Thailand has one famous (non-alcoholic) drink, and this is it: Thai iced tea. The orange coloured sweet concoction is so good it feels like it should be dessert. A lot of times I find restaurants make it too sweet, so I actually prefer making my own so I can make it exactly how I want it. If you love Thai tea and you're a coffee drinker, you're also going to love this easy Thai iced coffee!
What is Thai Iced Tea?
Let's start with the tea leaves, what is Thai tea leaves? Thai tea leaves are black tea leaves, commonly assam tea, that has had artificial flavour added to it, most commonly vanilla.
The iconic orange colour is nothing but orange food colouring. I know...it's not the exotic tea made from secret Thai ingredients that you might have thought. But this is not a gourmet tea, it's supposed to be the cheap and cheerful tea for the average Thai!
So the popular Thai iced tea is brewed from Thai tea leaves, and has sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk added for creaminess and sweetness. There are other kinds of iced teas made from Thai tea leaves, such as this Thai lime iced tea that is super refreshing and is actually my personal favourite!
Thai Style vs American Style Thai Iced Tea
As I shared in the video tutorial, most Thai restaurants in N. America make their Thai tea differently from the way it's done in Thailand.
In Thailand, the tea is made milky and sweet by the addition of sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. Sometimes, non-dairy creamer (like Coffeemate) is also added.
In most Thai restaurants in N. America, they use only sugar for the sweetness, and then top the tea with half and half. Not all restaurants do this; I have seen places that make a hybrid of the two styles, but this seems to be the most common way in my experience.
If you're wondering which style your local restaurant use, have a look at the video tutorial because they also look different before you stir the tea. If the tea in the cup starts out black with creamy dairy poured on top, it's American style!
The two styles DO taste different, and while both are good I prefer the Thai style because it tastes richer and milkier. But the American style is simpler and you may want to try it out anyway just to see which you prefer.
Ingredients
Here are ingredients you'll need to make yourself some Thai iced tea at home. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.
- Thai tea leaves. The most popular brand in Thailand is ChaTraMue. This company specializes in teas so I try to choose this brand if I can. But other brands such as Pantai and Sunlee are also fine.
- Sweetened condensed milk. Choose a brand with only a few ingredients, mostly milk and sugar, such as Longevity brand. Be aware of cheap non-dairy imitation condensed milk that I would not choose.
- Evaporated milk. Evaporated milk is used to add creaminess without adding extra sweetness. I always use full-fat evaporated milk for best flavour.
- Sugar. This can be added to taste, and any of your preferred artificial sweetener can also be used instead.
- Salt. A little salt helps brighten up the sweetness of the tea and prevents it from becoming cloying. It's a little trick that makes all the difference!
- A lot of ice. You should pack the cup with ice before adding the tea.
How to Make Thai Iced Tea
Here's a bird's eye view of how to make Thai style and American style Thai iced tea. I recommend you check out the full video tutorial so you can see how it's done and you can see my taste test between the two styles!
This recipe shows you how to make a Thai tea base without any dairy product as this will last you a long time in the fridge. Then you can add your dairy of choice when you're ready to drink, which also allows different members of the household to adjust creaminess and sweetness to their liking.
For maximum simplicity you can also make a big batch of the finished tea so it's ready to drink, but keep in mind that it will not last as long since the dairy products have been added.
- Steep the tea in hot water for 3-5 minutes. You can do this inside a French press for easy straining.
- Strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer.
- If there's a lot of tea dust left you and strain it again through a finer mesh or paper coffee filter.
- Add sugar and salt. Allow to cool to room temp.
- For Thai style Thai tea, combine the tea base with sweetened condensed milk.
- Pour over a glass of ice.
- Top with evaporated milk.
- For American style, add more sugar to the tea base to taste, then pour the tea over ice and top with half and half!
Hack: Making Thai iced tea without Thai tea leaves
If you can't find the Thai tea leaves in your local store, good news: there is a very good hack that produces a delicious tea that tastes very close to the original!
For 1 glass of Thai iced tea:
- Steep 3 tea bags of orange pekoe tea or another black tea with 1 cup (240 ml) of hot off the boil water for 5 minutes.
- Remove the tea bags and add ½ teaspoon artificial vanilla extract, and if you wish you can add a few drops of orange food colouring to mimic the colour.
