Learn how to make Thai Iced Tea to go with your favorite spicy Thai dishes, or just as a delicious, cooling beverage to make in the warmer months!
We have two versions: the Thai Tea Mix version that tastes exactly like what you get at a Thai restaurant, and an all-natural version (that doesn’t include the food coloring common in Thai tea mixes).
A Must-Order at Thai Restaurants
Anytime Justin and I go to a Thai restaurant, he HAS to order a Thai iced tea. It’s just like whenever we go to a Vietnamese restaurant, he has to get a Vietnamese coffee. The man loves his sweetened-condensed-milk-based beverages!
Not only is Thai Iced Tea just delicious, with its strong (yet not bitter) tea taste, flavor notes of warm honey & vanilla, creamy consistency, and almost milkshake-like sweetness, it’s incredibly refreshing when you’re eating a slew of spicy, sweet, sour, Thai dishes. I don’t blame Justin for his obsession with it.
This past week, the air conditioning was broken at my parents’ house during a week of blogging. It was so hot, I spent several days sleeping on an air mattress in our basement! (Where it was 10 degrees cooler.)
Imagine the four of us in the kitchen, cooking, washing dishes, moving lighting set-ups around, photographing, and filming—all in 80-85°F (27-29°C) heat. Even I had a hankering for a cold, sweet beverage, and Thai Iced Tea immediately came to mind.
This one has been on my list for a while, so I knew it was time to do it!
Two Versions of Thai Iced Tea
There are two ways of going about making Thai Iced Tea:
- The Way the Restaurants Do It
- The ‘All Natural’ Way
I prefer the restaurant way, which basically involves buying an imported Thai Tea Mix. This is going to get you the most “authentic” taste, i.e. the taste you recognize and really want if you’re used to ordering Thai tea at restaurants.
Said Thai tea mixes can be pretty opaque when it comes to actual ingredients, mentioning just two: Tea. And food coloring. It does say that the mix contains 99.9% tea, though.
That said, the Thai tea blend has that unique aroma that—if you’re still here reading this recipe— you probably know very well. The food coloring also immediately elicits that neon orange color when you pour hot water over the tea leaves.
When it’s swirled together with milk and sugar, you get a bright creamsicle effect that makes the beverage that much more enticing. Thai tea mixes imported from Thailand are widely available online. We used a brand called Pantai.
Now for the All Natural way. If you’re averse to food coloring, you can opt for this alternate route. I use black tea bags, along with 1 chai tea bag for extra flavor. You can also find all natural Thai tea blends online, like this one, this one, and this one.
In addition to the tea itself, you add whole spices like star anise, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon for extra complexity, as well as vanilla for creaminess and optionally, turmeric for a little added color.
The resulting tea’s appearance is much lighter—more like a yellow-tinged milk tea (if using turmeric), and the flavor has more of a chai vibe to it. That said, it’s also very delicious!
Whichever version you opt into, you’ll end up with a refreshing beverage that goes great with our Thai Basil Chicken, Pad Thai, Thai Red Curry, or Thai Fried Rice.
Which version are you going to try? Let us know in the comments!
Lactose Intolerant?
If you’d prefer to make this tea dairy-free, you can use 1/4 cup sugar instead as your sweetener (add it when the tea is hot to dissolve the sugar). Then simply add full fat oat milk until you reach your desired creaminess. You could also use coconut milk if you like coconut flavor.
Thai Iced Tea Recipe Instructions
OPTION #1 – USING TEA MIX
Add the boiling water to the Thai tea mix in a pitcher, and stir. Allow to steep for 2 hours and cool.
Strain the tea into a measuring cup or another pitcher.
FAQ
If you feel like there’s a lot of tea in the pitcher after straining, you’re right! Here’s what to do if you want to stretch that tea even further: Add an additional 2-3 cups of hot water to the tea, and steep again overnight. The next day, you’ll have another round of tea. It will be lighter tasting and not as strong, but still delicious!
You can steep the tea for at least 30 minutes, and then pour it directly over the condensed milk, add cold half and half, light cream, evaporated milk, or full fat oat milk on top, stir, and then pour the whole thing over a larger quantity of ice to cool it down. Your tea may not be quite as strong, but this is a quicker way to get your Thai Iced Tea fix!
Divide the sweetened condensed milk across the bottom of 2 tall glasses, and fill the glasses halfway with ice. Pour the tea over the top, and finish with a splash (2 tablespoons) of half and half in each glass. Stir before enjoying!
No Half and Half?
If you live outside of the U.S. and have no idea what half and half is (we don’t blame you), you can use light cream or evaporated milk instead!
OPTION #2 – USING TEA BAGS:
Add the water, tea bags (remove any tags/staples), star anise, cloves, cardamom pod, cinnamon stick, and turmeric to a medium pot. (If using loose leaf tea, measure out about 3 tablespoons of tea and add it directly to the water.)
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and gently boil the tea for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla, and allow the tea to steep and cool for 2 hours.
Strain this mixture through a fine mesh strainer with several layers of folded cheesecloth placed on top (to strain out the fine turmeric granules). Divide the sweetened condensed milk across 2 tall glasses, and fill halfway with ice. Pour the tea over the top, and finish with a splash (2 tablespoons) of half and half in each glass. Stir before enjoying.
As you can see, the color of this natural version is quite different from the regular Thai tea mix. The flavor is also a bit different. That said, it’s also very tasty!
Regardless of which version you choose, it’s a refreshing beverage perfect for summer. Enjoy!
Check out our video to see how we make it!
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Recipe
Thai Iced Tea
Ingredients
Option 1: Using Thai Tea Mix
- 4 cups boiling water
- 2/3 cup Thai Tea Mix
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (or granulated sugar)
- ice
- 1/4 cup half and half or light cream (can also use evaporated milk, or full fat oat milk for a dairy-free option)
Option 2: Using Tea Bags
- 4 cups water
- 4 black tea bags (we used good ol’ Lipton, but you could also use a Thai blend like Harney & Sons Thai Silk)
- 1 chai tea bag (optional, for a warmer flavor—can replace with 1 additional black tea bag)
- 2 star anise
- 1-2 whole cloves (1 for a milder flavor, 2 for spicier flavor)
- 1 cardamom pod
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1-2 teaspoons ground turmeric (optional, for light color; note: it does add a light turmeric flavor to the tea)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (or granulated sugar)
- ice
- 1/4 cup half and half or light cream (can also use evaporated milk, or full fat oat milk for a dairy-free option)
Instructions
Using Tea Mix:
- Add the boiling water to the Thai tea mix in a pitcher, and stir. Allow to steep for 2 hours and cool.
- Strain the tea into a measuring cup or another pitcher. Divide the sweetened condensed milk across the bottom of 2 tall glasses, and fill the glasses halfway with ice. Pour the tea over the top, and finish with a splash (2 tablespoons) of half and half in each glass. Stir before enjoying!
Using Tea Bags:
- Add the water, tea bags (remove any tags/staples), star anise, cloves, cardamom pod, cinnamon stick, and turmeric to a medium pot. (If using loose leaf tea, measure out about 3 tablespoons of tea and add it directly to the water.)
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and gently boil the tea for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla, and allow the tea to steep and cool for 2 hours.
- Strain this mixture through a fine mesh strainer with several layers of folded cheesecloth placed on top (to strain out the fine turmeric granules). Divide the sweetened condensed milk across 2 tall glasses, and fill halfway with ice. Pour the tea over the top, and finish with a splash (2 tablespoons) of half and half in each glass. Stir before enjoying.
