| Genre: | Herbal Tea |
| Price: | HK: $1.48 (7.1.10) OM: 6 pack @ $8.50 |
| Size: |
310ml can |
| Country of Origin: | Hong Kong (China) |
| Manufactured By: | HUNG TO (HOLDINGS) CO., LTD. (Hong Kong) |
| Imported/Distributed By: | KAISI AUSTRALIA PTY., LTD. |
Wong Lo Kat (Wang Lao Ji in Mandarin), as sold as a premade drink, is a sweetened version of a bitter herbal tea developed by Wang Zebang in 1813 during the Qing dynasty (1). It is supposed to benefitial to one’s health but with 28.4g of sugar in a 310ml can, I’m a little suspicious. In addition to water and sugar it contains various ingredients including chrysanthemum and liquorice. Like all herbal teas Wong Lo Kat does not contain camellia sinensis and as such is not a tea but a tissane
(2).
The origins and history of the red can version of Wong Lo Kat are difficult to trace back for two reasons. Firstly, in spite of a wealth of information available online, most of it is in Chinese or close to indecipherable English. Sadly my Mandarin doesn’t extend much further beyond “Wo bu miangbai ni zai shuo shenme” (I don’t understand what you just said) and my Cantonese begins and ends with the sentence “Ngo m sekteng Guangdong wa” (I don’t understand Cantonese). Secondly, and perhaps an even greater cause for difficulty, the defeat of the Kuo Min Tang (nationalists) in 1949 has seen the drink’s production split between descendants of the original producer who migrated to Hong Kong, and the state-run Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical company (3). And then we have the little anachronistic detail that the manufacturing of the Hong Kong version
did not commence until 1995 (4). What’s going on?
Well from what I can gather, the Hong Kong owned variety is sold in red cans (pictured above) whilst the mainland variety is sold in a cardboard container known as Tetra-Pak (think juiceboxes) (5). To complicate matters further, Jiaduobao, the Hong Kong based producer of the red can version, has production plants on the mainland. Both products are available in mainland China where the more expensive red can is marketed as a drink for social occasions where appearance is important and the cheaper version is targeted at regular everyday household consumption (6). I was unable to find the Tetra-Pak version in Adelaide. This is probably a reflection of the
Cantonese domination of Adelaide’s chinatown as the version available here is produced in and exported from Hong Kong. A mildly amusing consequence of this is that the made for export cans include English/Chinglish text: “Made from select herbal ingredients using advanced scientific technique based on traditional recipe, suits all ages.” Just two pluralisation slips, not bad really.
All this confusion aside, one thing that is clear is the popularity of the drink in China. In 2006, Wong Lo Kat overtook Coca-Cola as the most popular bevarage on the mainland, shifting 4 million tons (7). In 2008 that number was 6 million (8). In February 2009, Jiaduobao signed a deal to become a ‘Prestige Partner’ of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, becoming the official
provider of non-alcohol[ic] drinks except sports drinks (9).
Wong Lo Kat seems to be popular out there in the english-speaking blogosphere as well. You can find two positive reviews here and here.
Wong Lo Kat is sweet, very sweet and can be consumed cold or ‘hot’ (although how you’d heat up an aluminium can…). It’s too sweet for me and as a result it took me a while to finish the 310ml can. At $1.48 or a six pack for $8.88 (yes, I know, not much of a discount for buying in bulk) it is very cheap however.
As for that anachronism, I’m still puzzled. If you know the answer, unravel the mystery and leave a comment below.
2.5/5
Extra: The marketing of red can Wong Lo Kat as a middle class drink for social occasions is evident in these two mainland commercials : 2007, 2008.
Tried it? Let me know what you think.
References (names written in order given):
(1) Olivia Chung. “After the Coke craze, it’s tea time in China.” May 11 2007. Asia Times. Accessed at http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IE11Cb01.html on 7.1.10
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_tea accessed 7.1.10
(3) Achieve Marketing Consultation. “Promoting Strategy of Wong Lo Kat (Tetra-pak).” Accessed at http://www.chengmei-trout.com/en/achieve-8.asp on 7.1.10
(4) Citrix Systems. “JDB expands using Citrix XenApp for efficient and stable application delivery.” Accessed at http://www.citrix.com/English/aboutCitrix/caseStudies/caseStudy.asp?storyID=1855031 on 7.1.10
(5) Op Cit. Achieve Marketing Consultation.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Op Cit. Chung.
(8) Han Tianyang. “Herbal tea maker supports immediate, long-term social causes.” November 9 2009. China Daily. Accessed at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2009-11/09/content_8930237.htm on 7.1.10
(9) Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee. “JDB Group becomes Prestige Partner of Guangzhou Asian Games.” February 18 2009. Accessed at http://www.gz2010.cn/09/0218/18/52F3PIOF0078007G.html on 7.1.10
Emil, I assume the verbosity and length of this drink review was spurred on by the amount of sugar contained in said drink. I think I might need to find some; might help me with my writing! xo Enken
Forgive me for this ironically short reply: They’re all long.
I follow a simple formula for all the drink reviews that basically involves a description of the drink, a history of it or it’s production company, anything related to it’s popularity, spread or cultural significance, other people’s opinions and then, finally, my own. I write to such lengths because I hope to provide a service that isn’t out there currently, however niche that service may be.
And I don’t think you need to worry about an insufficiency or verbosity on your own account :-)
And please do go out and try it, and when you do let me know what you think :-)
(okay so it wasn’t so short a reply)
I like niche blogs a lot. That is, I think, one of the main attractions of blogging – a person can pontificate on whatever obscure thing they like. My own blog is perhaps more visual than text-based, but that is the nature of blogging about craft! I am aiming to write some more substantial posts in the future, but people seem to like pretty pictures *shrug*