- Add 1 ½ tablespoon sweetened condensed milk, 2 teaspoons sugar (or to taste) and stir to dissolve.
- Pour it over a pint glass packed full of ice and drizzle 2-3 tablespoon evaporated milk over top. Enjoy!
How to Make Vegan Thai Iced Tea
If you're not concerned about making a healthy drink, you can make a simple substitution with non-dairy evaporated milk and condensed milk which get their richness from vegetable oil of some kind. You can also use non-dairy creamer such as Coffeemate to help with creaminess.
I tried using Let's Do Organic brand coconut condensed milk, but the coconut fat congealed into little bits in the iced tea and it was not pleasant, and it didn't have nearly the richness of regular condensed milk. This may not be the case with different brands that contain more binders that would prevent this separation, but just FYI that it could happen.
If you want a healthier version, what I do is I add more sugar to the tea base to achieve the desired sweetness, then add about ⅓-½ cup of oat milk per serving of Thai tea. My favourite for this is Oatly which I find to be the creamiest. Oat milk I find is the best tasting non-dairy milk substitute in Thai tea and teas in general. It doesn't taste as rich and you won't get the cream-topped effect but it still tastes great.
Nowadays there are lots of new non-dairy products available so always worth trying out different ones and see what you prefer!
Thai Iced Tea ชาเย็น (cha yen)
Ingredients
Thai Tea Base
- ¾ cup Thai tea leaves (buy Thai tea leaves online), see note 1
- 4 cups hot off-the-boil water
- ¼ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Thai Iced Tea - Thai Style (for 1 glass)
Thai Iced Tea - American Style (for 1 glass)
- ¾ cup Thai tea base
- 1 Tablespoon sugar, see note 2
- a pint glass packed full of ice
- 3-4 Tablespoons half and half, (~12% cream)
Notes
- If you can't find Thai tea leaves, see my hacked trick in the blog post.
- I don't add all the sugar to the tea base to allow room for people to adjust sweetness to their own taste. But if you are making it just for yourself, increase the amount of sugar in the Thai tea base to ½ cup (or however sweet you like it) and skip the sugar when making individual glasses.
FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video to ensure success. If you enjoy them, consider subscribing to the YouTube Channel to not miss an episode. Thank you!
Subscribe to my YouTube ChannelInstructions
For the Thai Tea Base (4 glass)
- Steep the tea leaves in hot off-the-boil water for 5 minutes and then strain through a fine mesh strainer. If you have a french press, steep it in the french press and make the straining process easier!¾ cup Thai tea leaves (buy Thai tea leaves online), 4 cups hot off-the-boil water
- Add the sugar and salt and stir to dissolve. Allow to cool to room temp before making tea so it won't dissolve the ice too much. You can now store this base in the fridge it will last at least a couple of weeks.¼ cup sugar, ⅛ teaspoon salt
For the Thai Style Thai Tea (1 glass)
- Pour the Thai tea base into a mixing glass and stir in the condensed milk until dissolved. If the tea base is chilled, it will help to microwave it briefly and bring it to room temp so the condensed milk will dissolve more easily.¾ cup Thai tea base, 1½ Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- Pack a serving glass full of ice and then pour the tea on top. Drizzle with the evaporated milk on top and enjoy!A pint glass packed full of ice, 2-3 Tablespoons evaporated milk
For the American Style Thai Tea (1 glass)
- Pour the Thai tea base into a mixing glass and stir in more sugar to your taste, if needed. If the tea base is chilled, it will help to microwave it briefly and bring it to room temp so the condensed milk will dissolve more easily.¾ cup Thai tea base, 1 Tablespoon sugar
- Pack a serving glass full of ice and then pour the tea on top. Drizzle with the half and half on top and enjoy!a pint glass packed full of ice, 3-4 Tablespoons half and half
kavehtarzan@gmail.com
As before some of social strata from TV and especially radio announcers to some of my current fellow citizens act and behave and mimic as if they wanted to instill me that I avoid from my favorite home pets preservation after or even before of my marriage or abroad migration fulfillment and instead I keep their favorite pets, namely birds at home forever!
It may that some of them be my future first probable partner representatives that I hope that my guess be false completely.
