Thai Tea Recipe {Make this Now}
Easy Thai tea recipe tips are below. Also, we’ve updated this Thai iced tea recipe with an organic tea bag option and with coconut milk!
Thai Tea in Restaurants
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. 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.
Save Money by Making Thai Tea at Home
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 Easy Thai Iced Tea. Photos in Recipe Box Below:
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: Cha Thai Tea Mix.
There’s other brands of Thai tea mixes to buy, some we’ve loved, and others seemed a bit flat. Because they are imported, and it seems like everyone is having supply issues, sometimes we have to switch between what’s available. We’ve tried as many as we can get our hands on to find you the best Thai tea mixes to buy, Here’s another great one we love: Cha Tra Mue Brand (Number One) Thai Tea Mix.
Best Cloth Tea Filter
Here’s a re-usable cloth 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
What if Thai Tea is too Bitter?
Sometimes the thai tea mixture can be too bitter for some peoples taste. Everyone has a different level of taste sensitivity and thus, the astringency of the tea can be overwhelming. So how to make thai tea less bitter? It’s easy. Here’s a few suggestions:
- Perhaps you over-steeped it. This means that the leaves were soaking in the hot water for too long. We suggest steeping the leaves for about 30 minutes but not longer than 1 hour. Most of our readers have had lots of success with this recipe and timing!
- If you’ve already made the mix, then add a little more water to the mix until it tastes more balanced.
- Or if you’re going to brew the mixture, use about 30% of the tea leaves.
- You can add a little more of the half/half or cream to soften the astringency. You’ll have a creamier thai tea drink, but that’s still quite delicious.
- Add more ice to water down the drink.
Best Mixes & Tools
Number One Tea Mix. This is the mix we commonly find in Asian store around us. It is another delicious option.
Cha Thai Tea Mix. This is our current go-to Thai iced tea mix. Make you Thai tea just like the restaurants!
Reuse-able Cloth Filter. Go traditional with this Thai Tea Filter. Get a second one for coffee too!
Other Tea Favorites
We love a good chai. Steep a bag of this goodness, add some steam or warmed milk and you’ll be in Chai heaven.
Our absolute house favorite black tea. We found this French tea years ago at Dean & Deluca and have been hooked since.
Another Thai tea mix. These are individual bags. Quick & Simple.
Thai Iced Tea Recipe
Ingredients
option #1 – thai tea mix ingredients:
- 1 cup (80 g) Thai Tea Mix
- 4 cups (960 ml) water
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (180 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 organic black tea bags
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 anise stars
- 1 green cardamom pod , smashed
- 2 whole cloves
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) half and half (approximately), (some folks also use coconut milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk)
- ice
Equipment
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 (we love using these reusable cloth filters). 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, star anise, cardamom pod and cloves. Stir until all the sugar dissolves. 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 star anise, cardamom pod and cloves (or strain to remove). 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
Nutrition Information per Serving
Update! Here’s a Vietnamese Iced Coffee Recipe for all you iced coffee fans!
How to Make Sugar Free Thai Iced Tea Keto?
If you’re on a sugar free or keto friendly diet, you can still enjoy thai tea without all the sugar. By using sugar substitutes you can still have a delicious batch of this drink without sacrificing flavor. Here’s a recipe that we have for sugar free thai tea at best recipe box.
More Easy Recipes:
- Love Boba Milk Tea? Here’s our popular homemade boba milk tea recipe here.
- Pistachio Olive Oil Mini Tea Cakes
- Low Carb Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai
- Sour Cream Dried Onion Dip
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!