Thai Tea Recipe {Make this Now}
Latest note about this Thai tea recipe: we’ve updated this Thai iced tea recipe with an organic tea bag option and with coconut milk!
During one of the conference days in Chicago, we escaped out to lunch at a local Thai restaurant to explore more of the city’s culinary offerings. As always, we’ll try to order something new and different. When we’re at a Thai restaurant, it normally involves ordering our favorites. This includes a curry dish, one noodle dish and an appetizer. On top of that, we must always have Thai iced tea. Because how can we NOT have Thai iced tea when we eat Thai food? It’s one of those decant “dessert” drinks that helps soothe the burn when we overload on too much of Thai spice.
Authentic Thai Tea Recipe
Years ago, my Auntie Chung was telling me how easy it was to make Thai iced tea. She had worked in an Asian restaurant and one of the most popular items on the entire menu was Thai iced tea. She proceeded to tell me exactly how to make it and how profitable it was for restaurants to make Thai iced tea. I didn’t care too much about the profitability of Thai iced tea. But rather, I’m more interested on how easily it was made and why we didn’t make it more often. The version we have is as authentic as what most Thai restaurants in America are making. Our version really does taste like what we have ordered at most Thai restaurants.
Watch the video for making Thai Iced Tea:
Fast forward about 7 years later as I’m sitting in Chicago eating Thai food and sipping my Thai iced tea. My brain light bulb pops on: “We need to make Thai tea! Auntie told me how easy it was to make and why haven’t we made it before?” Here you have it. All I can say is that if you’re a fan of Thai iced tea at $3.25 a pop, then you must make this now.
Not only will you be saving a big wad of cash on a yearly basis, but you’ll also have a bottomless pitcher of Thai tea. This huge party pitcher will allow you to savor, sip and share with friends. This Thai iced tea recipe is so easy. Pretty much every YouTube video you see uses the same brand and shows the same steps. As far as the creamy layer goes, many people use different ingredients such as half and half or whole milk. Other options include coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk and even low-fat milk. Choose your creamy poison.
How to make Restaurant Thai Iced Tea at Home
The only difference in our Thai tea recipe when compared to most restaurant versions is that we’re using a little less sugar. But really, once you get the basics down on making Thai iced tea you can customize the flavors and concentration the way you like. It’s one of those recipes that is great no matter how you make it because it’s just so decadent and satisfying.
One of the key factors in making it like the restaurants is using authentic Thai tea mixes. These Thai tea mixes are normally dyed with yellow food coloring (look on the package) and that’s what gives it it’s bright orange color. Also, Thai tea has a vanilla aroma to it. So if you want to have the brilliant orange color and flavors like most of the Thai restaurants, then this is one of the brands of thai tea to buy : Pantai.
There’s probably other brands of Thai tea mixes to buy, but this is the one we first tried it with and it was a success. Some readers enjoyed using this brand of thai tea mix called ” The Original Thai Iced Tea Mix”.
Here’s a tea filter that can also be helpful as well. We usually make large batches, so we just simmer the tea leaves in the hot water.
How to Make All-Natural or Organic Thai Iced Tea
Using organic black tea bags instead of the Thai tea mix: We also tested another version with pekong black tea bags and the flavor was still great. Only thing missing was the brilliant orange color and the subtle hint of sweet vanilla. If you want an all Natural Thai tea blend, here’s one we’ve found.
Either way, find your way into the kitchen to make yourself a batch of this restaurant style thai iced tea that’s homemade. Make yourself a big batch asap. We’re not joking. Make this now and let us know what you think. And remember, make it your own and play with the different levels of sweetness and creaminess.
Thanks Auntie Chung for the homemade Thai iced tea inspiration.
-diane
Our Favorite Thai Tea Ingredients:
From Thai Tea to Chai to a super delicious French Black Tea (Mariage Frères Thé à l’opéra Tea) – here’s some of the favorites:
Pantai Thai Tea Mix –This is the mix we commonly find in Asian store around us. Just like the restaurants.
Number One The Original Thai Tea –Another Thai tea mix which many of our readers have suggested. Number One!
Bombay Chai –We love a good chai. Steep a bag of this goodness, add some steam or warmed milk and you’ll be in Chai heaven.
Mariage Frères Thé à l’opéra Tea –Our absolute house favorite black tea. We found this French tea years ago at Dean & Deluca and have been hooked since.