Anyway, say them from me that although I like any home pet including birds too. But I never shun from keeping my favorite home pets with my favorite smart and trained and playful dogs and puppies pivots with wholly and silken and soft skins at all and rather their keeping is one of my so important central aims eternally as well. After these kinds of dogs and puppies I like cats and kittens that they be trained and playful and wholly,…too.
But birds never are my prime priority. Although I welcome from their keeping of course after my favorite dogs and cats and puppies and kitten,… too!
Particularly I severely care to my favorite puppies and dogs that as soon as I quit my calamitous country or my future first wife wed me I must keep them at my future home rooms and yards,…..by all means everlasting as well!
Of course I extremely love gorgeous and gentle horses,…! But these kinds of noble animals keeping at home aren't possible. Unless I live in grand palaces with several hectare survey and I be so rich person too.
Stay that only tycoon persons can have horses. Because horses price is notable. This matter is generalized on my other favorite lovely animals alike dolphin too.
Anyway, please reflect my message to different social strata as soon as possible! And say them on my behalf that my favorite tastes aren’t coordinated with them necessarily. Just as my favorite thinking system and ideology and lifestyle,…aren’t symphonious especially with traditional and fogyish,…persons at all a well.
In any case, I like home pets with cute and trained and playful puppies and poodles pivot permanently and I've decided to provide them as soon as possible too.
Please decode from following so important phrases and words that even some of social strata reflect them to me from time to time too. Please say me which of them play good, bad, ugly roles and which of them have been source of sedition and Satanism and calamities and conspiracies and serial killings and sinister schemes and disasters and diseases and deaths and discriminations and deceptions and lot of other multifarious felonies origins and reversely which of them have been blessings and prosperities creators and performers and disasters and diseases and deaths antidotes and repellents from olden times ago to now, and even how many with 100 years old oldness that with passage of times particularly from after Iran revolution their lucidity and tempos have increased too!
Please pay deep attention that as before a lot of complete contradictory analyses are presented on them too. So, in order to end long term terrible misunderstandings and misrepresentations and misinterpretations and misuses from mentioned words and phrases, please adopt attitudes that all of them be deciphered for all of us clearly as soon as possible.
But those words and phrases that must be deciphered are as follows:
Pre or post?
Shah or Khomeini?
Christopher Columbus exploration or Hong Kong tea ceremony that its Iranian version is kashefol-saltane consequences?
Tehran metropolis or Isfahan metropolis?
Safavid dynasty or Pahlavi dynasty?
Elementary School or junior secondary school or senior secondary school especially revolution tulips high school located in Tehran metropolis?
Tehran University or Isfahan University?
World system!
Bad world or good world or gray world?
Loyal world or disloyal world?
World sufferings and sorrows or world joy and happiness?
Racism and fascism or medievalism and obscurantism or racial and or religious apartheids or caste-kind aristocratic systems?
Iranian mafia gangs and satanic sects or foreigner mafia gangs and satanic sects (negative)?
Iranian mafia bands or foreigner mafia bands (positive)?
The Iranian Zorro and Robin Hood or the foreigner Zorro and Robin hood?
Iranian evil hearted persons and organizations and satanic sects or foreigners evil hearted persons and organizations and satanic sects?
World change cost or benefit?
World kings and leaders or Iran kings and leaders?
The Iranian time Hitler or the foreigner time Hitler?
Deity decree or demon deceit?
God tests or god trials?
Iranian mongolism or foreigners mongolism?
Western superpowers or eastern superpowers?
The USA or the USSSR or PRC?
World capitalism or world socialism?
President Bil Clinton or deceased president Jiang Zemin?
Disastrous tea or blissful tea?
Mad cities or intelligence cities?
Hellish labs!
Hellish tea or heaven tea?
Interpol symposium in Isfahan metropolis!
Assasinnated abdolhoseein purjavadi or murdered dr seyyed ali mozaffari or late black eggplant?
28 mordad coup consequences or 1357 revolution consequences?
Pahlavi dynasty frustration aftermath or safavid dynasty demolition consequences?
World leaders and kings deaths aftermath or Iran kings and leaders deaths aftermath?
Jealous city or cities or generous city and cities?
Dark ages epochs decline consequences or renascence eras rising aftermath?
Celebrities or singers?
Radio announcers or TV broadcasters?
