Thai Milk Tea is known for its creaminess and sweetness. Authentic Thai milk tea is a mix of black tea, spices, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. Though I have never tried the authentic ones from Thailand, I’ve done some research and did a few trials with recipes online. And I finally come up with the perfect recipe. It is easy, with ingredients that are more commonly found in your kitchen.
After a few attempts, I noticed that there is a common problem with the final result – a lack of tea flavour. The sweetness from the condensed milk and additional sugar can easily overpower the tea itself. As a result, you can end up with a glass of sugary milk. Therefore, it is important how you brew your tea.
What Milk should I use?
I recommend using Whole Milk or Unsweetened Original Oat Milk. They both add a creamy texture to the drink. With the process of pulling the tea (see definition below), you can naturally froth up the drink, add its creaminess, and cool the drink. I would not recommend using sweetened oat milk because it would be more difficult to control the overall sweetness.
What is “Pulling” the Tea?
“Pulling” the tea is an important step in making a flavorful Thai milk tea. It involves pouring back and forth from one jug or mug into another multiple times. It helps to cool down and aerate the drink, and this is what makes the drink more flavorful. For anyone who doesn’t have two jugs (aka me!), I just used a saucepan and a mixing bowl for this step.
Why do I Steep the Tea Directly in the Milk?
I have tried steeping the Thai tea in hot water before; however, it requires a more careful watch on water temperature and steeping time. If the time is too long, the tea will get bitter. Conversely, the tea flavour is not strong enough. I found that using steamed milk is easier to control, even without a thermometer. It also helps to enrich the overall tea flavour in the milk.
Easy Thai Milk Tea
Equipment
Ingredients
- 285 g unsweetened original oat milk or whole milk
- 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
- 10 g whipping cream or evaporated milk (optional)
- A few ice cubes
Instructions
- Add the Thai tea mix into the tea filter bag. You would want to double-bag it, as the tea leaves are quite fine which can easily leak into the liquid. If you don't have tea filter bags, prepare a fine sieve instead.
- In a saucepan, add oat milk (or whole milk) and condensed milk. On medium-low heat, stir until condensed milk is fully incorporated.
- Add the teabag into the saucepan. Stir occasionally. Let it steep until steam begins to rise from the milk. Do not boil the milk.
- Remove the saucepan from heat. Set aside with the lid on for another 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, you can prepare the brown sugar pearls (optional).
- Once it is ready, use a spatula and gently press the teabag, so the milk can absorb all the tea flavor. Remove the tea bags from the milk, and pour the milk tea through a fine sieve to a jug, cup, or small bowl that you want to pull tea with.
- Pour the tea back and forth from the saucepan and the jug at least 5 times.
- Add the whipping cream or evaporated milk (optional).
To Assemble:
- If you have prepared brown sugar pearls, I don't recommend adding more sugar to the drink. However, if you want to enjoy it on its own. you can add 1-2 tsp brown sugar or cane sugar syrup. You can also omit this step, as the drink is originally sweetened.
- Add a few ice cubes. Please do not add too many, as your drink can easily get watered-down. Add the Thai Milk Tea. Ready to serve..