Luckin launched another interesting milky drink for their festive menu this Lunar New Year, so I tried it when I got a good coupon. This is Ceylon Yuan Yang with milk. Yuan Yang (鸳鸯) refers to a pair of male (yuan) and female (yang) Mandarin ducks, and figuratively means a good and complementary pairing. When it comes to drinks, it refers to a mix of tea and coffee, which I do agree is a great combination. Another term for it as applied to matcha would be the dirty matcha, although the term Yuan Yang is usually used only when the tea component is Chinese in origin.
Besides this drink, Luckin has also launched other Yuan Yang drinks, all with their standard coffee, but they vary the type of tea used. Previously, I had tried their Summer Breeze, Jasmine and Spring variations and especially liked the first two. This time, I am adding Ceylon to the list. And look at the cute Chinese New Year cup sleeve. (I removed it so you can see the gradient in the next picture.)
Ceylon tea is known for its rich earthy, smoky and fruity aroma, and is the main tea used in earl grey that gives it the characteristic strong fragrance that pairs well with the bergamot.
When I took my first sip of this, I was hit with a lovely wave of that strong Ceylon tea aroma. It was especially fragrant, more so than any of the other yuan yang drinks I'd tried before (whether from Luckin or elsewhere). It is like the thick Ceylon fragrance found in the top Japanese royal milk teas. So strong that actually the tea fragrance totally dominated the coffee flavour, which is normally quite an intense flavour, such that coffee became a supporting cast. This instantly made this my favourite yuan yang drink ever! So it was love at first sip.
So what role did the coffee play? It had almost no role in the fragrance department, but instead filled out the tea with dark chocolatey notes in the body, and fills out the aftertaste very pleasantly so the taste evolves fully until the end.
It was an excellent pairing, and made the tea seem very rich and complex, yet balanced.
The creaminess of the milk bridged the two tastes together very well as well.
At 50% discount or $4, this was a steal for such a complementary party of flavours. So if you're looking for something new to try this New Year, I highly recommend this.
---
Update: Due to the great experience, I decided to try Luckin's new Ceylon Milk Tea Latte (offically "First Crush Tea"). This is the version without coffee. (Pretty pics below. I love their cup print art, like the Chinese version of paisley, somewhat reminiscent of blue porcelain designs.) It was equally fragrant, but just without the coffee's nuttiness. It's one of the nicest milk teas I've had (since I love strongly fragrant teas). But I still prefer the yuan yang version due to the fuller taste, and I think even non-coffee drinkers would love it. Nonetheless, the tea is great for people who do not want as much caffeine. I had it iced and least sweet.
Discover other interesting coffee and tea lattes:
Comments
Post a Comment