How to Make Easy Thai Iced Tea Photos:
Fill the glass to about 3/4 of Thai tea mix
add half & half, it makes it creamy good. give a stir.
drink up lots of it and make more.
Update! Here’s a Vietnamese Iced Coffee Recipe for all you iced coffee fans!
Love Boba Milk Tea? Here’s our popular homemade boba milk tea recipe here.
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It’s easy to make your next meal focused around vegetables and our cookbook also has healthy chicken, seafood and pork dishes as well.
For more info about the book visit our Bountiful Cookbook page. and check out our healthy recipe site.
Thai Iced Tea Recipe
Ingredients
option #1 - thai tea mix ingredients:
- 1 cup (80 g) Pantai Thai Tea Mix
- 4 cups (960 ml) water
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) half and half (approximately), (some folks also use coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk)
- ice
option #2 - using organic tea bags ingredients:
- 4 cups (960 ml) water
- 4 (4 ) organic black tea bags
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 (2 ) anise stars
- 1 (1 ) green cardamom pod , smashed
- 2 (2 ) whole cloves
- 1 cup (240 ml) half and half (approximately), (some folks also use coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk)
- ice
Instructions
option #1 - thai tea mix directions:
- Bring water to boil and add the thai tea mix. Add sugar and gently stir to completely dissolve sugar. Gently boil tea for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Allow tea to steep for at least 30 minutes and allow it to cool. The more concentrated the tea flavor, the better the Thai tea tastes.
- If you are using the Thai tea mix, strain the tea leaves. Set finished Thai tea aside to cool.
- You can make this ahead of time and have the Thai tea chilling in the fridge. We usually like to make this tea mix one day ahead.
- Fill glasses with ice and pour in Thai tea leaving enough room to fill in your half and half (or other creamer). For an 8 oz. glass we like to add about 2-3 tablespoons of half and half for a creamier flavor.
option #2 - using organic tea bags directions:
- Bring water to boil and add the tea bags, sugar, anise stars, cardamom pod and cloves. Stir until all the sugar disolves. Gently boil tea for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Allow tea to steep for at least 30 minutes and allow it to cool. The more concentrated the tea flavor, the better the Thai tea tastes. We prefer to allow the tea bags to seep for about 2 hours for maximum flavor. During this time, the thai tea can cool.
- Remove the tea bags and spoon out the anise starts, cardamom pod and cloves. If tea is still warm, we will refrigerate it so it can be chilled.
- You can make this ahead of time and have the organic Thai tea chilling in the fridge.
- Fill glasses with ice and pour in organic Thai tea leaving enough room to fill in your half and half (or other creamer). For an 8 oz. glass we like to add about 2-3 tablespoons of half and half for a creamier flavor.
Video
It was my first time ever making Thai Iced tea. I tried Option 2 with loose leaf Irish tea (Barry’s) and reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup, but otherwise followed the directions. It is delicious – though I might reduce the sugar even a little more next time. I am very excited that it turned out so well and I intend to always have a batch in the fridge.
I just found the tea mix, so I’m looking forward to making this myself. I wanted to suggest using vanilla infused sugar to get that hint of vanilla you were missing.
AMAZING. Love thai iced tea, and this is an amazing recipe!!! Just made it for the first time today and will be making it again 🙂 thank you!!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Is there a way to make this decaf?
Hi Nicole! Not sure about decaf but we’ll research and see what we can come up with and let you know!
I love love love this Thai iced tea recipe! I’m a huge fan of the drink and always order it when I go to Thai restaurants or to get bubble tea, and this recipe really gets the job done! I used Option #2, and the only difference I might try next time is adding less sugar, as it was a little too sweet for my tastes. But I wanted to know, if I wanted to make the color an orange hue similar to in the restaurants, could I add yellow and/or red food coloring to the mix? Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Christian, sure you can use a drop or two of food coloring. There’s some really great all natural food colorings out there.
I made mine a bit differently. Found number one Thai tea at a local store for about $5. I used 1 cup of tea mix which brewed 2 pots and used 11/4 cup of sugar which I added and dissolved while it was still hot followed by 3/4 can of condensed milk. A bit too sweet for my liking so I will probably use unsweetened milk or cut the sugar to only half a cup for 2 pots of tea. Just my personal preference. Now I have 2 pitchers made ready in the fridge. All I’m missing is the boba
so you mixed the sweetened condensed milk in ahead of time. I was thinking of doing it this way and skipping the extra sugar all together.
Hi could I use almond/skim milk instead of half and half? Would it be not as good?
