Thai is the TRUTH
If I’m ever at a Thai restaurant, or boba drink spot in SF, you can bet I’m ordering a Thai Iced Tea. There’s just something about the rich, creamy, sweetness that makes a Thai Iced Tea super good. However, there remains a persistent problem and that is the creaminess of it. For most restaurants, I’m finding that a lot of times the Thai Iced Tea is watered down. No one wants some watered down shit and that’s on the real. More importantly is being cautious of the use of dairy milk in most versions that the restaurants offer. Quick tip though, if you go to a boba spot, mostly all of their drink options are using soy milk and that’s such a blessing in disguise.
So, about that watered down Thai Iced Tea…well, I figured since I liked my iced tea thick, rich, and creamy, I figured that the trick would be to make it with a condensed milk. Making a Vegan condensed milk is SUPER easy too, consisting of just almond milk, sugar, and cashews. I’d say, the most important part about making a Vegan condensed milk will be having a Vitamix blender. Let’s get started!
First, we’ll make our Thai iced tea mixture so we can let it cool down and come to room temperature. I use the Sunlee brand but any other brand can do too. You can even use black tea and add vanilla extract yourself.
The easiest way to make this tea is to scoop around 6 tbsp, into a Bodum french press. This way you can make enough for 3-4 servings. Just add hot water and wah-lah!
Once everything steeps for about 10 minutes, press down and notice how dark that tea has become. We’ll let it cool down to room temperature before doing anything to the tea. While we wait, let’s get a jump on the cashew based condensed milk.
Vegan Condensed Milk
When it comes to condensed milk, there’s really two key components that make it shine. It needs to be, 1.) sweet AF, and 2.) thick AF.
Measure out one cup of cashew (Raw, unsalted) and one cup of almond milk. I prefer this brand of Almond Milk from Trader Joe’s because it’s hyper affordable and has a good texture (not too watery).
We’ll go ahead and throw this all into a little pot to simmer with the lid on for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cashews are soft.
When done, just transfer everything to your blender and get ready for the fun part.
The additional trick to condensed milk is not just its creaminess, but the overall sweetness. The sweetness needs to hit you like when you were a kid eating a pixie stick for the first time. Yeah, it’s that sweet, so if you don’t like sugar, maybe this one’s not for you…
I measure out about 8 tbsp of maple syrup for this, but I’ve also done 10 tbsp for extra sweet. This is really up to you in terms of how sweet your want your Vegan condensed milk to be. Once we add the sweetener, we’ll start the blending.
What you should end up with after about 2-3 minutes of pure blending power, is a creamy, thick, sweet, sauce like condensed milk that’s so thick it will make the dairy version of condensed milk an afterthought. We’ll pour this into a frothing pitcher for easy access. I will use about half of this pitcher for 2 servings, so I can get this covered and pop it into the fridge for use at a later time.
What we’ll do next is get our Thai tea that’s been cooled down into a mason jar. I will measure out 1 cup of tea right in the mason jar, which I love because it already has the measuring marks on it.
Then, we’ll add in about 4 oz. of our Vegan condensed milk and give a quick whisk.
Grand Finale
That bright orange creamy color should be rich and thick now, so all we have to do is drop in about 5 to 6 ice cubes and give it another stir to cool the beverage.
You’ve now made the perfect Vegan Thai Iced Tea and now you can enjoy, while giving yourself the best sugar rush of your life.
I drink this stuff a lot and I hope you guys can enjoy it as much as I do! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave comments below! Thanks for reading and living that Goodlife!
Kitchen items used in this post:
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
Drinks
|
- 6 tbsp Thai tea mix
- 4 cups hot water
- 1 cup raw cashew
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 8 tbsp maple syrup
Ingredients
|
|
- Measure out 6 tbsp of Thai tea mix into a french press. Pour about 4 cups of hot water to steep. After 10 minutes, press tea and pour out into 4 mason jars (1 cup each) and let cool down to room temperature.
- Measure 1 cup cashew and 1 cup of almond milk. Simmer on low heat for 25 minutes in a small covered pot. Once done, combine maple syrup, boiled cashews, and almond milk into a blender and blend for 2-3 minutes.
- To make Thai Iced Tea, pour 4 oz. of vegan condensed milk into 1 cup of tea. Whisk together until condensed milk is evenly distributed. Add 5-6 ice cubes and stir in glass. Serve and enjoy.
Can you add Pure Vanilla Extract tonthsi recipe or does the tea mix give it that needed hint of vanilla? Thank you
The tea mix I used here does include vanilla flavoring already. If you need more, Pure Vanilla Extract can definitely work. Also, you can use your own black tea with vanilla extract to produce similar recipe. Hope this helps!