My name is Isabelle Yang and I am a self-confessed salted cheese tea addict. While I won’t go into the details of exactly how much money I’ve spent on these sweet and salty drinks just this past November, I will attempt to convince you to give this gourmet delicacy a try.

Salted cheese drinks have been rapidly rising in popularity —  especially in Asian countries like China where it first originated. Named by CNN.com as one of the top 18 drinks China can’t live without, it’s clear that the appetite for salted cheese is shared by many.

Despite the widespread love of salted cheese, it’s clear that the love for it has has not spread evenly. Unfortunately, I’m disappointed to say that many of my closest friends have either not yet been exposed to the glory that is salted cheese drinks or have lamented its popularity. I’ll admit, the first time I heard of salted cheese drinks, my exact words followed, “Ew, who would even drink that?” But these were just the words of someone who had not yet experienced them.

Thankfully, a more adventurous friend had come along on the fateful day in which I fell into the spiral that is my salted cheese addiction today. After the prodding of my friend who had ordered a light oolong tea with salted cheese, I reluctantly sipped the top of the drink. In that instance, I was reborn; or perhaps, I  had found the drink of 2017.   

One common misconception that many skeptics have is that they believe that the salted cheese topping is quite literally made out of a melted cheese concoction. Given that, it’s understandable why some, including myself initially, would potentially think that salted cheese drinks are disgusting.

However, it’s quite the contrary. In fact, I’ve never tried a salted cheese drink that actually included any real dairy cheese. In many tea shops that offer this delicacy, salted cheese topping is a mixture of milk foam and rock salt and is sometimes topped with matcha powder. What is created is a harmony of complementary flavors.

This euphoric experience is quite literally a scientific marvel. According to foodnavigator.com, studies suggest that salt will increase the tongue’s perception of sugar, thus explaining why salted cheese elevates the natural sweet flavor of teas that it is often paired with.

One of the most popular tea shops that offer this delicacy is Happy Lemon Cupertino. As one of the originators of the salted cheese drink series, Happy Lemon has truly perfected the airy sweet and salty topping in addition to their refined teas. Not only have they created multiple delicious salted cheese drink combinations, Happy Lemon — a true innovator — also offers another salted cheese variety for a Gordon Ramsay level culinary experience: tiramisu salted cheese.

The versatile tiramisu salted cheese can also be paired with more traditional teas like oolong or green tea and more “American” flavors like chocolate.

Other popular tea drink chains like 85°C and Heccha offer their own varieties of salted cheese drinks, each with another wondrous combination to offer.

The conclusion? Salted cheese is among one of the best drinks to gain popularity in 2017. Given its success in the Bay Area, a region notable for its expertise and widespread popularity of all types of Asian tea drinks, salted cheese is here to continue draining my debit card. Although you may be appalled by the thought of putting “cheese” in your beloved pearl milk teas, I’d still urge you to give it a try and expose yourself to the light of next level tea drinking.

(PS — If you do intend to try this drink, I’d urge you to try Happy Lemon’s Light Oolong tea with Salted Cheese with 50 percent sweetness.)