It will be a little lighter, less rich. The almond milk will definitely give it a different flavor. Everyone’s taste varies, and if that is what you are used to drinking, you make like it even better.
Can I make a second batch with option 1 leaves? I didn’t know if anyone had tried and if it was that much weaker or not.
Hi Jennifer! We’ve tried it before and it’s definitely not as concentrated in flavor. But if you use half the water, you should be able to have a smaller second batch, but still quite flavorful.
I found this recipe a few years ago and it’s been a summer staple in or house ever since. We love getting Thai tea at our favourite restaurant, but we eat out very rarely, and realised we could make this at home too. I use option 1 with the premade mix. However, because we do all love it so much I will at some point soon give option 2 a try. My son has recently started liking it so I’ll be happy to try a version that doesn’t have the food dyes in it. And all the ingredients are in my kitchen already anyways!
I’ve been eyeballing this recipe forever and finally made it. Just curios does the end amount come out less than 4 cups? After I strained the water and tea leaves (option 1) I ended up with almost 3 cups. I’m just curious if that’s normal.
Hi Judy, glad you enjoyed the recipe. Yes, that can be normal depending on how long it boils and how much you let it strain. Thank you!
This recipe is EXCELLENT! The ratio of sugar to tea for me is PERFECT! I add barista blend califia farms almond milk and it’s superb! I always hate to order it at the restaurants because of how high the sugar content is. Thanks again for this recipe! ?
I absolutely love this recipe as I’ve been making it for years!! Thank you!!
Thanks Belle and that’s awesome you’ve been enjoying this recipe for that long. We shared it a long time ago and definitely have many readers love it.
I love love love Thai tea. Thank you for this easy to follow recipe! The first time I made it exactly as the recipe instructs and it was really good. However, after that I’ve added a 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1/2tsp almond flavoring, and 1 tsp vanilla flavoring to the tea and steep everything for 2hrs and it is so amazing! I literally make it every week!
Love the additions you did. So glad you live the Thai tea. We just made a new batch too!
Yes, I made this recipe w/Thai ice tea bags (option #2) and give it 5 stars. I followed the recipe to the drop and it came out perfectly. I make it every 2-3 days because you never know when company will drop in. The taste is soooo good and addicting too.
The downside is the cost of the spices. I paid about $16 for the spices (regular sizes). This does not include the Thai ice tea bags, sugar or half & half. I tell myself it’s worth it though. Mmmmmmmm
This tea is delicious! I made it from scratch (option 2). I made a few adjustments to the recipe and it came out incredible! I used decaffeinated black tea, since I wanted to be able to drink it any time of day without having any negative caffeine affects. I also could not find any cardamom pods at the grocery store, so I substituted an equal dash (literally I shook the container once into the pot) of both nutmeg and cinnamon. And to get the hit of vanilla flavor that the traditional Thai tea pre-made package has, I added 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the pot. I brewed it all together for 2 hours and all of the flavors came out so nicely! I’ve since made it two more times. The second time I wanted to be sure to have extra for the following day, so I doubled the recipe (also making sure to include the adjusted spices and vanilla extract aforementioned). Incredible! I’m glad I came along this– excellent recipe!
The Mariage Frères tea you have referenced is a green tea not a black tea. Thé à l’opéra, specifically, is one of their green blends. Are you able to check which of their teas was the black that you all like? They have many black teas, but I was wondering if it is the Black Orchid blend? Anyway, if you could check that again and let me know the correct name I would greatly appreciate it!
The weather is getting warmer and I was finally able to make this! It was so good!
My favorite beverage! So glad I can make this at home!
Thank you for this!!! I bought some mix off of Amazon (Thai Number One) and the instructions on the back of the package are…lacking. I tried a couple of other posted recipes before stumbling across this one. This is the best by far and made a glass of tea equal to the one I get at my local favorite Thai restaurant.
I really want to try the non-mix method but first I need to drink my way through two bags of mix. Not the most awful problem to have, I suppose.
Came across your page while searching for Thai Milk tea recipes. I wanted to try and get my son the stuff to make the tea at home. Partly to save money and partly to add more experiences with him and I together. Used your recommendation of the Pantai and followed the recipe to the letter. Wow! It is a massive hit. Better than the restaurants we have tried and we can have it whenever we want. Also ordered him 3 different popping bobas to add as he wants. Thank you for sharing this with everyone.
