How To Make Thai Iced Tea
Thai tea has become popular recently and this sweet, milky tea drink has been the star in some bubble tea shops. When visiting a Thai restaurant to eat Thai food, some would normally order a curry dish, one noodle dish and an appetizer. To top these favorites, you can also grab a Thai tea or Thai milk tea.
There are circumstances wherein it may be hard to spot Thai restaurants if you want to sip some authentic Thai iced tea. Don’t worry as we will help you make your own Thai tea mix with this easy-to-follow Thai iced tea recipe.
Thai Tea Recipe/Thai Iced Tea Recipe
An authentic Thai tea recipe should provide the refreshing drink to iced tea lovers. As a delicious drink, Thai tea tastes sweet that could complement some famous Thai food. Most Thai restaurants provide traditional Thai iced tea on their menus.
If you are looking for ways on making Thai ice tea at the comforts of your home, you must prepare these following ingredients first:
Thai Tea Mix option:
- 1 cup or 80 g of Thai Tea Mix
- 4 cups or 960 ml water
- 3/4 cup or 150 g granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup or 240 ml half and half (you can also use coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk)
- Ice cubes
Organic Thai Tea Bags option:
- 4 cups or 960 ml water
- 4 organic black tea bags
- 3/4 cup or 150 g granulated sugar
- 2 star anise
- 1 green cardamom pod (smashed)
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 cup or 240 ml half and half (alternatives are coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk)
- Ice cubes or crushed ice
For Equipment:
Reusable cloth filter or Thai tea filter
Procedures to make Thai iced tea mix option:
- Pour the water in a pot and bring it to a boil.
Add the Thai tea mix and sugar. Gently stir to completely dissolve sugar.
- Gently boil the Thai tea mix for about 3 minutes and remove from heat.
- Steep it for at least 30 minutes or longer if you want a concentrated tea flavor and better Thai tea taste. Allow it to cool.
- Strain the tea leaves from the Thai tea mixture and set aside the strained Thai tea.
- Get a tall glass and fill it with ice
Pour enough Thai tea and leave some room on the glass as you will also add your half and half (or coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk if you’re using them). For creamier Thai tea mixes, you can add more creamer into the glass.
Steps to Make Organic Thai Tea Bags option:
- In a pot, bring water to boil and add the tea bags, sugar, star anise, cardamom pod and cloves. Stir it gently to dissolve the sugar in the mixture.
- For about 3 minutes, gently boil the tea mixture and remove from heat.
- Steep the tea bags for about 30 minutes or longer if you want a concentrated flavor. Steeping it longer will also allow the tea to cool, so you’re doing the right thing.
- Remove the star anise, cardamom pod and cloves by spooning them out or use a strainer. Remove the tea bags as well. Refrigerate the tea mixture if it is still warm.
- Fill a tall glass with ice and pour in organic Thai tea. Also leave enough room for your half and half (or coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk if you’re using them). Add more if you want a creamier Thai iced tea.
Understanding the Ingredients in Thai Ice Tea Recipe
Making Thai iced tea drinks is easy as there are instant powder mixes that you can buy online or at your local store. But using these instant powder Thai tea mixes will not give that same authentic flavor by making them from scratch. Also, these ready-to-use tea mixes often contain allergens that might not be good for you. Freshly prepared teas would still be the best one to use for your Thai iced tea recipe.
There are different varieties of Thai tea leaves that you can use to make Thai tea. One of the commonly used leaves is Ceylon and it is also the variety that’s grown in Thailand. But any variety of strong black tea should work perfectly fine for your chosen Thai iced tea recipe. You can also do experiments to explore bolder taste and extraordinary flavor profile.
Milk is probably the second important ingredient to make Thai tea, next to the tea leaves. Milk tea is commonly prepared by using condensed milk and evaporated milk. Nontraditional creamer, such as coconut milk, adds a lighter and tropical touch to the flavor of your Thai iced tea.
Sugar can be used to add extra sweetness in Thai tea recipes. Aside from white sugar, palm sugar and brown sugar are alternative sweeteners on some Thai tea mixes. Others might also use honey, stevia or other non-sugar sweeteners as long as they are dissolvable in milk tea.
What makes the Thai iced tea truly unique is the use of spices in their recipes. Brewing the tea leaves with various spices enhances the flavor, aside from giving it a distinct taste. For a vibrant and tastier Thai iced tea, make sure to use fresh spices. Commonly used spices in a Thai iced tea are star anise, green cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric.
FAQs
Enhancements have been made to the traditional Thai iced tea to cater different tea recipes. This also paves way to different flavors associated into the drink, such as Thai iced tea orange. Food coloring is usually used to provide that bright orange color of this Thai tea.
You also have the Thai Boba tea that is made more fun by adding Boba pearls into the Pantai Thai tea mix or regular Thai iced coffee. Since Thai iced tea is made with strongly-brewed black tea that is added with both sweetened condensed milk and other dairy creamer or non-dairy creamer, the addition of Boba balls make it more exciting.
Boba iced teas are actually becoming a trend and there’s no reason why Thai iced tea would not embrace it. You can actually create your own Thai Boba tea by adding Boba pearls to the recipe mentioned above.
If you are looking for some good recommendations of these Boba balls, check out the Mayde Bursting Popping Boba Pearls. It comes with great flavors that includes Strawberry, Mango, Passion Fruit, Kiwi, Blueberry, and Pomegranate.
You can also check Tea Zone Chewy Tapioca Boba, which is a pack of premium tapioca balls that are chewy on the outside and chewy on the inside. This one originates in Taiwan, where bubble tea came from. You can be sure of the quality it will provide on your Thai iced tea.
One of the components of Thai iced tea is black tea. It is believed that the black tea on its own provides antioxidants that can prevent cardiovascular diseases and macular degeneration. Black tea also contains polyphenols that can inhibit the absorption of lipids and complex sugars. In short, this can help those people who are trying to lose weight.
However, we have to keep in mind that a Thai tea recipe will add sweetened condensed milk and other sweeteners. Excessive consumption of this sweet drink may lead to weight gain. It also contains dairy products, which might not be suitable for those people who are lactose intolerant. There are other potential allergens from the other ingredients used in the drink.
If you want to drink tea that could provide more health benefits, then choose plain black tea. Just gently boil tea leaves or loose tea in a tea kettle. You can also simply add hot water to the loose tea and let it steep to get the concentrated flavor of Thai teas. You can also add vanilla bean into the milk mixture to give it a nice flavor
Depending on the Thai tea recipe, your Thai iced tea may have smaller or larger calorie content. Regular Thai tea recipe may have around 200 calories. You can lower its calorie content by diluting more ice, reduce sugar level and use skim milk if possible.
Be reminded that when you add Boba pearls into the regular Thai iced tea, it will raise the calorie content up to 300 calories. The reason why Thai iced tea has a high calorie content is due to the usage of sweeteners such as sweetened condensed milk and fats from the dairy and non-dairy milk.
Final Thoughts
You can easily get a brewed tea or Thai iced tea at a local Thai restaurant. But you can easily make your own at the comforts of your home by following a simple Thai tea recipe. It is best paired with some Thai street food or other Thai dishes.
Treat yourself and your family by creating the Thai tea recipe on this post. It is great to sip it along with your favorite Thai food.
