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Learn how to make Thai iced tea at home without a mix with this straightforward recipe. With sweet, strong black tea, a variety of spices, a couple secret ingredients to give it authentic flavor, and its signature creamy texture, you’ll want it on repeat. The concentrate is typically served over ice, and you can enjoy it as is or add sweetened condensed milk like they do in Thailand!
If you enjoy deliciously sweet and creamy iced drinks, get ready for your new favorite. Common in Thailand and Thai restaurants worldwide, learn how easy it is to make this iced tea and home so you can enjoy it anytime from the comfort of your own home.
What is Thai Tea?
It’s a refreshing iced drink made with a base of sweet, strong black tea, a variety of spices, and rich, creamy sweetened condensed milk.
Assam or Ceylon black tea are commonly used. The tea is typically brewed strong and sweetened with sugar to make a concentrate that’s served over ice.
The spices frequently differ, so feel free to customize this recipe to suit your preferences. Common spices and flavorings used include vanilla, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, tamarind, and orange blossom.
In Thailand, this drink is made with sweetened condensed milk to make it sweet and creamy. And to make it ultra rich and decadent, another form of milk is added. When you get this in Thailand from a street vendor, they typically use evaporated milk, but you can also go with regular milk, coconut milk, half and half, heavy cream, or vanilla creamer.
What Makes This Recipe Stand Out
- No food colorings or dyes. Instead of getting its signature orange color artificially, the lovely color of this drink comes from black tea, spices, and tamarind.
- Special diet friendly. This drink is naturally gluten free, and it’s easy to make paleo, vegan, or low carb and keto friendly with a couple easy swaps!
- Café-quality at home. You don’t have to book a trip to Thailand, head to a Thai restaurant, or even go to a fancy café for a top-quality drink. This easy method will save you a ton of money, and it’s great for beginner cooks!
Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
Thai Tea Concentrate Ingredients
- Filtered water – To steep the spices and brew the tea.
- Cardamom pods – I used green cardamom pods. Cardamom adds deep aroma and complex flavor notes of mint, citrus, and eucalyptus.
- Whole cloves – This potent warm spice adds a woody, pungent, slightly bitter flavor. Go for whole cloves (so you can strain them out) instead of ground cloves (which can make the drink gritty tasting or muddled looking).
- Cinnamon sticks – Cinnamon contributes an earthy, warm, sweet spiciness. It’s not overpowering here because we use cinnamon sticks instead of ground cinnamon.
- Star anise – This beautiful spice is shaped like a star. It has a warm spicy flavor that tastes like black licorice that creates a well-rounded flavor profile. If you’re not a fan of this flavor, you can reduce or omit the star anise.
- Whole vanilla bean – Vanilla adds underlying sweet, creamy, caramel-y, musky notes. If you don’t have vanilla bean on hand, you can add 1 1/2 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract at the same time you add the tea.
- Tamarind pulp – Tamarind has a sour, tangy taste with notes of molasses or dates. It helps create a well-balanced flavor, but it’s optional here.
- Sugar – Use regular granulated white sugar or your favorite granulated keto sweetener.
- Orange blossom water – This is another optional ingredient that’s sometimes included in Thai tea, and sometimes not. It adds a layer of sweet floral citrus flavor and aroma. Use it sparingly because it can be overpowering. You can omit it, or if you want to add it but you aren’t sure you’ll like it, start with less and add more to taste.
- Black tea – You can use looseleaf tea or tea bags. As a general rule, use 1 teaspoon looseleaf tea or 1 tea bag for every 1 cup of water.
Thai Iced Tea Ingredients
- Ice – In Thailand, this tea concentrate is typically served over ice for a refreshing beverage to cool down with.
- Thai tea concentrate – Once our spiced tea mixture is cooled and strained, you’re ready to serve it. As a guideline, about 1 cup is 1 serving (served over ice with sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk).
- Sweetened condensed milk – The traditional version of this classic Thai drink contains sweetened condensed milk (when I make it at home, I add about 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk per serving). However, you can skip this if you prefer or make creamy, buttery, vanilla-laced homemade sweetened condensed milk (note that if you use this recipe to make it yourself, you can use a keto-friendly sweetener).
- Evaporated milk – Evaporated milk is popular in this drink in Thailand because it’s shelf-stable and very hot there. You can omit it, or use coconut milk, whole milk, half and half, heavy cream, or vanilla creamer if you like.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1: How to Make Thai Tea Concentrate From Scratch
- Boil the spices and sugar. Add the water, cardamom pods, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, star anise, vanilla bean, tamarind pulp, and sugar to a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, stir, then turn the heat down slightly, cover the pot, and let it boil (covered) for 20 minutes.
- Steep the tea. Remove the pot from the heat and add the orange blossom water and tea. Cover the pot and let the tea steep until it reaches your desired strength.
- For reference. I like to let the tea steep until the liquid cools to room temperature, about 2 hours. Notice the all-natural color is lighter than if you use Thai tea powder or mix (because it doesn’t contain any added food dyes when you make it from scratch).