Earnest regards,
John Jansson
Great site, photos and recipes! I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned it, but a friend and owner of a Thai restaurant in California told me many years ago to finish it with heavy whipping cream. Been making it that way ever since. Decadent – very. Healthy – not so much. Fattening – most definitely.
I followed the recipe and had wonderful results. I enjoyed two glasses of Thai tea with half & half milk today. It’s great to make it at home…it tastes great and is less expensive than buying Thai tea at a restaurant.
I found the Pantai mix at 99 Ranch Market, but could not find the tea filter there. I’ll order the tea filter that was recommended in this article from Amazon.
Thanks for sharing this with the world.
Thank you so much for this recipe. It was delicious.
I go refer back to this EVERY TIME! Thanks for the recipe! Have you had any luck with the Thai green tea?? I
Not yet, but thanks for the reminder!
I made this tea the other day and was very pleased on how it turned out. The only thing is, is that it too strong for my tasting. Is there a way to make a bigger batch without being to strong tasting? Thanks! Definitely making this again with my niece and nephew.
My kids love this recipe! I’m trying to make this for their basketball team ? Can I reuse the Phanthai tea mix? And if so, how many times?
Yes, you can re-use the mix, but it won’t be as concentrated and flavorful. Maybe one additional use is what you can do without compromising the flavor.
heavenly! thank you for the recipe!
I can’t WAIT to try this! The photos are tantalizing!
One of my all-time favorites and who knew it was so easy to make at home!
I made this for a event this weekend, everyone loved it!!! Thanks so much!!! I was wondering, how long does this stay if refrigerated? I do have some left over and would like to keep enjoying it!!
Can you use canned coconut milk for this or should it be something like chilled Silk coconut milk?
I love Thai iced tea! In fact me and a friend threw a party yesterday and Thai tea was one of the beverages served and it was a hit, and ran out halfway through the party. I think it was more popular than the alcohol! But I wonder, is it meant to be drunk with the milk mixed in or separate?. I always mix it in, but my friend insisted that it was meant to be drunk non-mixed. I feel it is probably to personal taste and preference.
definitely supposed to be mixed, you’d get too much sweet tea and then a punch of cream, so it’s best when they’re combined 🙂
Hello,
I am looking into using your recipe to make a bulk batch for a summer camp activity. 🙂 How many oz. are in one serving?
Hi Taylor,
Generally each serving is about 6 oz, after you strain the tea but with the added ice, it should fill about a 10 oz glass. The tea it pretty rich, so you can serve smaller portions if you like!
I’m drinking some now. Best home recipe I have ever tasted. I took a Thai cooking class and the instructor’s recipe was not nearly as good as this one is. I used whole milk, so it’s not as creamy, but still delicious!
Wow that’s awesome to know! thanks for enjoying the recipe!
This is my go-to recipe! Thanks for opening up this wonderful world for me lol – I live like a block away from a Thai restaurant but i’ll make my own Thai iced tea at home!
That’s so great that this is your go-to thai iced tea recipe. So glad you tried something new and homemade.
I’ll be trying this for sure. I had some delicious Thai iced tea for the first time at a new (to me) Asian restaurant for lunch today (they also had Chinese, Laotian menu options). Nice to know it’s so easy to make at home because it was $3.95 for a glass! It was delicious though and worth it, just nice to know it doesn’t have to be an only once in a while thing. I’m off to check out the Vietnamese coffee next.
Glad you’re experimenting with making it all homemade. Enjoy!
I used the manual method (no mix) a couple weeks ago, and loved it! But to compare, I purchased the mix you recommended. The mix was good, but it didn’t seem to have the more “complex” flavors the manual method had. It lacked the star anise flavor, but added a nice vanilla flavor. I’m tempted to add an anise star into the mix and try again. Thanks for the recipe. I’m bookmarking it!
Thank you so much for the recipe. I got hooked up on this iced tea when I was visiting the States and where I come from Thai restaurants are very rare to find not to mention this iced tea. I followed this recipe and the tea was identical to the one i had in the states!!! I had my doubts about cardamom and cloves in the tea especially that I don’t like them very much, but it all turned out to be AMAZING! thank you!!!!
Wow! Just made this tea to go with Panang Curry, and it was fantastic! I made it from the tea bags and the star anise, cloves, and cardamom pod. The flavor was amazing.
Wow that curry paired with the homemade thai tea sounds great. Thanks for sharing!
