Thai Iced Tea Recipe

Thai iced tea or Cha yen, known around the world to be the “orange tea,” is a tea-based beverage that originated in Thailand but is popular throughout Southeast Asia, where it is served both in typical restaurants and sold as street food from kiosks along Thai streets to sip to refresh and refresh while walking around. Like many tea-based recipes, there are several variations, but the original is made using Indian black tea and evaporated milk, which makes the drink particularly mouthwatering and thick, a real ‘dessert drink.’ In this article I want to share my recipe for a perfect Thai iced tea to make at home, to prepare for the arrival of summer.

What is Thai Iced Tea?

Thai iced tea (ชาดำเย็น or Cha dan yen) is one of the most popular items in Thai cuisine restaurants, and perhaps many people will know it for its typical appearance and bright orange color, due to the blending of the brown of black tea and the cream color of milk.

Thai tea is a native beverage originating in Thailand, whose basic ingredients are tea, milk and sugar. In fact it is a tea, usually a black Indian tea, highly concentrated and sweetened, to which spices may also be added, served with added ice and milk in different variations, from coconut milk, to evaporated milk, to condensed milk, making it a creamy and sweet tea. The basic version is not the iced thai tea, as it is served both hot (Cha rorn) and cold, but it is the cold version, called Cha yen or precisely Thai iced tea that has depopulated and is served almost like a dessert in Thai cuisine restaurants and throughout Southeast Asia, as it is a sweet and mouthwatering yet refreshing drink that is great for summer. It comes in different variations, using different types of milk and adding a variety of ingredients, from tea-infused spices to mint to lime.

Commercially, as is often the case, you are sure to find ready-made mixes that you simply mix with water, but actually making Thai iced tea at home is super easy, requiring very few ingredients. Let’s see together how to make it.

Thai Iced Tea: Recipe

Below is the traditional recipe for Thai iced tea, as it is served in restaurants and on the streets of Thailand. The basis of the recipe, and its strong orange color, is the preparation of a very concentrated spiced tea. To make it, all you need to do is maintain the amounts of water you use for your usual cup of tea and double the amount of loose tea leaves, letting them steep for a few minutes longer than usual. You can experiment with another iced tea recipe by making bubble tea.

Ingredients

• 4 grams of Milky Chai Black Tea
• 150 ml of water
• 50 ml Condensed Milk
• Ice
• Agave Syrup

Preparation

Steep Milky Chai black tea in 95°C water for 5 minutes. As an alternative to Milky Chai, prepare a Chai Tea by combining your favorite black tea (such as an Assam Tea or Ceylon Tea) with a mixture of spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, tamarind, cloves, and star anise.

Fill a glass with ice, add the tea after straining.

Add the condensed milk. Alternatively, you can use evaporated milk, coconut milk or cream, or a vegetable milk of your choice.

Enjoy your refreshing iced thai tea! If you prefer it sweeter you can add ci agave or maple syrup to taste.

Condensed Milk or Evaporated Milk?

In the proposed recipe, I used condensed milk. You can choose a good quality condensed milk (vegetable ones can also be found on the market) or make it at home from scratch. To do this you will need:

• 200 ml of vanilla soy beverage
• 200 grams of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes, until you get a thick consistency typical of condensed milk.

In Thailand, evaporated milk is also used in this recipe, which is nothing more than condensed milk without added sugar. To make it, you therefore boil the milk until it becomes thick and creamy.You can use this variation if you wish to reduce the prominent sweetness characteristic of Thai iced tea but retain its creaminess.

Thai Iced Tea Recipe with Coconut Milk

As I mentioned there are several variations of the Thai iced tea recipe. The base will always be a very concentrated, spiced black tea, diluted with milk and sweetened in different ways, with a sweet yet bitter taste, refreshing and pleasant for summer days, but the making and ingredients vary. I also offer you a version with coconut milk, for those who follow a vegan diet or are lactose intolerant.

Ingredients

• 4 grams of Vanilla Flower Black Tea
• 150 ml water
• Ice
• 1-2 teaspoons of agave syrup
• 50 ml of Coconut Milk in a can
• Tonka bean to grate

Procedure

Infuse the tea in water at 100°C. The infusion should be 6 to 8 minutes;

Fill a tall glass with ice and add the tea after straining;

Add 50 ml of coconut milk;

Sweeten with agave syrup and grate tonka bean on the surface. Stir thoroughly to emulsify the ingredients;

Your Thai coconut milk iced tea is ready to be enjoyed!

Tips: Which Tea to Use?

We recommend using a very strong tea to make Thai iced tea: an Indian black tea, an English Breakfast or a spicy blend such as Chai, Nepal Masala or Milky Chai. More aromatic black teas can be used, but they must still have a strong concentration and aroma; for example, a vanilla tea lends itself perfectly to the purpose since Thai iced tea is often flavored with vanilla. In the proposed recipe I have used Milky Chai, but if you do not have it you can use your favorite black tea and enrich it with spices to create your own Chai.

Alternatives: Iced Thai Tea with Green Tea

One of the characteristics of iced thai tea is the tea: in fact, a black tea is used, for example Assam tea or Ceylon tea, which is prepared using a larger quantity of leaves and long infusion times, so that it becomes very concentrated, and spicy, using vanilla, cardamom, tamarind and other flavorings that give it a special taste. We wanted to try a version with green tea, very suitable for summer, with a refreshing and herbaceous taste. Here is how to prepare it:

Ingredients

• 4 grams of green chai
• Ice
• 150 ml water
• 50 ml condensed milk
• Agave syrup to taste

Procedure

Prepare a Green Chai infusion by steeping the tea in 150 ml of water at 80°C for 6 to 8 minutes;

Fill a glass with ice and add the tea after straining;

Add condensed milk and if more sweetness is desired, agave syrup.

Properties and Benefits of Thai Iced Tea

Thai iced tea is full of benefits, as it combines the properties of tea, thus antioxidants and energizing with those of coconut, if you choose the version with coconut milk. Black tea is rich in polyphenols and tannins, counteracts free radicals and aging, and is beneficial for cardiovascular health. Its caffeine content also makes it an excellent drink for summer mornings to give the body the right boost to face the day. Coconut, on the other hand, is rich in vitamins, just like tea.

Side Effects

Although this tea is an extremely tasty snack or after-meal treat, it is important not to overdo it: black tea contains a lot of caffeine, so if consumed in excess it could cause side effects such as anxiety, agitation and insomnia. Thai iced tea is also known to be a very sweet drink, so it is important to be careful about the sugar consumption that follows. To prepare a less sugary version, you can substitute evaporated milk or coconut milk for the condensed milk.