Local Drinks

1. 絲襪奶茶

   si1 mat6 naai5 caa4

   Hong Kong-style milk tea ("silk stocking" milk tea)

   Usage

   The signature cha chaan teng drink: strong tea balanced with evaporated milk

   Grammar Note

   Named after the tea-straining cloth bag, which stains to the colour of a silk stocking. No stockings are involved

2. 茶走

   caa4 zau2

   Milk tea made with condensed milk instead of sugar and evaporated milk

   Usage

   Ordered to avoid undissolved sugar settling at the bottom of a hot milk tea

   Grammar Note

   In cha chaan teng shorthand 走 means "hold the …": 走冰 (no ice), 走糖 (no sugar). The coffee version is 啡走

3. 鴛鴦

   jyun1 joeng1

   Yuenyeung (coffee mixed with milk tea)

   Usage

   A Hong Kong dai pai dong invention; available hot or iced

   Grammar Note

   Literally "mandarin ducks", a metaphor for an inseparable pair of unlike things — here coffee and milk tea

4. 凍檸茶

   dung3 ning2 caa4

   Iced lemon tea

   Usage

   Comes with lemon slices; locals mash them with the spoon while drinking

   Grammar Note

   The hot version is 熱檸茶 jit6 ning2 caa4. Unabbreviated it is 檸檬茶 ning4 mung1 caa4; in the short form 檸 shifts to ning2

5. 鹹檸七

   haam4 ning2 cat1

   Salted lemon 7-Up

   Usage

   A cha chaan teng standard, reputed to soothe a sore throat; with fresh (unsalted) lemon it is 檸七

6. 涼茶

   loeng4 caa4

   Cooling herbal tea

   Usage

   Drunk standing at a street-corner herbal tea shop; "cooling" refers to the body, not the temperature

7. 廿四味

   jaa6 sei3 mei2

   Yasammei ("24 flavours") — the bitterest herbal tea

   Usage

   The archetypal herbal tea; very bitter, and shops often hand you a sweet preserved plum afterwards

   Grammar Note

   廿 is a single character for "twenty", read jaa6 — not 二十 ji6 sap6

8. 阿華田

   o1 waa4 tin4

   Ovaltine

   Usage

   A standard cha chaan teng drink; iced it is 凍阿華田

   Grammar Note

   The character 阿 is normally aa3, but in this word Hong Kong reads it as 柯 o1, giving o1 waa4 tin4

9. 好立克

   hou2 lap6 hak1

   Horlicks

   Usage

   The other malt drink on every cha chaan teng menu; the condensed-milk version is 立克走

10. 齋啡

    zaai1 fe1

    Black coffee

    Usage

    Coffee with neither milk nor sugar; the older cha chaan teng phrase 飛砂走奶 means the same

    Grammar Note

    齋 originally means "vegetarian/plain" and in food contexts marks something served without additions, as in 齋腸 (plain cheung fun)

11. 蔗汁

    ze3 zap1

    Sugarcane juice

    Usage

    Pressed to order at herbal tea and juice shops; a summer standard

12. 普洱

    pou2 nei2

    Pu'er tea

    Usage

    The most-ordered tea at yum cha; you will be asked which tea you want as you sit down

13. 香片

    hoeng1 pin2

    Jasmine tea

    Usage

    The usual alternative to pu'er at yum cha; Mandarin-speaking regions call it 茉莉花茶

14. 菊花茶

    guk1 faa1 caa4

    Chrysanthemum tea

    Usage

    Served both at yum cha and at herbal tea shops; caffeine-free and lightly sweetened

15. 豆漿

    dau6 zoeng1

    Soy milk

    Usage

    Served hot at tofu pudding shops; cartons in shops are usually labelled 豆奶 dau6 naai5

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