I did not read all the comments so I don’t know if someone else has noted this. Arbor teas has an organic fair trade Thai tea mix with no additives or dyes. I recently was able to get some vegetable food coloring at Whole foods for a cake, if the color is important to anyone, that’s a good alternative. I haven’t ordered the tea yet, but I will soon. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for the recipe! I followed the instructions using black tea bags (PG Tips), the spices and sugar, and at the end of the steeping it was very dark but transparent. I put it in the refrigerator overnight, and when I took it out the next morning, it was opaque, an orangey milky color. I added condensed milk, ice and tasted it, and it was wonderful. But I was left wondering why it had turned opaque with the cold. Any ideas? Thanks!
Hello Cecilia,
Don’t worry about the cloudiness, it won’t change the taste and it is nothing harmful. Actually, it’s just the tannins of the tea which seperate when chilled too fast. You may try to let it cool by itself at room temp, before chilling it. It should be fine.
Enjoy !
This recipe was yummy and perfect, I will be making it at home from now on. I found the same mix at my local Asian market for only 3.99… that’s about what I usually pay for one cup of Thai tea in the restaurant. I usually get it as an after dinner or lunch treat, guess I can wait until I get home from now on! Thanks so much for posting this! I might have to go back and buy tapioca pearls too????
Is the cardamom necessary?
Can you use the tea leaves more than once?
Amazon.com no longer sells an organic Thai tea. I did find one at Arbor Teas. It is loose tea with spices.
I ordered some. I will let you know how it is when I receive it and try it.
Our Thai foreign exchange student taught us, using the tea in this recipe. 3 cups of water to a 1/2 cup tea. The key to making the “white” stay on top is: add sugar while tea is warm, stir add ice, stir. The tea needs to be ice cold at this pont. THEN add room temp condensed milk first, it will create a “shelf” for the evaporated milk, which is next.
Do you realize how much I LOVE that you are using a beaker to pour your milk?!? xoxo
I just came across your Thai Tea photo on Pinterest, and I had to come over and check out the recipe. I would totally make this with condensed milk – I’ll take any excuse to eat that stuff 🙂 PS. Your photos are beautiful, I really need to pick up your book!
So I’m actually sitting here boiling water about to dump this tea in, and I happened to look at ingredients on this Panthai mix.. “Green tea” and dyes. That’s it? I thought it was supposed to be Ceylon tea? We’ll see! I may have to experiment with other brands.
I bought the tea and followed the recipe line for line. The tea flavor was a bit stronger than what I’m used to (I’m assuming it’s because it’s better for stores to water it down or something!) so what I did that made it tastes exactly like a restaurant bought thai iced tea was add a tiny bit of water (maybe 1-2 fl. oz.) with about a teaspoon or two of sugar to the already chilled tea. Because the tea had already chilled, I used boiling water to allow the sugar to dissolve. Next time when I’m making the drink I’ll add more sugar so that when I’m pouring the tea I’ll just have to add some water to water it down a tiny bit (if that makes sense!). This tastes amazing.
I have to say when I made this with black tea bags it was fantastic. I’ve had Thai tea in restaurants and I love it. But when I tryed using the pantia tea mix It didn’t taste right. It didn’t taste sweet and had this weird flavor. I think I’m doing something wrong but I’m not sure. I’ve done it twice. Any suggestions.
This recipe is amazing! Definitely my go-to and the best part is I get as much drinks as I want without having to spend a fortune at restaurants or bubble tea shops. I had one of the worst thai teas last night at a ramen restaurant so it only makes sense I put theirs to shame and make a bunch of my own. Thanks so much!!
Thank you for introducing me to Thai iced tea!
I have played a bit with your recipe and made some tweaks to make it lemony Thai iced tea using a very English tea, because that’s what I had. It’s delicious!!!
I linked to your blog in my blog post as well! 🙂
Thank you for posting this recipe! I went immediately to Amazon and purchased it. But I have one question, if you don’t gently boil and accidentally boil too much is there a way to burn the tea and it tastes bad? Thanks!
Hi Sem, we’re not sure about the taste if you burned the tea. If it does boil too much then maybe you might get a bitter taste? If so, add a little more sugar or cream!
I make this tea all the time and I have noticed that it can have a little bit of a bitter taste. I use a coffee pot to make mine, about 3 heaping tablespoons makes about 5 cups of tea, then I add about 1/2 cup of sugar and sweetened condensed milk to taste, about 2 oz usually. I’ve found that if you add a little extra water to the finished tea it helps cut the bitter taste, or you can add more sugar. Totally personal preference.
