This milk tea which looks like water is taking Japan and Singapore by storm

04-Dec-2017 - Last updated on 04-Dec-2017 at 03:05 GMT

Suntory Tennensui Premium Morning Tea (Milk) found its way to Singapore supermarket shelves – before selling out. ©Suntory

It might look like a bottle of water… but this latest offering from Suntory actually tastes like and has the texture of milk tea.

Released in Japan in September, Suntory Tennensui Premium Morning Tea (Milk) has now also found its way to some Singapore supermarket shelves – before quickly selling out.

Suntory revealed the product is made by boiling water and infusing the vapour with the aroma of tea as it passes through loose tea leaves. It then rests and cools in a condenser as a clear liquid, which appears much like water.

While this process allows the water to retain the aroma and flavours of the black tea, the water and tea do not come in to direct contact, thus no colour is transferred into the water.

Furthermore, by utilising lactose and milk minerals, which are transparent, the flavour of milk is carried into the drink, yet allowing it to remain clear.

Suntory said that this process achieves “the richness of milk” and the “smooth yet rich flavour of milk tea”.

The product is primarily sold in Japan at the recommended retail price of ¥131 for a 550ml bottle and ¥115 for a 280ml bottle, which is only available from a vending machine.

The 550ml bottle was sold in Singapore for S$2.60 (US$1.90) at FairPrice Finest supermarkets and S$2.50 at ChocoExpress.

The Japanese drinks giant said the tea was primarily marketed in Japan. In Singapore, Tanesei Trading Pte Ltd, a wholesaler in Japanese food, confectionery and sake products, directly imported the drink from Japan.

FairPrice expects new stock of Suntory Tennensui Premium Morning Tea (Milk) to arrive within a few weeks.

According to the store, it started selling the colourless milk tea in October. It was launched in Japan on Sep 26 and has become a social media sensation, with some YouTube videos receiving hundreds of thousands of hits.

This latest product follows the launch of Suntory Tennensui Premium Morning Tea (Lemon) in April.

Said Suntory: “We select and use Assam tea leaves, which are perfect for milk tea. Using the same production method as Premium Morning Tea (Lemon), we luxuriously extract and use the vibrant aroma of the tea leaves to create a rich aroma (in the drink).”