- Strain. Strain the liquid. Store in the fridge or serve.
2: How to Make Thai Tea Concentrate Into Thai Iced Tea with Condensed Milk – Just Like in Thailand!
To make 1 serving, add ice to a glass, and then pour in 1 cup of Thai tea concentrate, 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk, and 1 tablespoon evaporated milk. Stir, then taste and adjust as desired. Enjoy!
Storage
After cooling to room temperature and straining, store Thai tea concentrate in a glass pitcher or jar (preferably covered) in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Variations
- Paleo version – Omit the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. Instead of granulated white sugar, use coconut sugar. Instead of sweetened condensed milk, use homemade vegan sweetened condensed coconut milk. In place of evaporated milk, use full-fat coconut milk.
- Vegan version – Instead of regular sweetened condensed milk, use homemade vegan sweetened condensed coconut milk or store-bought vegan sweetened condensed milk (such as sweetened condensed coconut milk or sweetened condensed oat milk). In place of evaporated milk, use full-fat coconut milk or any kind of plant-based milk you like.
- Low carb and keto friendly version – To make sugar free Thai iced tea, use your favorite granulated keto sweetener instead of granulated white sugar. Use keto sweetened condensed milk (make your own by using a keto sweetener in my homemade condensed milk recipe) or buy sugar free sweetened condensed milk on Amazon.
Tips For the Best Homemade Thai Iced Tea
- Don’t be tempted to use ground spices here. They’ll change the flavor balance of the drink, and add little specks to the liquid.
- Make sure to let the tea steep long enough. We’re making a strong concentrated syrup to serve over ice, so it’ll become diluted. I usually allow it to steep until the liquid comes to room temperature (about 2 hours).
- Don’t stress the color. If you’re used to seeing this drink as a bright orange or deep brown color, don’t worry if your drink looks different. We aren’t using any food dyes here (so this drink is a lot healthier!) and the shade will vary based on a few factors, such as the type of black tea used, how long it steeps, whether you add tamarind, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
It tastes like sweet, creamy, spiced black tea with subtle floral notes. In Thailand, it’s served iced with sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk added to make it extra sweet and creamy. It’s decadent to the point that it almost tastes like a milkshake, but without the thickness of a milkshake.
Typically, it’s because red and yellow food dyes are added. However, black tea, spices, and tamarind can also contribute to its bright color. That’s part of the beauty of making this drink at home; there’s no added food colorings or preservatives!
More Favorite Thai Inspired Recipes
- Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken
- 30-Minute Thai Stir Fried Noodles
- Authentic Thai Green Curry Recipe with Chicken
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Thai Iced Tea Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Thai Tea Concentrate:
- 8 1/4 cups filtered water
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 5 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 vanilla bean split open length-wise
- 1 teaspoon tamarind pulp optional
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar or keto granulated sweetener
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom water optional
- 8 teaspoons looseleaf black tea or 8 black tea bags
For 1 Serving of Thai Iced Tea:
- 1 cup ice
- 1 cup Thai tea concentrate
- 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk or to taste (see Notes)
- 1 tablespoon evaporated milk or half and half, heavy cream, coconut milk, or vanilla creamer (or to taste) (see Notes)
Instructions
Make the Thai Tea Concentrate:
- Boil the spices and sugar. Add the water, cardamom pods, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, star anise, vanilla bean, tamarind pulp, and sugar to a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, stir, then turn the heat down slightly, cover the pot, and let it boil (covered) for 20 minutes.
- Steep the tea. Remove the pot from the heat and add the orange blossom water and tea. Cover the pot and let the tea steep until it reaches your desired strength (I like to let the tea steep until the liquid cools to room temperature, about 2 hours).
- Strain. Strain the liquid. Store in the fridge or serve.
To Serve:
- To make 1 serving, add ice to a large glass, and then pour in 1 cup of Thai tea concentrate, 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk, and 1 tablespoon evaporated milk. Stir, then taste and adjust as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: You can use store-bought sweetened condensed milk or make homemade rich, buttery, vanilla laced sweetened condensed milk. (Note that if you make it with this recipe, you can swap out the sugar for granulated keto sweetener to reduce the carbs.)
- Evaporated Milk: Street vendors in Thailand traditionally use evaporated milk in this drink because it’s shelf-stable. When you order it at restaurants, you’ll notice that vanilla creamer is frequently used for a sweeter flavor with deeper vanilla notes. Here in the US, it’s also common to find half and half or heavy cream used instead of evaporated milk. You can use coconut milk or any kind of milk you like.
- Storage: After cooling to room temperature and straining, store Thai tea concentrate in a glass pitcher or jar (preferably covered) in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Recipe Yield, Serving Size, and Nutrition Information: This recipe makes about 8 cups of Thai tea concentrate or 8 (1-cup) servings. The nutritional information for this recipe was calculated with 1 tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk and 1 tablespoon of evaporated milk.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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