The Republic of Tea just came out with a Thai Iced Tea that is in Cost Plus World Market. It has no artificial ingredients or artificial colors. It comes in large pouches so you can steep a quart of iced tea at once.
Thank you so much for this post. Have tried at home with different jasmine teas unsuccessfully. Didn’t know it was a mix. I know what I am doing today 🙂
Can anyone tell me if the taste is extremely different if you use black tea or pantai tea?
Can you use fat free half and half?
I don’t drink black or green tea, so I’m wondering what sort of herbal approximation I can reach. Perhaps a mate-rooibos blend steeped for a while with some vanilla extract? What do you think?
Late but I use Numi Roobios bags- its spot on.for the flavor, but weak
Where do I buy the Thai tea at ?
Found this brand today. Came home added truvia instead of sugar. Half and half. Yum yum. This is definitely what I have been tasting at the restaurants. Thanks for the recipe. If I hadn’t read this first, I wouldn’t have known when I found it that I struck gold.
I loved it. Beats paying $4.00. No Thai place where I live, I had missed it alot. Didn’t know it was soooo easy. Someone gave me Thai tea mix and I didn’t know how to make it… the sock to drain it makes it so simple. My favorite drink now. Thank you soooo much!!!!
I never thought that it’d be this simple to make thai ice tea! I’m going to have to try it! Thanks for sharing!
WOOHOOOOOOOO!!! Thanks so much for the recipe! Went to the Asian store and found the Pantai with no problem!! I made it as soon as I got home. At first I thought the ratio of tea to water was way off. Although it was quite dark and strong for my husband’s taste, I thought it was perfect!! I like my coffee and tea strong anyway, but the appearance was a lot stronger than the taste. I’ve seen other recipes that called for 1 tablespoon per cup but I think that would be way to weak. Instead of regular sugar, I used Splenda. I used half & half and it tasted exactly like the one I get from my favorite Thai restaurant. Next time I will experiment on evaporated milk…what is your preference as far as the cream goes?
I tried the Thai tea in Phoenix, after my way back from Washingron DC., boy o boy the best drink ever
I will try to to buy the Thai Te local and I will make it at home. 🙂
Also, throw it in the blender with ice for an amazingly delicious Cha Yin (Cold Tea) Smoothie! I’m fairly certain this is authentic since the only place I can get to make blended Cha Yin for me is in Thailand. None the Thai restaurants in the States do it. ^_^
I cant wait to try this! But I’m wondering, out of all the “cream” or “milk” variations, which one is THE BEST to use to get that restaurant taste? I want to know exactly what to get when I go shopping for ingredients! Thank you! =)
Hi Alannah,
Half and half is probably more like the restaurant taste that we’ve personally experienced, but it definitely is richer than milk. We have tried it with regular milk too and it’s still delicious, just lighter.
Enjoy!
I was told to use Half & Half by the owner of a Thai restaurant. That’s what they used to make it.
Every recipe of your’s has been delicious. Thank you for helping me on my journey.
That “doh”/”ah-ha” moment? I call it a “D-aha moment”.
Steeping tea for that length of time will build up the tannins in tea. An alternative method is to use black tea, but double the amount of tea bags. Steep for 5 minutes. Add the sugar, and a few drops of vanilla extract. I’ve also used almond extract for very good flavor too. Less sugar if you’re using sweetened condensed milk. I’ve found it best with half sweetened condensed milk and half coconut milk. You get a smooth rich texture with a hint of coconut.
I steeped mine for about an hour when I went to the store to pick up things I needed for green papaya salad and larb and then another hour when I prepared same. The tea turned out great: no bitterness or other issues associated with too much tannin.
I didn’t use any sugar when I added sweetened condensed.
So excited to try for breakfast! Thanks alot 🙂
Just made this. Used the tea that was linked, followed the recipe here except I reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup (I’m not a fan of sweet tea and there’s diabetics around me ), and used condensed milk because I had a can handy and only other thing that was handy was some skim milk. Was still rather sweet (for my tastes), but I think that was mostly because of the condensed milk. I’ll be re-trying this later with either cream or half-and-half, whichever will have more use around the house. Other than that, really liked it.
I agree this tea is still amazing with far less sugar but I increase the other flavors drastically to balance for the lack of sugar. I put 3 tablespoons of sugar, 12 cardamom pods, and 6 cloves, plus a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a bag of green tea. I also use unsweetened coconut cream because it doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors.