Lawless city or Law of jungle or hit and run rules?
Major general moatazed or army medicine?
Coroners discoveries?
Forensic medicine felonies or the times ahmadi physicians felonies?
Foreigners the ahmadi physicians or Iranian the ahmadi physicians?
Racism epochs sacrifices or medievalism epochs sacrifices?
Engineered diseases by medical felonies or by different forms of bioterrorism felonies that so called jinn intellect doesn't reach them too?
Accident doesn't give news!
Jeff (jafar) and taghi are symbolized 6 and 9 sacrifices consecutively especially by engineered diseases or Jeff and taghi are symbolized sacred names from ancient and traditional persons stances?
South Africa in apartheid times or Tehran in apartheid times or Isfahan in apartheid times or world in apartheid times or Iran in apartheid times?
World war 3 or world war 4 aftermath?
Darkness memento (gift)?
Unipolar world or bipoar world or multipolar world?
Bipolar world order collapse consequences or unipolar world order collapse consequences or multipolar world birth aftermath?
World countries regime changes consequences!
Inauspicious bride or auspicious bride?
Bad luck bride or good luck bride?
In here gholam(gholam ali haddad Adel) synonymize Beautiful woman and thousands jealous!
Game of throne!
Satanic games or humanistic games?
Long term too terrible proxy duels!
Cage=bird cages
Or
Other pets with puppies and dogs and cats and kittens centralities cage
Or
Cage= masoud housearrest
Or
My future first probable spouse housearrest
Or
My housearrest
Or
Our fans or foes housearrest
Or
Masoud life imprisonment at home
Or
My future partners with my future first probable partner pivot life imprisonment at home
Or
My life imprisonment at home
Or
Our fans or foes life imprisonment at home
Or
Masoud as a boorish bird at housearrest alike imprisoned birds at cage
Or
I buy cage in order to keeping birds
Or
I buy cage in order to my favorite dogs and cats,… (In turn) keeping at home
Or
In order to move recent female cat that has been closed me (because I feed,…she kindly and recently and she live at our apartment unit balcony) to my room, firstly I buy a cage for cat!
To spit= to spit on my future first probable partner and her pros and or cons
Or
To spit on me and my pros and or cons
Or
To fie on this world
Or
To fie on time tyrannies and tartarus and tricks
Or
As some persons are caving in, in front of me and my fans and they're burning and blinded by jealousy instead they fie on themselves, they project and fie toward best groups of persons alike me impudently and or ignorantly and impolitely!
Those guys that are going nuts and they are become very angry from my fans and I unique six sense and intuition and insight abilities and they're blinded and burnt by jealousy from hearing of nymphet girls wedding with me even they're attended to do self-harm too.
Game city or game cities?
Town=my marriage,…aren’t cleared in Tehran metropolis and its countryside and rather they will be clarified in township in other counties in so called resurrection morning and from some of social strata I will have so splendid future in those towns and counties specially on my marriage sphere!
In here town=Isfahan metropolis or kashan city or…?
Peace= world peace
Or
I peace with my future first passionate and pretty,…preteen or teen partner!
Or
I pardon others and peace with them generously?
Why my metamorphosed and mad and mulish,…brother say double bluffs and for instance he assert that I snatch his stuffs alike fruits,…?
Does he play the devil and project and act in order to satisfy his so sadistic tendencies improperly and impudently and impolitely and insanely
Or
He say double bluffs, because of his long term and short-term so called concoction-kind calmative medicines negative side effects and then as before he hallucinate and imagine and suspect me,…!
Or
As he is a satyr guy inherently, but he is under so severe stresses from his long lasting sexual instinct suppression, then he has become mad and he relieve his cumulative chronic complexes by his double bluffs and mimicries and mockeries and projections and pranks and picking quarrels,…
Or
It may that as he look at people lascivious girls and women whether in TV set or especially in alley and street, and then his sexual instinct is aroused a lot, then he rampage and wrangle and play the devils and project and pick quarrels and say double bluffs and babble and mimic and mock,…or he masturbate in remembrance of them and altogether his long lasting sexual instinct severe suppression has inflamed him hugely hitherto!
By the way, is my blah and bleak brother addicted to self-eroticism or not he masturbates from time to time rarely?
