Thai tea (also called Thai iced tea, or cha yen in Thai) is a strong, spiced black tea that is sweetened and made creamy with condensed and evaporated milk, then poured over plenty of ice. Its signature bright-orange colour comes from the traditional Thai tea mix. If you want to know how to make Thai tea at home, the short version is simple: brew the tea very strong, sweeten it while it is still hot, and finish it over ice with a milky swirl on top.
This is the recipe, not the backstory. For where the drink comes from and what makes it different from other creamy teas, see our explainer on what Thai tea is. Here we stay in the kitchen.
How to Make Thai Tea, Step by Step
Learning how to make Thai tea comes down to four moves: brew strong, sweeten hot, chill over ice, and float the cream. Each glass takes about ten minutes, most of which is steeping. Amounts below are a starting point for one tall glass (roughly 12 oz / 350 ml) and are easy to scale up into a pitcher.
- Brew the tea strong. Use about 2 to 3 tablespoons of Thai tea mix per cup (240 ml) of water, or strong loose-leaf black tea if you are going from scratch. Pour just-off-the-boil water (around 200-208°F / 93-98°C) over the tea and steep 3 to 5 minutes. It should look almost too dark and taste almost too strong on its own — it has to punch through milk and ice without turning weak.
- Sweeten while it is hot. Strain the hot tea into a heatproof jug. Stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1 to 2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk per glass, and keep stirring until everything dissolves. Doing this while the tea is hot is the whole trick: sugar and condensed milk melt in cleanly and never leave a grainy layer at the bottom.
- Chill it down over ice. Either cool the sweetened tea in the fridge first, or simply fill a tall glass to the brim with ice and pour the hot, sweetened tea straight over the top. The ice does the chilling and gives you that classic iced Thai tea in seconds. Leave a little room at the top of the glass.
- Float the creamy swirl. Gently pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of evaporated milk (or a splash of half-and-half, whole milk, or coconut milk) over the surface. It sits on top as a pale cloud before you stir — that orange-and-cream swirl is the signature look. Add a straw, stir, and drink.
Thai Tea Ingredients and Amounts
| Ingredient | Amount (per glass) | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Thai tea mix (or strong black tea) | 2-3 tbsp | The base; delivers colour, spice and strength |
| Hot water | ~1 cup (240 ml) | Brew at 200-208°F / 93-98°C, steep 3-5 min |
| Sugar | 1-2 tsp (to taste) | Adjustable sweetness; dissolve while hot |
| Sweetened condensed milk | 1-2 tbsp | Sweetens and adds body |
| Evaporated milk | 2-3 tbsp | The creamy float on top |
| Ice | Fill the glass | Chills and dilutes to balance |
What Tea to Use for Thai Tea
The classic tea for Thai tea is a pre-blended Thai tea mix, sold in bright-orange bags at most Asian grocers — ChaTraMue is the best-known brand. The mix is built on strongly brewed Ceylon black tea and usually carries spices such as star anise, tamarind seed and a little vanilla, plus added food colouring. That colouring, not the spice, is what gives commercial mixes their vivid orange hue, so a homemade version made without it will look more amber than neon.
No mix on hand? You can still mix Thai tea from scratch. Brew a strong pot of loose black tea (Ceylon or Assam work well) and add 2 star anise pods, a crushed cardamom pod, a pinch of ground vanilla and, if you want more colour, a tiny pinch of turmeric. It will taste close to the real thing, just gentler on the neon. Either way, brew it much stronger than you would a normal cup — weak tea is the number-one reason homemade Thai tea tastes thin.
Tips and Troubleshooting
- Too weak or watery? Use more tea mix and steep longer, and remember the ice will dilute it further. Brew a concentrate (a higher ratio of mix to water) if you are making a pitcher.
- Grainy or not sweet enough? Always dissolve sugar and condensed milk in the hot tea, never after chilling. Taste and adjust before the ice goes in.
- Not creamy enough? Bump up the evaporated milk on top, or stir a little extra condensed milk through the tea itself.
- Want it hot? Skip the ice. Served warm, sweetened with condensed milk and topped with evaporated milk, it becomes Thai hot milk tea (cha ron).
- Dairy-free? Swap evaporated and condensed milk for coconut milk or a sweetened plant milk. The flavour shifts but the creamy, sweet character stays.
How Thai Tea Fits With Other Milk Teas
Thai tea is one branch of the wider family of tea-plus-milk drinks. The through-line is the same everywhere: a tea brewed strong enough to taste clearly through milk and sweetener. If you enjoy this, it is worth exploring how the technique changes across styles — our guide to how to make milk tea covers the general method, while milk tea explained maps out the main styles side by side. For a close cousin built on evaporated and condensed milk, try Hong Kong milk tea, which uses the same creamy backbone with a different spice profile and no orange colour.
Once you have the rhythm — brew strong, sweeten hot, pour over ice, float the cream — iced Thai tea becomes one of the easiest cafe-style drinks to make at home. Dial the sugar and milk to your own taste, keep the tea bold, and you will land close to the version served on the streets of Thailand every time.