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Coconutty Thai Iced Tea Recipe

Lee Zalben
Published: Last Updated:
Coconutty Thai Iced Tea Recipe

[Photograph: Andrea Hernandez]

Looking for an ice cold drink to cool you down on hot summer afternoons? Want an alternative to sugary sweet tea or Splenda-laden diet teas? Take a leaf out of Thailand's book and try making cha-yen, or Thai iced tea, to refresh over the upcoming sweaty summer months.

Thai iced tea is a traditional cooling beverage brewed from strong black tea and served over ice. Sometimes it's mixed with spices like star anise, cardamom, and crushed tamarind for extra zing. The key ingredient is condensed milk, which is stirred into the drink to give the tea its signature creamy taste and burst of caramely sweetness.

For a nutty, non-dairy twist on this classic refresher, you can achieve the same creamy consistency and naturally sweeten your Thai iced tea by using light coconut milk.

  • Yield:serves 2
  • Active time: 5 minutes
  • Total time:10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 bags black tea
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup light coconut milk
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/4 cup shaved or shredded coconut (to rim glass)

Directions

  1. 1.

    Boil water and let tea steep 3-5 minutes. Stir in sugar, and allow tea to cool to room temperature.

  2. 2.

    Dip the corner of a folded paper towel in coconut milk, and brush evenly around the rim of each glass. Spread shaved coconut on a clean surface, and gently press the rim of each glass into the coconut to coat it.

  3. 3.

    Pour tea carefully into two glasses. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk to each glass. Add ice and serve immediately.

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Lee Zalben Founder & President of Peanut Butter & Co.

Lee Zalben aka “The Peanut Butter Guy” is the Founder and President of Peanut Butter & Co. In 1998 Lee opened the Peanut Butter & Co. sandwich shop in New York City and in 2003 expanded into retail distribution. His line of ten different varieties of all natural peanut butter (Dark Chocolate Dreams, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, Smooth Operator, etc.) is now sold at over 15,000 supermarkets and natural food stores throughout the US and Canada, including Kroger, Safeway, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods. Lee has a passion for delicious, wholesome food and the people who grow it, produce it, and cook it, and serve it! Lee is the author of The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook (Quirk Books) which is now in its fourth printing, and writes the weekly That’s Nuts column for Serious Eats. A graduate of Vassar College, Lee also earned a master’s degree from Pace University.

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