Thai Iced Tea (Tra Sua Thai)

What is Thai Iced Tea?

Thai iced tea, also known as Cha Yen, is a popular beverage that originated from Thailand. It is a must-try when visiting Thailand or Thai restaurants around the world. Thai Iced Tea is a refreshing iced drink known for its vibrant orange color and its unique blend of robust brewed black tea and creamy condensed milk.

What You Will Need

To make authentic Thai tea, you will need the following ingredients:

Orange-dyed black tea — This special type of black tea gives Thai iced tea its distinct flavor and vibrant orange color, adding a visual appeal to the drink.

Water — You can’t make tea without water. It is used for steeping the tea leaves and extracting their flavors.

Granulated white sugar — Sugar is added to sweeten the tea. The amount of sugar can be adjusted to personal preference.

Sweetened condensed milk — An essential ingredient in Thai iced tea, sweetened condensed milk adds a creamy sweetness while complementing the bold flavors of the tea.

Milk — This component makes up the bulk of the drink. You can choose between evaporated milk, which is richer or fresh milk for a lighter option. Both add a smooth and creamy texture to the drink.

Milk

The use of canned evaporated milk came from the lack of refrigeration. Now it is synonymous with authentic Thai iced tea.

For a beautiful presentation, the drink is topped with a splash of milk that creates a beautiful layering effect. In my recipe below, I opted to use fresh milk. If you stick to the more traditional evaporated milk, it tends to stay more at the top because the milk’s water content has mostly “evaporated” off. This makes evaporated milk much lighter in weight compared to the tea that sits below.

However, fresh milk also creates this layering effect if you pour slowly but keep in mind that it settles more quickly.

Sweeteners

Thai tea uses both sweetened condensed milk and sugar. Why not stick to one sweetener? The reason is the sugar adds most of the sweetness. The sweetened condensed milk adds a bit of sweetness, but mainly it adds the creamy richness. When both are added, you have perfection.

Whenever I make Thai iced tea, I usually make a large batch in which I add sugar and condensed milk while tea is still hot. I keep the fresh milk separate until I’m ready to serve so I can create that beautiful white layer as mentioned earlier. Of course, you can skip that and mix all the ingredients together.

Enjoy the recipe below.