Looking forward to giving this a try. Jotted your fab recipe down with my own notes so my Thai-food-loving friends and I can pamper our palates at home, too. Thank you!
I wonder… if horchata would work for the creaminess part…. the spices in that with the spices of Thai tea seems to me would be a great combination.
Horchata is made with rice milk so it wouldn’t be as creamy as thai tea is, even compared to coconut milk. Also horchata has a lot of sediment, which i don’t think would go well with that beautiful separation you have before the milk is mixed in thai iced tea. Otherwise the flavors would probably work ok. Try it!
The same day I read your post (three days ago) I ordered the tea from Amazon. It arrived today and it’s steeping as I type this comment. I’ve only had Thai Iced Tea once but I LOVED it and seeing your post reminded me how much. I was thrilled to find out I could make it at home. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hello! I’ve never tried this kind of beverage but I like to experiment (professional deformation, like we say at my home) so I’ve decided to add a little bit of Bourbon vanilla extract and a quarter of a teaspoon of powdered saffron, for a more distinct taste, to my black tea. Finished with coconut milk it was pretty amazing, I have to say.
How did you drain the tea? I’ve seen a few videos that use cloth sieves but I wouldn’t have the slightest clue in how to wash that or if it’s even necassary.
Just with a fine mesh strainer. You don’t have to if you don’t mind the leaves. Some cultures don’t strain tea leaves out of their tea.
I was actually thinking of buying a big French press and doing batches…
I made a mess when my sieve (which was really my flour sifter), which was way bigger than the glass, leaked tea all over the counter!
Works great in a french press. Certainly less messy!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve looked all over for a Thai tea recipe that tasted like what you get in restaurants. I’ve bought vanilla beans, tried every “milk” variation, and so on–but your recipe has been the best. Thank you so much!
Just made this…exactly as instructed…and it was deliciously yummy! I was struggling with the instructions on the package. It didnt indicate a brew time which you did and this was the perfect amount of sugar.
amazing recipe!! Thanks!
Hi, nice website and beautiful pictures!
Just wondering about the amount of thai tea mix to water ratio, 1 cup to 4 cups of water seems very concentrated. With the addition of steeping for 30 min.s, I would imagine the taste would be very strong. Is the ratio correct?
That is what the instructions were for the brand of tea we bought. Each brand may vary, but it was quite delicious. I think it needs to be a bit concentrated to stand up the other ingredients.
This was brilliant! I have used the “Thai Tea mix” but didn’t have it on hand. Made it using Black Tea… Of course I chose the one day I had no milk, half and half or anything I could use. So I thought… I opted for International Delight French Vanilla Creamer (Diluted with water or else it would have been too sweet for me.) Great Taste! Had the light vanilla flavor that was missing since I didn’t have the Thai Tea Mix! 🙂 Love you site!!!
Forgot to mention that I followed this recipe exactly and the result was amazing. So delicious and probably better than restaurants and Tapioca Express since there is so much love in it. Need to start saving milk jugs and add Thai Tea!
I have been making this recipe for almost a week straight now. It is incredible how easy it is to make! I live in San Jose and found a Vietnamese market in downtown and found the exact Thai Tea Mix from this recipe. I will be making a trip to stock up on more mix in a couple hours. Definitely looking forward to saving so much money! Thanks so much for this recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello! I write a weekly post on my blog called the Weekend Wrap-Up, where I share some of my favorite web finds from the past week. I thought the pictures of this Thai iced tea were so stunning, I featured them on this week’s post! I wanted to thank you for such a beautiful recipe and have included the link to the wrap-up in case you’re interested. Enjoy your weekend!
I actually got the tea mix and I’m just about to make it. Question though. The bag only says to add 2-3t of sugar per serving. At most that’s only about 1/4c of sugar for the 4 serving recipe above. You mention 3/4c is cutting back on their recipe. I’m confused. 🙂
I’d go with what you package says. We were basing our comments and recipe in regards to what the bag we bought had instructed.
I had glanced over this and forgot about it. Yet knew I was going to try green papaya salad and thought Thai iced tea would be perfect. So I headed to the Asian market down the hill – and found the same exact tea! (It was actually the only Thai iced tea they carried. None of that instant powder stuff, either!)
Anyway, if you use sweetened condensed (which I put on the bottom instead of on top!), you won’t need any sugar whatsoever.
mmmm now i’m craving Thai food and iced tea. I can visualize dinner tonight already. Score!