Or
As he is very inferior than me, then he relieve his huge obsessions even by his double bluffs,…too!
Or
Alike a lot of heartless and hateful and jealous persons, he has been blinded by jealousy from hearing of nymphet girls wedding with me before now and that is why he say double bluffs and play the devil and project,…!
Or
He is blinded and burnt by jealousy from radio and TV and especially alley and street and girls and boys intimacies and relationship and that is why he laughs with so loud voices maniacally or he scream crazily!
Indeed, as before why my bleak and boring brother go out from home everyday under the pretence of book reading in public greedily?
Due to his loneliness sufferings and sorrows saturation
Or
He wants to transfer his cumulative chronic complexes and so severe stresses to alley and street people crazily and desperately
Or
He feels high from people lascivious girls and women watching in order to his artificial orgasm and especially if they speak with him he will become delightful and then it may that even he masturbates in remembrance of them too? Just as he like some of satellite TV female announcers and singers a lot too. And he pleases from their sounds and appearances hearing and looking a lot too. It may that he masturbates in remembrance of them too.
Anyway as before he suffer from his sexual instinct, as basic instinct, suppression strikingly. That is why as before he is very angry and anguished and agitated and anxious,…!
I suppose my bleak brother long term too terrible sexual instinct repression has been his inflammation and sadomasochism and stresses and schizophrenia and psychosis,…cause of causes!
Sex-therapy has been best elixir-kind medicine for him from olden times ago to now!
I wish his close kin have found a suitable girl for him from olden times ago and especially from his adolescence times and they've coupled him! Because his permanent so severe stresses and sadomasochism and schizophrenia and psychosis basic remedy and recovery and relief has been revolved on his sex-therapy, surely!
Even if currently they feed and curry and keep him collectively and cheer his shattered nervous system up and couple him subsequently, he will been cured considerably too.
Alley and street and radio and TV broadcasting,…as mine fields and misfortune moats and war fronts and time the ahmadi physicians twins and neo-Nazi forces haunts and satanic sects hang out and football stadiums and boxing rings and wrestling saloons and hellish labs and hell black holes,…or not conversely!
Has my future first probable partner bob-style blond or brown(preferably blond)head hairs and blue or bluish-green eyes and red fatty face and chubby cheeks and bud-like lips,…or not?
Are her nickname peacock and rose water and time beautiful and blue scarf and ziba-rokhe-divane(lunatic beauteous damsel),…or not?
Tricycle or quadricycle(especially tricycle)are my marriage key or not?
Gorgeous god or garbage god?
Rasoul-e- najafian and hesamoddine-e-seraj(Iranian official singers) are symbolized silent genocides in the name of god and or under the mask of world sufferings and sorrows and customs and Hong Kong tea ceremony consequences or not?
Hesamoddine-e-seraj=Hafez house or god house?
Best moguls and worst sarbedaran or worst moguls and best sarbedaran?
Akbar shah or Akbar mogul (Mongol)?
Who is or are times Akbar shah doubleganger?
Tehran slaughterhouse or bahman slaughterhouse?
Slaughter god or saver god?
Who are synonymized time moguls? God or world leaders and kings,…?
Moguls attack?!
Tamed killer or savage killer?
Fear of god?
Which god? World powers or world system or world capitalism or world tyrants or karma laws with positive or negative outlooks,…?
Wake up and dream!
Ye3=all of my symbolic standpoints on different spheres from Satanism sources and long term time oppression and calamities and conspiracies,… to my marriage momentous matters are true totally! And that only after 3 members of my family consecutive immolation my marriage with nymphet,…girls is feasible.
20= beast or best?
Are my deeds best?
20= my enlightener and decipherer-kind marvelous messages in different domains that are presented symbolically and surrealistically are so cool or my future first probable partner is excellent from looks and character?
20= beast=my concoction-kind and bleak brother sadomasochistic and schizophrenic behaviors metamorphose him to barbarian and boring and blah and bad guy similar rabid beast or those groups of naughty and nonsense and nauseous persons that test me are similar bad beasts?
King of hell!
Iranian king of hell
Or
Foreigners king of hell?
Kings made blind these eyes including my martyr dad when he was alive as well!
Iranian kings especially late Muhammad reza Pahlavi made my martyr father eyes
Or
Foreigners kings had been perpetrated these kinds of hellish felonies?
