We couldn’t get enough of it at Thai restaurants, tried making it at home and found out how easy it is to make, realized that it’s a lot more decadent than we thought, so then we made our own adjustments to make it a little bit “healthier”. I promise it’s still SO good, especially if you’re the type to prefer things that aren’t too too sweet and love the flavor of Thai iced tea like we do.
If it weren’t for how we want to drink Thai iced tea more often, I’d take the traditional route using sweetened condensed milk and make it a treat yourself occasion, but it also turns out that we love the taste of the tea itself and actually prefer it with a minimal amount of sweetness. Point is, this is a recipe you should definitely play around with to figure out how you like it.
If we’re trying to make a giant batch we’ll brew the tea in a large pot then strain out the leaves using a micro strainer, but most often we’ll use a french press because it’s easiest and perfectly fits the amount of water needed for 4 servings. We boil the water in this electric kettle and pour it into the press after adding the tea and sugar, it’s pretty convenient.
Thai tea can be pretty robust and maybe too bitter for some, which the sugar, milk, and crushed ice collectively help balance. I like using sugar in the tea because it gives more control over the amount of sweetness itself than if I were to use sweetened condensed milk. Adjust each element to your taste, including the brewing time, but I wouldn’t skip the crushed ice. It just isn’t Thai iced tea without it!! All you need to do is gently pulse ice in a blender. It makes the drink so much more refreshing and that much more delicious.
Recipe and sources at the end. Enjoy!
A Slightly HealtHier THai Iced Tea
Ingredients
1 cup Thai tea mix (tastes just like what you get at restaurants)
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups boiling water
1-2 cups unsweetened almond milk
crushed ice
Instructions
- Add Thai tea mix, sugar, and boiling water to french press.
- Stir to mix the tea leaves and help dissolve the sugar.
- Let the tea steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer you steep, the stronger the tea (we usually go for 1 hour).
- Push down the strainer of the french press then pour out the tea into a container.
- Let cool. For extra icy tea, refrigerate in a closed container for at least 2 hours.
- Pour tea into glasses filled with crushed ice and top off with unsweetened almond milk (about 1/4-1/3 cup per serving, more or less depending on how creamy you like your tea).
Notes:
The pretty ombre color is best achieved if you pour the milk in slowly. Mix the milk and tea together with your straw before drinking.
If you’d like it more sweet, add more sugar during the steeping stage or substitute the almond milk with sweetened condensed milk or coconut milk to taste (these will make it more creamy too).
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Never heard of Thai Iced Tea before, but this sounds very delicious!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
Hope you try it and love it!
Sounds and look delicious!
It’s addicting!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ve been making Thai iced tea and iced coffee for more than 30 years and have never put sugar in either, nor does the Thai restaurant where I learned to make them. The sweetened condensed milk is all the sweetness necessary, and one can use fat-free sweetened condensed milk to make it a bit healthier.
Yes, I have a friend with a family-owned Thai restaurant and the only sweetness in their tea comes from the condensed milk, but it’s still a little too sweet for me.
How do you feel the almond milk tastes? I know that I don’t like it in hot/cold coffees and hot teas. But have never tried it in a cold tea. It changes the whole makes up of it and tastes horrible.
I use Califia Almond Milk and it is the most delicious almond milk I’ve ever tried. It’s creamy too and works really well with this tea.
While the concept of a healthier iced chai is wonderful, the ingredient in that mix is not so much. f d & c red #6 is not a healthy thing. None of the chemical food colorings are healthy for you.. You should find another blend or make you own. It looks as if this bag only contains green tea. Easy enough to make.
A better title for this recipe could’ve been “A less sweet Thai iced tea”. I agree it’s best to not have dyes though it’s common among the brands I’ve been recommended, and this one definitely doesn’t taste like a regular green tea. I’m going to update the recipe if I find another blend without dyes that I like as much. Planning on trying this one next, check it out if you’re interested.
Thanks for this recipe! Our favorite Thai restaurant stopped serving it which is such a bummer, so I’m glad we’ll be able to make it at home. Ordered the tea already!
Why did they stop serving it! Really hope you enjoy making this at home <3.
We made it over the weekend and it turned out exactly like the restaraunt version! Totally over the moon about it, thank you!
So so happy to hear this Nayla!!