in after playing sports all sweaty. So with a cha chaan teng, you can be yourself.”
Source: South China Morning Post, October 7
Questions
1. What does the phrase “determined to do something about it” in paragraph 1 refer to?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. In paragraph 3, what type of water must be used when making milk tea with the Kong Tea kits and why?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Paragraph 4 describes the … process of making a cup of Kong Tea.
A. filtering
B. brewing
C. tea selection
D. straining
4. What is the purpose of the “pulling process” mentioned in paragraph 5?
A. to remove impurities from the tea
B. to enhance the tea’s aroma
C. to create a well-balanced taste
D. to add a frothy texture
5. What is So’s intention in providing such specific instructions in paragraphs 3 to 5?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Find a word in paragraph 6 that refers to “a word that sounds the same or is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning”. ___________________________________________________
7. In paragraph 6, what does the “T” on a cha chaan teng bill mean?
___________________________________________________
8. According to paragraph 7, So believes cha chaan teng are popular because of …
A. their casual atmosphere.
B. the unusual food and drinks served.
C. their importance in Hong Kong culture.
D. how affordable the food is.
9. Based on your understanding of the story, the majority of So’s customers might be … A. professional tea baristas.
B. cafe owners based in Hong Kong.
C. individuals with lactose intolerance.
D. none of the above
Answers
1. improve the quality of milk tea in Vancouver (accept all similar answers)
2. Boiling water, so that the tea goes through the filter quickly.
3. B
4. B
5. He wants his customers to make a cup of milk tea just like the ones they would be able to find in a good Hong Kong-style cafe. (accept all similar answers)
6. homonym
7. tea
8. A
9. D