Serial Murders report!
Am I murder reporter or others report them?
Coroner tea or corona tea?
Good luck alchemy or miseries moat?
Or
Hell Empire or Heaven Empire?
Or
Brus li killer or killers!
Or
Doomsday earthquake
Or
End of the world misfortunes or festivities!
Or
All of them!
Or
None of them!
Or
Some of them
Or
Some people are tantalizing and tormenting and testing me and make me their animal magnetism with their weird words and cants and mimicries and mockeries and body languages,…as before?
Or
Other things that I don’t know?
Again and again for million times I repeat that if my marriage glad news has truth and if mentioned girl that will wed me as my future first wife has maximal adaptation with my favorite triplet marriage standards and she match me marvelously and she fall in love me from her bottom of heart and she can ecstasize and exhilarate and eroticize me extremely and eternally, of course along with my other future favorite selected so sexy and sentimental and sensualist and passionate and pretty,…preteen and teen partners permanently, but as before she shun and shirk from her immediate wedding with me, even if she disgust from these so satanic and hellish and hateful and heinous and horrific qualities inherently and Satanist sects don’t let her that she shorten her wedding trend with me in practice, but under these so crucial conditions she is playing Satan and serial killer and my familiars and fans hunter and immolator and my tantalizer and tormentor roles concurrently! So, under these circumstances naturally and necessarily she will be deserved hardest horrendous damnation and punishments doubtlessly too!
Who go and come by plane from some of people stances as before?
Why as before betweenwhiles they use from this bizarre slang in their daily conversations in alley and street and malls corridors,…in front of me?
Do they refer to my bleak brother or to my future first probable wife or I or our testers or our pros or cons?
If my marriage isn’t feasible under this circumstances in shortest time span, it expect that it adopt methods and policies that I quit my calamitous country in best pleasure possible forms right away.
After all, taking into account long term terrible time tyrannies and tartarus and tricks and tardiness and tribulations and traumas and tragedies and bearing in mind my very infuriated and intolerable brother existence that as before I feed and curry and tolerate him by myself and grin and bear it a lot from this stance too and taking into consideration my age critical conditions and keeping in mind as before I receive my marriage okay extensively as well, my migration to overseas or marriage momentous matters as my prime plan and priority and pressing need importance become multiple markedly too. Such a way that even one moment hiatus and hesitation on one of them performance aren’t acceptable after this at all and rather it will have huge hazardous and horrendous consequences permanently too.
So, one of them must take place just according to my guidelines and expectations in so supreme circumstances in shortest time span by all means compulsorily!
Impatiently and restlessly I wait for only and only one of them fulfillment just according to my shoulders and shoulders in so supreme conditions in shortest time span!
It is too terribly and tormentingly and traumatically late too!
Anil Bhandari
If sweetened condensed milk is evaporated milk with sugar, why not just use evaporated milk and just add some extra sugar? That way you don't have to buy sweetened condensed milk.
Pailin Chongchitnant
You can def do that! Though condensed milk is a staple in any Thai household cuz we use it for many different things
Alfredo
Hi Pailin,
Thank you so much for the Recipe. I've been following all the instructions but unfortunately I do not get the orange colour when I ad the condense milk or the evaporated milk. I have more Coffe colour... I use also Chatra Mue Brand! What am I doing wrong??
Best regards
Rae
The orange color comes from food coloring, so if you want it to be orange you will need to add some orange (maybe yellow) food coloring.
Pailin Chongchitnant
My guess is you're not using the right kind of tea. Cha tra mue makes many different kinds of tea, does your packaging look the same as mine? If not, that would be why! If it is, then you might have one of those very old batches where the colour was removed from the tea for a period of time due to FDA rules...but that was several years ago so I would be surprised if you happen to still have it.
Alfredo Vidal
Thank you Pailin for your answer. Apparently I'm using the same packaging as you. I've bought it the last week here in Berlin and it does not seems like the old batches. But it's true, that it does'nt say that has the FD&C Number 6. So, that might be the difference. The flavour it's the same as in Thailand, I was just wondering why I don't have the beautiful orange colour 🙂
Pailin Chongchitnant
Oh, I wonder if Germany (or Europe) has different rules and they don't allow that food colouring to be added to products imported into Europe! In any case, it wouldn't make any difference and you can add your own colour if you want to!
