Recipe from Leela Punyaratabandhu
Adapted by Alexa Weibel
- Total Time
- 20 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(504)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This homemade Thai iced tea gets its complex flavor from black tea, rooibos tea, star anise and cloves, and its sweetness from condensed milk. Adapted from the cookbook “Bangkok” by Leela Punyaratabandhu, this version is hardly typical: Most Thai iced tea sold on the streets of Bangkok — or in Thai restaurants stateside — contains an immoderate amount of sweetened condensed milk and uses a store-bought mix, which contains food coloring. The tea blend used here is intense on its own, but mellowed by ice and milk. Chill the tea fully before pouring it over ice so its flavors don’t get diluted. —Alexa Weibel
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 4tablespoons loose red rooibos tea leaves (or the contents of 10 rooibos tea bags)
- 3tablespoons loose black tea leaves (or the contents of 7 black tea bags)
- 3tablespoons granulated sugar
- 10star anise pods, broken into pieces or roughly chopped
- 10whole cloves
- ½cup half-and-half
- ½cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1tablespoon vanilla extract
- Ice, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
226 calories; 8 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 32 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 72 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Add 4 cups water to a medium saucepan. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add rooibos tea, black tea, sugar, star anise and cloves; cover and let steep, 10 minutes. Strain tea, pressing on tea leaves and spices to extract as much liquid as possible, then discarding solids. Refrigerate tea until chilled, at least 1 hour.
Step
2
In a measuring glass, stir together the half-and-half, condensed milk and vanilla extract.
Step
3
Fill a pint glass with ice. Add ¾ cup tea mixture and top with about 2½ tablespoons condensed milk mixture. Serve immediately.
Ratings
4
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504
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Cooking Notes
Nancy
How many glasses (8 oz) does this make?
Michelle CA
In lieu of the regular black tea, I strongly suggest Lapsang-Souchong (link below), which is rich and smoky and adds an irreplaceable depth. I also like to add some cardamom pods to the steeping.https://theteaspot.com/lapsang-souchong-black-tea.html
nomis12
If you have 4 cups of water plus 1/2 c H&H and 1/2 cup Cond milk that’s 5 cups or 5 servings. Assuming one actually measures out 8 ozs per serving. For a lot of people I am assuming you can double or triple the ingredients
Kat
This was quite good! Like what I get with take out except now I can have it before noon. I made it without the milk mixture and added the vanilla (1.5 tsp) to the tea after it had chilled, still pretty good.
Vicki
Are you sure you're not thinking of vietnamese coffees? That's usually Cafe du Monde coffee with condensed milk.
Zooey Scott
Easier way: Most Asian/Oriental markets have thai tea ready to buy. You can use the coffee maker to make it. Just use one cup of the tea for a 12 cup pot. Add about 1-1.5 cups of sugar and a little sweetened condensed milk, about four or five tablespoons. Serve it over ice, adding half-and-half and stirring it in. It's as good as what's available in most restaurants.
James Ambrose
All the Thais I know who make this in the US use Cafe du Monde chicory.
Evee
Step 1. Make Thai Iced Tea.Step 2. Go hide in the garden amongst the lemongrass and Thai basil.Step 3. Enjoy a quiet and relaxing moment in the garden while drinking Thai Iced Tea.
Patty
Excited to try this with decaffeinated tea bags! And without built-in sugar so I can reduce it drastically. Fingers crossed!
Elaina
Oh my. Suddenly I have a use for sweetened condensed milk besides key lime pie. We are on our second batch in less than a week. Soooo good!
Justin
I like to add 1/2c. Tamarind liquid, which is available at Asian grocers.
Doublel
I’ve been unknowingly making a hack of this all summer. 6 bags of Typhoo tea, 3 bags of rooibos chai tea, in a large pitcher of water, put out in the sun for 3 hours. Serve over ice. Never thought to add sweetener, but I do add milk.
Alexa Weibel, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
I think that's a really lovely idea! If you try it, I would suggest adding extra sugar to the tea, since you'll be losing out on a lot of sugar without the condensed milk.
Mel
This was fantastic. I did add some cardamon to the steeping mixture. I really like having a non-food-dye-filled alternative.
DrT
Made this as directed. It's good, but tastes nothing like the Thai tea I get at restaurants.
John Gordon
The ratio is 4:1, so 1 cup tea gets 1/4 cup milk. Using 3/4 cup makes no sense; 4 cups divided into 3/4 cup servings yields 5 1/3 servings.
TravelJosh1995
I needed to add about 1/2 - 3/4 cups sugar because of how long you need to steep the tea for.
Kysa
For dairy-free folks my local Thai restaurant subs canned coconut milk for the sweetened condensed milk - the thickness/creaminess is similar and works well. It is a bit less sweet (which I prefer). Tried it here and it was nice. The dairy-free milk substitutes (almond, oat or coconut milks for drinking) are not as thick/intense tasting as a substitute and get lost in the tea (too watery).
Conrad
This was so yummy. Thanks for sharing.
kristin.
Big difference between Vietnamese iced coffee and Thai iced tea. Great recipe for using all that extra tea you’ve got. Added crushed cardamom pods, would use tamarind next time. Sweet!
Frosty
Delish! One time, I ran out of star anise and used Thai basil from the garden, worked in a pinch for us. Thanks!
Francine
3 TBS sugar + sweetened condensed milk?Why is there sugar in 90% of recipes when it is totally useless. The sugar only distracts your tastebuds from what is really interesting in any drink or food. In any recipe calling for sugar, (except pastry desserts) I substitute at the end, or in individual portions with honey, maple syrup, pomegranate molasses, cinnamon syrup or any other high quality cane sugar and natural flavor syrup.Why not get used to no sugar or add something more inventive?
Andy
Can anyone confirm that 1 tablespoon vanilla split over 4 servings is not overwhelming? Thanks.
diane
Can this be made with a dairy-free substitute? ANd with a sugar substitute? Or is that just going too far?
Jonathan
You can easily leave the sugar out of the tea itself. Or add to taste later. I just made this with a mix of oat milk and sweetened condensed coconut milk (Nature's Charm brand is very good and has a hint of salt which I like, but you can make your own on the stove and control the sugar).
Evee
Step 1. Make Thai Iced Tea.Step 2. Go hide in the garden amongst the lemongrass and Thai basil.Step 3. Enjoy a quiet and relaxing moment in the garden while drinking Thai Iced Tea.
Elaina
Oh my. Suddenly I have a use for sweetened condensed milk besides key lime pie. We are on our second batch in less than a week. Soooo good!
DrT
Made this as directed. It's good, but tastes nothing like the Thai tea I get at restaurants.
Ellen
This was tasty but didn't rant taste like Thai Iced Tea in the restaurant. I think the black tea needed to be more intense.
Mel
This was fantastic. I did add some cardamon to the steeping mixture. I really like having a non-food-dye-filled alternative.
Erin
Not as heavy or brightly colored as teas made from a pre-packaged mix, but it's refreshing on a hot day. I've never had rooibos tea. When I opened the bag, it had a similar scent to the iced tea that I've had before. There's enough of the half-and-half/milk mixture to add 3-4 tablespoons to each serving, which also increases its creaminess. For fun, use the Eagle brand "classic vanilla ice cream" recipe as a base, steeping it with this tea-spice mixture, for thai iced tea ice cream.
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