Cha Yen (Thai Iced Tea)

Name: Cha Yen (Thai Iced Tea)
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: asian
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons loose red rooibos tea leaves (or the contents of 10 rooibos tea bags); 3 tablespoons loose black tea leaves (or the contents of 7 black tea bags); 3 tablespoons granulated sugar; 10 star anise pods, broken into pieces or roughly chopped; 10 whole cloves; 1/2 cup half-and-half; 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; Ice, for serving

Recipe from Leela Punyaratabandhu

Adapted by Alexa Weibel

Cha Yen (Thai Iced Tea) — David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Total Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling
Rating: 4(510)
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

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 out of 5

510 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Nancy4 years ago

How many glasses (8 oz) does this make?

Michelle CA4 years ago

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

nomis124 years ago

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

Kat4 years ago

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.

Vicki3 years ago

Are you sure you're not thinking of vietnamese coffees? That's usually Cafe du Monde coffee with condensed milk.

Zooey Scott4 years ago

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 Ambrose4 years ago

All the Thais I know who make this in the US use Cafe du Monde chicory.

Evee2 years ago

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.

Patty4 years ago

Excited to try this with decaffeinated tea bags! And without built-in sugar so I can reduce it drastically. Fingers crossed!

Elaina3 years ago

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!

Mel4 years ago

This was fantastic. I did add some cardamon to the steeping mixture. I really like having a non-food-dye-filled alternative.

Justin4 years ago

I like to add 1/2c. Tamarind liquid, which is available at Asian grocers.

Doublel4 years ago

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 Cooking4 years ago

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.

DrT3 years ago

Made this as directed. It's good, but tastes nothing like the Thai tea I get at restaurants.

Mimi1 month ago

Made this with high school students. Big success.

John Gordon1 year ago

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.

TravelJosh19951 year ago

I needed to add about 1/2 - 3/4 cups sugar because of how long you need to steep the tea for.

Kysa2 years ago

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).

Conrad2 years ago

This was so yummy. Thanks for sharing.

kristin.2 years ago

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!

Frosty2 years ago

Delish! One time, I ran out of star anise and used Thai basil from the garden, worked in a pinch for us. Thanks!

Francine2 years ago

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?

Andy2 years ago

Can anyone confirm that 1 tablespoon vanilla split over 4 servings is not overwhelming? Thanks.

diane2 years ago

Can this be made with a dairy-free substitute? ANd with a sugar substitute? Or is that just going too far?

Jonathan2 years ago

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).