Healthy Thai Milk Tea
Iced tea is the ideal beverage for drinking on hot days…
…but Thai Iced Tea takes the edge off many spicy dishes. It goes well with traditional Thai meals like tom yum and pad prik king. This delectably sweet and creamy iced beverage with its distinctive burned orange colour is half caffeinated tea and almost all dessert.
Thai tea is traditionally brewed with a Thai tea mix, which you should use if you want to be authentic. Thai milk tea gets its lovely orange hue from food coloring, namely Yellow 5. While there is conflicting evidence on the dangers of artificial dyes, they are generally not linked with good health.
This is my variation of the recipe, which was inspired by the drinks I drank on a daily basis when living in New York. When desires for this delectable iced beverage arose recently, I sought and searched for a tea blend free of food coloring. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate anything, but this just motivated me to develop a healthier substitute that tastes as good as, if not better than, the original. This Thai Milk Tea recipe is wonderfully sweet and creamy, and it tastes just like the real thing. I’ve made it so many times that it’s nearly become a daily habit, along with my other passion, taro bubble tea.
What is Thai Milk Tea?
This tea beverage is often made with tea, milk, and sugar and can be served hot or cold. The tea is poured over ice, sugared, and topped with evaporated milk.
What Does Thai Milk Tea Taste Like?
I’ve lately gone down a lovely rabbit hole of indulgent drinks like this tea, actually whipping up beverages like whipped coffee and dalgona matcha. My new Thai beverage addiction, which is actually an old favorite, has shocked no one.
Ingredients In Thai Milk Tea?
- Black Tea (loose or in tea bags): The quickest and easiest way to create this dish is to use black tea bags. Organic black tea is my preferred choice.
- Water: To cook, the tea and spices will need to steep in water, which can be tap, filtered, or bottled.
- Sugar, Stevia, or Coconut Palm Sugar: It is totally up to you which sugar you use in this recipe. However, if you use something like stevia, you won’t need as much as the recipe below indicates. I like to use coconut palm sugar because it is one of the healthiest sweetening choices.
- Star Anise: This licorice-flavored spice is an important component of a strong taste that also provides a delicate sweetness.
- Whole Cardamom: This spice is characterized as spicy, lemony, and minty all at once, with a powerful fragrance that makes it ideal for this tea mix.
- Cinnamon Stick: This spicy and bitter spice is more potent in its natural form. A single stick of cinnamon added to the tea mixture will provide a distinct warming taste.
- Vanilla Bean: To add a strong vanilla flavor to the tea and spice combination, slice a 1/4-inch piece from a vanilla bean.
- Turmeric: This spice has an earthy and bitter taste with an almost musky peppery flavor, but when combined into this tea recipe, it blends nicely and is responsible for the lovely orange flavor without the need of food coloring or dye.
- Vanilla Extract (or Almond Extract): The use of vanilla extract or even almond extract is entirely optional, although it does assist to enhance the vanilla taste.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: In speaking, sweetened condensed milk isn’t one of the healthiest components in a dish, but this organic version is free of all the garbage. You may also use canned coconut milk instead of dairy.
- Evaporated milk: While I have yet to discover a nutritious evaporated milk substitute, you may easily make your own. You may also use heavy cream or full milk instead.
How To Make Thai Milk Tea
This dish is really simple to prepare and contains just natural ingredients with no artificial flavoring or coloring. Follow the links in this ingredient list to get particular healthy ingredient alternatives. There are only three basic stages to preparing the tea, mixing the sweetened milk, and assembling everything.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the tea bags, water, vanilla essence, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, and turmeric and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
- To remove the entire spices, pour the tea mixture through a sieve. Fill two glasses halfway with ice and pour the tea over it.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk (or whole milk) until smooth. Pour the concoction over the iced Thai milk tea. Garnish with mint leaves if desired.
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Hi there! I’m a food enthusiast and journalist, and I have a real passion for food that goes beyond the kitchen. I love my dream job and I’m lucky enough to be able to share my knowledge with readers of several large media outlets. My specialty is writing engaging food-related content, and I take pride in being able to connect with my audience. I’m known for my creativity in the kitchen, and I’m confident that I can be the perfect guide for anyone looking to take their culinary journey to the next level.
