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(535)
Comments: Read comments

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.

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Ratings

4 out of 5

535 user ratings

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Comments

Nancy5 years ago

How many glasses (8 oz) does this make?

Michelle CA5 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

Kat5 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.

Darlene R.3 months ago

Love this take on Thai iced tea — the rooibos adds such a nice depth. I’ve been playing with similar blends and found one from https://avodahmugsandteas.com/ that works beautifully for recipes like this. Worth checking out if you're into bold, spice-forward teas!

SMS2410 months ago

Made all summer long! Be sure to use a bold black tea, you’re going for the opposite of weak tea here. Tried with both half and half and coconut milk- stick with the dairy if you are able. It’s fun to tinker with the spices from batch to batch!

Mimi1 year ago

Made this with high school students. Big success.

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