Oh, this looks so good!
Wow, now I can make my own Thai iced tea… awesome! Thanks!
I love Thai tea. will have to try making it!
You’ve inspired me, again!! Totally headed to my asian market to begin my quest 🙂 Thank you!!
When I clicked on the link for the Thai tea you recommended…it says that the ingredients are just green tea and food dyes. Would it taste the same with regular green tea? Looks amazing, but I don’t want the color to be added dyes. Still tempted, though.
Kate- you can certainly make it with regular green tea. Essentially it would be a green milk tea, which is also very popular at many tea and boba shops. Enjoy!
Love Thai ice tea! Yours is gorgeous…interested to try it with the coconut milk!
How do you make just regular hot plain Thai tea?
“Cha yen” is Tea with Milk; “Cha dum yen” is tea without milk, just skip the milk!
In Thai cha is tea, yen is cold, dum is black (I live in Thailand; my Thai gets that far). Thais almost never drink sweetened plain black tea without milk, or American iced tea; they either drink this orange “Thai tea” spiced version, or cold tea with sugar and condensed milk, or sweetened tea with lemon (a lot of lemon, like an Arnold Palmer), with “bubble tea” a different thing, that broad range of flavored powdered teas.
It’s kind of an obvious suggestion but it’s possible to use loose black tea instead of tea bags. To some it might not matter but even inexpensive grades of tea are much better loose than tea bag tea, which is almost always half dust, which brews fast but is more bitter (which the milk and sugar does offset). The original version was Thai variety Assamica based black teas, the same used in Assam or Ceylon (Indian and Sri Lankan teas), and those would be about the same. The more the tea is based on whole looking leaves the less bitter it will brew, although it’s really more complicated than that.
Mmmmm! Must try! Can you please tell me the name of the Thai restaurant that you visited in Chicago so I can go there too? Thanks!
Jamie- we ate at Opart Thai House. The food was very good, but the service was terrible. It’s definitely worth the visit if you’re hungry. And patient.
This is just beautiful. I always wondered what gave it that gorgeous orange glow. Now I know. Thanks 🙂
This is the one I bought…..cheap on Amazon.com…..delicious
those photos are gorgeous!
Beautiful photography (as usual)
http://polaroidsandpuds.blogspot.co.uk/
This was a great post, couple. I love Thai tea but knowing how it satisfies both my sugar and fat tastes, I always felt it was one of those decadent treats better left unknown. Now I know and I’m glad I do. It wasn’t that scary after all especially with the consideration of altering the sugar and dairy but if one is going to do it, I say go for the gusto and the half and half. Beautiful images, as always.
I believe I might have to make a change. Iced coffee for iced tea, please!
Ooooooh, Thai Iced tea is really good stuff! I definitely have to try this. funny, just yesterday my brother was talking about making Thai Iced tea at home. Thanks!
Thai Tea is one of my faaaaavorites. It’s the perfect counter to a fiery Thai curry 🙂
Are there any health issues re: the yellow dye in the prepackaged Thai iced tea mix? It is available very cheaply at a local Asian market, but I remembered the ruckus about red food dye and wondered.
Susan- If there is a concern, then you can make it with the black tea bags. The recipe has both options.
you can also make it sweeter and vegan by using coconut cream in place of sweetened condensed milk
Thai tea is my absolute favorite, especially with bobba
Have always wanted to make at home. you make it seem simple.
Your auntie’s comment just reminded me about my high school days during international food booths fundraising. My mom made a large pot of Thai tea brew that filled one gallon after another. Me and my brother brought the many gallons of Thai iced tea (sugar and creamy part already mixed in) to contribute to our booth (we’re Thai by the way). The tea was a popular item and helped raised a lot of money. And it didn’t cost very much money or time to make!
I remember it! I loved it and need to make it at home. I pinn it so I won’t loose your recipe.
This is gorgeous! There was a Thai ice tea I saw on either Saveur or Bon Appetit’s website and pinned it last week. Yours is of course prettier than theirs! But now, I am craving making this again. And need to. Pinning this to keep reminding myself 🙂
I totally forget about Thai iced tea, too! I’ve made it before (it was guest posted on my blog a while ago) and loved it, but I’d forgotten how amazing it is! Thanks for the reminder. 😉
Ahh, my husband LOVES Thai iced tea! Will have to try this soon!
Love this!! totally giving this a try!
Yeah, tea looking like coca cola, i making that now. Of course ICE is must have to doing that correctly.