Who else has been reading about Cheese Cream, Cheese Foam, Cheese Tea or any of the other names given to the recent Chinese tea drink craze that’s jumped the Pacific and begun to proliferate across Los Angeles the past few months? What the hell is the stuff, anyway? That’s what I had to find out. So I yelped “Cheese Foam Tea” and up popped Little Fluffy Head in Downtown Los Angeles near 7th and Spring. Cool, a cheese foam tea specialist! Based on the conversation from the JThur01's Latest SGV Update for Eater - #7 by ipsedixit - Los Angeles - Food Talk Central thread, I committed to trying it and reporting back after doing some preliminary research on their website:
Okay, so it’s definitely very similar to a whipped cream, but thicker and slightly tangy. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I intend to return to Little Fluffy Head again soon to take advantage of their Grand Opening BOGO offer (through end of September) and try some Premium tea drinks.
Here’s what you walk into:
It’s a pretty small place, but the customer service is on point. The staff is happy to answer questions, and they’re excited to hear how you heard about them, as they’ve only been open for 2 weeks. You can adjust the sweetness, and for the record, their matcha powder is the real deal–none of the pre-sweetened crap like they use at Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, or any of those other shitty places.
Décor is typical of what you see everywhere in this Instagram world we live in.
Here is what I ordered:
The Dirty Mess Milk Tea ($6) consists of black milk tea with crème brûlée cheese cream and crushed Oreo topping. I requested mine at 50% sweetness, and I have to say I would NOT have wanted it any sweeter. It was delicious! The cheese cream was somewhere between a whipped cream and a light pudding consistency, and it tasted slightly tangy. The pairing with black tea and Oreo crumbs is perfect! Excellent dessert drink!
The Chedd-cha Matcha ($7) consists of an iced matcha latte topped with cheddar cheese cream. I wanted to try this one because I was intrigued by the idea of the cheddar–usually a fairly strong flavor. Would it pair well with matcha? Well, I can say that this drink will be more controversial than the Dirty Mess, but I quite enjoyed it! I think the pairing of matcha and cheddar actually works here. The flavor was mild, but there was definitely a bit of a cheese taste, much more so than with their crème brûlée cheese cream. Also unlike the crème brûlée cheese cream, the cheddar cheese cream has identifiable shreds of cheese in it. Nothing obnoxious, but texturally you could taste it. I also ordered this 50% sweet, the result of which I quite liked.
Other notes: the cups they use have special lids, where you can get both tea and cheese cream in the same sip. The lids also have punch-out holes for boba straws as well as a sip saver cover so you can take your cups on the go without worrying about spilling! While I didn’t order any boba (this time), the straws still came in handy at the end so I could get those last little bits. The Dirty Mess with boba seems like a popular add-on combination, and they’re developing new flavors every day. Apparently today included some experiments with strawberry. You can also do some mixing-and-matching of flavors, and the cashier told me they’ve developed a bit of a “secret menu.” All of this in 2 weeks of opening. I hope they do well, as I quite like what they have to offer. Given their proximity to Clifton’s, Bar Mattachine and Little Damage, they should do well at least in the short term.
Full menu located here.