Angelo
Followed the blog post and made the tea base myself using some Assam & Orange Pekoe tea, some vanilla extract, and a natural food dye that uses annatto seed. Pretty good stuff!
Walter Ian Kaye
After poisoning myself multiple times and considering giving up on this drink, it finally occurred to me to google "decaffeinated assam tea". I'm going to order B09WNFZ41C on Amazon.
Dorine
I bought the thai tea you recommended but in tea bag form, thinking I could skip the straining part. How many tea bags would you suggest to equal your recipe above for 3/4 cup leaves? Thinking it might be a lot of tea bags now & I should have bought the loose tea instead!
Dorine
I used 4 tea bags to the 4 cups of water & followed your directions for the Thai tea version. It was so so delicious! Great that we can adjust sugar levels to taste. Thank you for the great detailed recipe ❤️❤️❤️
Pailin Chongchitnant
Glad you figured it out! And thank you!
Tim
I cut the tea bags open to extract the leaves, it took 17 tea bags to fill 3/4 measuring cup. Your tea would be very weak with only 4 tea bags
Dorine
Hey Tim! I think everyone can adjust to their individual tastes. Mine worked out good for me with 2 Thai tea bags per 8 oz glass. Yours worked out better for you with 4+ tea bags per 8 oz glass. 😊
I think I’m going to do a side by side taste test soon with loose leaf vs bagged tea. I’m guessing the loose leaf may possibly taste better? But I liked the convenience of the tea bags.
Walter Ian Kaye
I found a Yellow #6 that's free from gums, emulsifiers, HFCS, etc. It's Lorann Oils liquid food color (orange), and its only ingredients are Water, PG, and FD&C Yellow 6. Available on Amazon, 1 ounce (29.5 mL) for $5.52 (ASIN: B0000VYODS).
Shaun Cerborino
I would like to recommend Nature’s Charm! It is company owned by 2 Thai women and they make evaporated and sweetened condensed coconut and oat milk products. I used both of these and they came out great, preceded the sweetened condensed oat milk and the evaporated coconut milk combo. The subtle coconut flavor I guess makes me think Thai.
Walter Ian Kaye
I made this twice; first time was with the tea in a fine nylon net, and the second time with the leaves directly in the water and subsequently strained through a fine wire mesh. I had thought the wire mesh strained it well, but after it cooled I saw that it had turned clouded-opaque and I realized there must have been invisible leaf particles left over, resulting in over-steeping and it tasted tart and seemed to have a ton more caffeine which I'm still trying to recover from several hours later. So, people, make sure you strain it VERY completely after steeping, to ensure that nothing will be left behind to make it over-steep.
Walter Ian Kaye
I made this with the 4 cups of water and 3/4 cup of assam tea, but the tea leaves stubbornly held onto a full cup of water, leaving me with 3 cups of tea. Is this correct and expected? Or do I add an extra cup of water, or adjust the sweetener and vanilla downward, or...?
PS. I bought imitation vanilla for the first time in my life, specifically for this, lol.
PPS. I'm happy being able to make this vegan and zero fructose!
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Walter! You do not need to add any water. The recipe anticipates 1 cup of water loss after steeping. As you can see, the recipe for making the tea itself calls for ¾ cup of brewed tea base per glass. The recipe is for 4 servings so that's 4x 0.75 cup = 3 cups of tea base. You're right on track 🙂
Alex
Hi Pailin,
Long time Fan! Keep up the amazing work!
In your expert opinion and experience, what would be good fruit pairings with Thai iced tea? I'm thinking of using Thai tea as the main flavour in a cake and want to add fresh/dried fruits in it that will help cut the richness/sweetness.
Thanks in advance!
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hmmm, i've not seen Thai iced tea paired with fruit....but if anything mangoes would probably work. You'll need something sweet and not too tart or it'll be weird with the tea. Melons could also work?
Jack Hammer
Thanks so much for putting this together! We've (my Thai wife and I) tried this method a few times, and we always felt like the Thai Tea flavor was too weak. We've modified the recipe a few times by 1) increasing the steeping time and 2) the amount of Thai tea leaves but still not what we hoped for. We just can't get that Thai Tea flavor punch we're seeking. Any tips for maximizing that flavor? Thanks again. We love your content!
