This Thai Iced Tea Recipe has a balanced flavor profile of sweetened black tea and complex spices with a creamy texture. It's made from scratch with no artificial ingredients or food dyes!
I had my first Thai Iced Tea in Thailand, sitting in sweltering heat and humidity in the middle of a tropical paradise! It was lovely, complex-flavored, and so refreshing. I haven’t had Thai Tea in a long time, but suddenly a craving came out of nowhere.
I’m going to show you how easy it is to make Thai Tea from scratch so you can enjoy it all summer long!
Authentic Thai Tea
Authentic Thai tea is a blend of black tea, spices, evaporated milk, and sweetener. Thai Tea Mix is commonly used, which is a blend of black tea (usually Ceylon tea) and spices, such as star anise, cardamom, and tamarind. Sugar is the typical sweetener.
Different variations of this drink use evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, or even coconut milk.
When I was in Thailand, every time I had this drink it was made with evaporated milk. When I asked why, I was told that evaporated milk is traditional. Because of the hot climate of Thailand it’s difficult to keep fresh milk for any length of time, so they got used to evaporated milk, which is self-stable.
Thai Tea Without Dye
If you’ve ever been to Thailand and had Thai Tea or if you’ve ordered it at your favorite Thai restaurant, you’ve probably noticed that it’s orange in color. This is because of artificial food dye! I try to avoid artificial food colorings and dyes whenever possible. I make my Thai Iced Tea from scratch without dye instead of using Thai Tea Mix.
If you choose to make this recipe with Thai Tea Mix, just know that it does contain what is known as FD&C Yellow 6, which is an artificial food coloring. According to Wikipedia, this food dye is derived from petroleum.
Pro Tip: Make Thai Iced Tea from scratch (it's easy) instead of using a mix to avoid artificial food dyes.
Authentic Thai Iced Tea Recipe
Thai Iced Tea Ingredients:
- Water
- Cinnamon stick
- Star anise
- Green cardamom
- Cloves
- Dried lemongrass
- Black tea bags
- Granulated monkfruit/erythritol blend
- Stevia glycerite
- Ice
- Evaporated milk
How to Make Thai Iced Tea:
- Steep the spices and tea.
- Stir in the sweetener.
- Refrigerate until fully chilled.
- Serve over ice with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, or coconut milk. I also like heavy whipping cream for a low carb and keto option.
Sugar Free Thai Iced Tea
I wanted to make a low carb version of this classic drink. To achieve this, instead of sweetening the Thai Iced Tea with sugar, I used a combination of granulated monkfruit/erythritol blend and stevia glycerite. I used 2 tablespoons of evaporated milk per serving, but you could use regular heavy cream instead if you prefer.
Alternatively, you can use Keto Sweetened Condensed Milk, coconut milk, or even regular cream instead of evaporated milk.
Evaporated Milk Nutrition
According to the USDA Food Database, 1 (2-tablespoon/30ml) serving of evaporated milk has the following nutrition information:
- 40kcals
- 2g protein
- 2g fat
- 3g carbohydrates
Thai Tea Calories and Nutrition Information
One serving of my Thai Iced Tea has the following nutrition information:
- 51kcals
- 3g fat
- 2g protein
- 5g total carbs
- 1g fiber
- 4g net carbs
More Drinks to Cool Down With
- Cold Brew Coffee
- Dragon Fruit Shrub
- Healthy Paleo-Friendly Snickers Smoothie
- Iced Strawberry Lemon Tea
Did you make this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment below because I love hearing from you! You can also tag @anediblemosaic and #healthysweeteats on social media. To stay up-to-date FOLLOW ME on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Xoxo, Faith
Thai Iced Tea
Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cups filtered water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 whole star anise
- 2 pods green cardamom cracked open
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon dried lemongrass
- 4 black tea bags
- 2 tablespoons granulated monkfruit/erythritol blend
- ¼ teaspoon stevia glycerite
- 4 cups crushed ice
- ½ cup evaporated milk see Note
Instructions
- Add the water, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, cloves, and lemongrass to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the tea bags, cover the saucepan, and let the spices and tea steep for 1 hour. Remove the tea bags and strain out the spices.
- Stir in the granulated monkfruit/erythritol blend and stevia glycerite. Refrigerate until fully chilled.
- Pour 1 cup of crushed ice into each of 4 cups. Pour in the tea, and top each with 2 tablespoons evaporated milk.
- Serve.
Helpful Tips
- Net Carbs: 4g per serving (if you make the recipe as written with evaporated milk)
- You could use sweetened condensed milk or coconut milk instead of evaporated milk. I also like this with heavy cream.
- Another method to make Thai Tea is to use Thai Tea Mix instead of the star anise, cardamom, cloves, lemongrass, and black tea bags. Use 4 tablespoons of the mix per 1 cup of water for a strong brew. However, personally I don't use this because it typically contains artificial food dyes.
Nutrition
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