Easy Thai Milk Tea Recipe
Thai Milk Tea, renowned for its rich creaminess and sweetness, is a delightful beverage that blends black tea, spices, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. While I haven’t had the opportunity to try authentic Thai versions from Thailand, I’ve immersed myself in research and recipe trials to craft a perfect homemade rendition using ingredients commonly found in your kitchen.
Through several attempts, I encountered a common challenge: achieving a balanced tea flavor amidst the sweetness of condensed milk and additional sugar. It’s easy for these sweeteners to overpower the delicate tea notes, resulting in a drink that leans towards sugary milk rather than a robust tea experience. Thus, mastering the brewing process is key.
What Milk should I use for Thai Milk Tea?
For a creamy texture, I recommend using Whole Milk or Unsweetened Original Oat Milk. These options lend a luxurious creaminess to the Thai milk tea. During the process of “pulling” the tea (a technique explained below), these milks naturally froth up the drink, enhancing its texture and cooling it down. Avoid sweetened oat milk to maintain control over the overall sweetness.
What is “Pulling” the Tea?
“Pulling” the tea is a crucial technique that enhances the flavor profile of Thai milk tea. Traditionally, it involves pouring the brewed tea back and forth between two containers multiple times. This process aerates the drink, cools it down, and intensifies its flavors. If you lack two jugs, like myself, a saucepan and mixing bowl can serve as effective alternatives for this step.
Why Steep the Tea Directly in Milk?
In my experimentation, I discovered that steeping Thai tea directly in steamed milk yields superior results compared to steeping in hot water. Steaming the milk simplifies temperature control, eliminating the need for precise monitoring with a thermometer. This method enriches the tea’s flavor profile within the milk, ensuring a well-rounded and aromatic Thai milk tea.
Easy Thai Milk Tea
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Thai tea leaves
- 285 g unsweetened original oat milk or whole milk
- 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
- 10 g whipping cream or evaporated milk (optional)
- ½ cup brown sugar pearls
- A few ice cubes
Instructions
- Add the Thai tea mix into a tea filter bag. Double-bag it as the tea leaves are quite fine and 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 the condensed milk is fully incorporated.
- Add the teabag to 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 and set aside with the lid on for another 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, you can prepare the brown sugar pearls as per package instructions. (optional).
- Once ready, use a spatula to gently press the teabag so the milk can absorb all the tea flavor. Remove the teabags from the milk and pour the milk tea through a fine sieve into a jug, cup, or small bowl that you want to pull tea with.
- Pour the tea back and forth between 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.
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