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi! Which brand of tea leaves are you using? There are two options: Chatramue makes a GOLD version of THai tea leaves which are finer and stronger tasting. If you can get that, that would be the best option. Otherwise keep increasing the amount of leaves until it gets there, and make sure your water is very very hot. Oh another thing to dry is to let the tea leave simmer in the water for a minute before turning off the heat and steeping. You can also put the leaves through a coffee grinder to get it finer. Also letting the tea chill before pouring it over ice will make less of the ice melt and the tea stronger.
Seph
You mentioned in the video that both the condensed and evaporated milk can last a long time. How long can they last and what is the Thai secret to keeping it alive and safe to drink for so long? (e.g., do you transfer it to an airtight jar, or keep it in the can?) As a person living solo, I always hesitate buying and cracking open either product because it's just so much for one person to use.
Pailin Chongchitnant
Condensed milk, once open will last at least a few months in the fridge in an airtight container. Evaporated milk lasts a shorter time but it should be 3-4 weeks in the fridge in an airtight container. Push it to the back of the fridge where it's colder and it'll last longer.
Laurinda Conyers
Hi Pailin,
Thank you for the amazing recipe and sharing your knowledge with us. I have tried several different recipes for Thai Tea like you get from restaurants. I had to buy many different spices and none came close. I found the Tea you recommended (on Amazon of course), and followed your directions exactly. It was perfect. Just what I was looking for. I am so happy to have found you. I love your Char Sui recipe and your tutorial on rice noodles has given me the confidence to try them again. Keep up the the great cooking.
You rock it,
Laurinda
Pailin Chongchitnant
Aw, so glad to hear! Thank you so much!
Jay
I make extra tea to freeze (tea only) and use as the ice cubes in my next batch.
Pailin Chongchitnant
Brilliant.
Jack Yuen
How to be more find it ?
Chloe
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Chloe
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Chloe
Hello! Sorry, it may be because I'm new to cooking but - what does "off the boil" mean? I couldn't find a consistent answer by googling it.
Adam from HTK
Hi Chloe, Adam here, and "off the boil" means that a liquid has cooled down from boiling and is no longer actively bubbling. It is often used in recipes to indicate a step where ingredients are added or the liquid is simmered after reaching its boiling point. Cheers!
Pailin Chongchitnant
I mean that the water should have just finished boiling. So temp as close to boiling as possible. This is to prevent ambiguity because "hot water" can mean any temperature that's hot, but it may not be hot enough to properly brew tea.
AMRIT
I don't like artificial vanilla extract so can I would use real vanilla extract and use saffron for colour?
Pailin Chongchitnant
For sure!
Valerie
Hi Pai!
How long do you think it can last in the fridge? Do you think there is a point in the recipe where we could freeze in order to have some rapidly on hand?
Thank you so much
Dianne
The base should be fine to freeze. I wouldn't freeze it with any dairy products added to it though. The freezing and thawing can cause the milk to separate and you might end up with lumpy tea.
Pailin Chongchitnant
What Diane said is correct 🙂
Laura
If i want to make many servings at once is it better to do the same recipe many times or can i steep it all at once in a pitcher? If so is there a ratio to follow or do i simply increase quantity of tea and water based on number of guests? Thanks
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Laura, simply multiply all ingredients proportionally and make a big batch all at once.
Sejal
So simple! Being lazy about washing dishes, I did all the steps in my Yeti travel mug and it turned out great. I love being able to customize the level of sweetness - restaurant versions tend to be overly sweet. Any suggestions for the leftover evaporated milk? I have read that it does not freeze well.
Sandra Rosenblum
You could use sweetened condensed milk to make fudge.
You could use evaporated milk to make pumpkin pie.
Pailin Chongchitnant
Here are a couple of recipes that use evaporated milk on my site: https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/creamy-tom-yum/
https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/curry-crab/
Or you can use it to make soups, add it to smoothies, or use it instead of milk in baking for extra richness.
S
I use evaporated milk (diluted with water) to make porridge (America term: oatmeal) instead of using milk from the fridge. Even with diluting to can instructions, evaporated milk is much creamier than 100% milk porridge so if you don't like creamy, dilute it more than the can says 🙂