Iced Jin Xuan with Vanilla Cream Foam
Cold-brewed milk oolong topped with a salted vanilla cream foam—a Taiwanese-bakery-inspired iced tea that drinks like a creamy, floral dream.
Salted cheese-foam tea (奶蓋茶) is the iconic modern Taiwanese drink — a layer of lightly salted, sweetened cream foam floating on top of cold tea. Jin Xuan is the perfect base because its natural cream-and-floral profile already echoes the foam, creating a drink that tastes seamless rather than layered.
Cold-brew the Jin Xuan to preserve every floral and creamy aromatic. Hot brewing followed by chilling tends to muddy the milky character; cold brewing keeps it crisp, light, and aromatic.
The cream foam is whipped just until it holds soft peaks — not as stiff as whipped cream, more like a thick pourable cloud. The salt is essential: it lifts the cream's sweetness and bridges to the tea's natural body, creating a sweet-savory tension that is wildly addictive.
Drink it without a straw, sipping the cold tea through the salted cream layer with each mouthful. The contrast between cold, light, floral tea and rich, faintly salty cream is the entire point — straws ruin the experience.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Jin Xuan milk oolong loose leaf
- 500 ml cold filtered water
- 100 ml heavy cream
- 30 ml whole milk
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- Plenty of ice cubes
How to make it
- 1Cold brew: combine Jin Xuan leaves and cold water in a jar. Refrigerate 6–8 hours, then strain through a fine sieve into a serving pitcher.
- 2In a chilled bowl, combine the heavy cream, whole milk, powdered sugar, vanilla, and sea salt.
- 3Whisk by hand or with a frother until soft peaks form — the foam should be thick enough to float on the tea but still pourable. Do not over-whip.
- 4Fill two tall glasses to the top with ice. Pour the cold-brewed Jin Xuan over the ice, leaving about 3 cm of space at the top.
- 5Carefully spoon or pour the vanilla cream foam over the back of a spoon to form a 2 cm floating layer on top. Serve immediately, without a straw.
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