May 20, 2017
Oolong is debatably one of the boujie-est of teas, so complex and diverse in its flavor profiles that a description for it is elusive.
The oxidation of oolongs are somewhere in between green teas and black teas, hitting a sweet spot in terms of aroma and taste. At a couple of my favorite boba shops in the Bay Area, my go-to is the white grape oolong milk tea. It has an ever so subtle taste of crisp white (green) grapes in rich, nutty oolong…and it’s incredibly refreshing! But the drinks aren’t made with fresh grapes. They’re infused with aromas and essential oils – products I don’t always trust in my food.
Today we’ll be imitating this drink at home, using white grape concentrate to flavor. We’ll take it up a notch by making real braised fresh grapes to serve as our “boba”. We’ll also whip up some sea cream (also known as mustache, crema, salted whipped cream, etc.) to add creamy saltiness which will go perfectly with the taste of white grapes.
Is you ready to boba?
White Grape Oolong with Sea Salt Crema & Fresh Grapes
White Grape Oolong with Sea Salt Crema & Fresh Grapes
Ingredients
- This High Mountain Oolong or any other oolong tea 2 tablespoons
- Welch’s 100% White Grape Juice Concentrate 2 1/2 tablespoons
- Heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup
- A splash of milk
- White sugar 1 teaspoon for sea cream, 1 tablespoon for the grapes
- Sea salt 1/4 teaspoon
- White (green) grapes 1/4 cup
Instructions
- Bring 14 ounces of water to a boil.
- Using a french press, tea pot, or tea infuser, brew the tea with water for 4 minutes. If you don’t have a french press or tea infuser, brew the tea directly in a pitcher and filter with a sieve or coffee filter.
- Add the white grape juice concentrate.
- Pop the tea into the freezer to cool down.
- Using an electric mixer or blender, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks.
- Add sugar and salt. Whip again.
- Add at least a splash of milk and whip again, incrementally adding more if needed. The end product should be just thin enough to drip, but thick enough to float on top of the tea.
- This part is the most labor intensive. Peeled grapes are awesome possum and everybody loves them, but if you don’t have time to make them, feel free to skip the braising and peelings steps, and instead cut the grapes into small chunks and sip them fresh.
- Wash the grapes.
- Using a paring knife, score the skin of the grapes into 4 sections for small grapes and 8 sections for larger grapes. This will make it easier to peel the skin off.
- Using the blunt side of the knife, peel the skin off of each section.
- In a saucepan, add 1/2 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and peeled grapes and braise on low-medium to medium heat for 10 minutes.
- If the tea hasn’t chilled, scoop half a cup of ice into a martini shaker. Crushed ice is great, but cubed works fine too. Pour the mixture into the shaker, put the cap on, and shake, shake, shake! 10 seconds will do.
- Filter the drink and grapes into a serving glass, and utilize half of the remaining ice from the shaker in the drink.
- Scoop the sea cream into a spoon and let it slowly drip on top of the tea. Add at least enough so it forms a layer covering the tea, and more to your heart’s desire.
- Enjoy!
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Vy
Great post, Ly!!!! Love the idea to substitute the boba for real grapes. can’t wait to try this recipe out tomorrow!