RINGS BRAND三元牌
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Hong Kong-style milk tea

The original Hong Kong milk tea pot.

Rings Brand. Transcending generations since 1949.

Three aluminium milk tea pots side by side. The oldest, on the left, is dented and worn, with a faded gold three-rings label. The middle pot’s label has worn blank. The newest, on the right, has a white label with three red rings and TING TAI.
Three generations of the Rings Brand pot. Left to right: the first generation, the second (its label has worn away) and today’s pot.

Hong Kong’s milk tea masters reach for the pot with three red rings. Sign up by email for the latest news, new products and offers.

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Two metal milk tea pots on a stove in front of white wall tiles. The pot on the right has three red rings on its side.
A Rings Brand pot at work in a Hong Kong cha chaan teng.

In the kitchens

Behind the counter.

In Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs, milk tea is made behind the counter, in metal pots on the stove.

Milk tea masters are particular about their tools. The pot they choose is the one with three red rings.

The method

Made for the way Hong Kong makes milk tea.

Hong Kong-style milk tea making technique was inscribed on the first Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong in 2017. The steps, as the official listing describes them:

  1. 01調配茶葉Blending tea leaves
  2. 02煲茶Boiling and infusing the tea
  3. 03撞茶Force-pouring the tea
  4. 04焗茶Brewing the tea
  5. 05撞奶Force-pouring the milk

Sources: HKSAR Government press release, 10 July 2023 · icho.hk

Illustration of a Rings Brand pot, cut away to show a white cloth bag of tea leaves inside, held open on a wire hoop.
Illustration: the cloth bag sits in the pot on a wire hoop.

  1. Lid

    Rests on top while the tea brews.

  2. White cloth bag

    Filters out the fine tea leaves. It turns brown with use, like a silk stocking, which is how silk-stocking milk tea got its name.

  3. Wire hoop

    Holds the bag open at the mouth of the pot.

  4. Spout

    A wide spout for pouring.

Genuine or copy

Look for the three rings.

Copies of our pot are on sale, most of them wearing an imitation of our classic red-and-blue ribbon label. Here’s how to know yours is the real thing.

Close-up of the mark on a current pot: three red rings above the words TING TAI.
Today’s mark, on a current pot.

  • Today’s mark

    Three red rings above the name TING TAI, on the side of the pot.

  • Copies use our ribbon label

    Most copies we’ve seen carry an imitation of our classic red-and-blue ribbon label. The label alone doesn’t prove a pot is ours, so check where it came from.

  • Registered in Hong Kong

    Rings Brand trade marks are registered in Hong Kong to Ting Tai Metal Ware Factory Ltd.

  • Still not sure?

    Email us a photo of the pot and where you bought it, and we’ll tell you if it’s ours: hello@ringsbrand.com

A large sign on a Hong Kong building: three red rings between the words RINGS and BRAND, with the characters 鼎大 and the name Ting Tai below.
Rings Brand and Ting Tai signage in Hong Kong.

Our story · Since 1949

Ting Tai, the name behind the rings.

Rings Brand, 三元牌 in Chinese, is the kitchenware brand of Ting Tai Metal Ware Factory Ltd, a Hong Kong company.

Ting Tai was founded in 1949 by Dr Choi Cheung-Kok. His son, Patrick Choi, joined the business in 1972 and spent more than half a century with it as the second generation. In 2025 his grandson, Jonathan Choi, joined as the third generation. The pot is in its third generation too.

Our sign still stands above the street: three red rings, with the Ting Tai name below.

Next, we want to see the pot in more kitchens, including yours.

Milestones

  1. 1949

    Dr Choi Cheung-Kok founds Ting Tai in Hong Kong.

  2. 1954

    The Castle Peak Road factory makes more than 80 kinds of Rings Brand kettles, pots and tableware, sold across Southeast Asia and South America.

  3. 1957

    Ting Tai and Wah Chong, maker of Five Stars aluminium ware, combine their aluminium ware businesses as Wahchong-Tingtai, later renamed Tingtai-Wahchong. Over time the Choi family becomes the controlling shareholder. Ting Tai continues alongside it, and both companies still operate today.

  4. 1959

    The company’s stand wins first prize at the Hong Kong Products Expo.

  5. 1972

    Patrick Choi joins the business: the second generation.

  6. Later

    Production moves to Nanhai, Guangdong.

  7. 2025

    Jonathan Choi joins: the third generation.

Source and further reading: York Lo, “Five Stars and Three Rings: aluminum pioneers Wah Chong and Ting Tai”, Industrial History of Hong Kong Group (2019).

On display at the airport

A dai pai dong-style stall at 2 Cafe with a red 大排檔 sign. Behind the glass, two Rings Brand milk tea pots sit among tins of tea and condensed milk. Two aluminium milk tea pots with white cloth bags, each marked with the three red rings and TING TAI, behind a ‘For Display Only’ sign.
On display at 2 Cafe, Hong Kong International Airport, Terminal 1 (before security, near check-in Aisle F), among the classics of the Hong Kong café counter.

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