Thai-Style Iced Tea

In college, my two best friends there Natalie and Flavia were both vegetarians and Thai is one of their favorite cuisines.

They are the ones who introduced me to Thai food, and since then I've never looked back.

My past 3 birthday dinners with Mr. Vittles were spent at our local Thai restaurant.  (Mr. V is not as much of a fan as I, so that's why I always pick it then - he can't say no!)

Usually when I eat out, I get water to drink and maybe an appetizer to share on rare occasions.  But every time I have Thai food, I'm sure to get spring rolls as an appetizer and thai iced tea to drink.

After my birthday last month, I decided to see if I could replicate Thai-style iced tea at home (spring rolls, no - I'm not even going there).  A lot of online research seemed to suggest I had to buy some sort of orange "Thai seasoning" powder from an Asian market.

Yeah... not so much.

But I didn't give up, and my perseverance led me to SustainabiliTEA, the weblog of Arbor Teas, where I learned I could can make it by simply brewing strong black tea & adding sweetened condensed milk, sugar, and evaporated milk. 

Ok, now we're talking.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it tastes just like you'd get at a restaurant - but it's pretty darn close, and I like the fact that I can use items readily available at any supermarket.

And the best part is - I don't have to wait til next February to enjoy this yummy drink.

Thai-Style Iced Tea

• 8 bags high quality black tea (I used organic 'breakfast blend' black tea)
• 4 C. boiling water
• 1/3 C. sweetened condensed milk
• 2 T. sugar (you can use more or less to taste, but Thai iced tea is usually very sweet)
• 3/4 C. evaporated milk (most traditional) or half & half, whole milk, or coconut milk

Steep tea bags in boiling water for 5 minutes, then remove.  Add sugar and sweetened condensed milk immediately, and stir to combine.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.   Add ice to 4 glasses, and pour tea mixture over ice.  Top off each glass with evaporated milk, but do not stir - it should remain at the top of the glass as it's own layer.  Serve immediately.

Note: The color is not very orang-ey, so if you want to make it look more authentic you can add a little yellow and red food coloring to the mixture before refrigerating it.

Recipe Adapted from Arbor Teas