This week’s Thai-inspired menu is coming to an end, and what better way to finish it off than with Hibiscus Vanilla Thai-Styled Ice Tea. Thai iced tea is always a treat for me. Black tea with sweetener and creamy coconut milk served over ice is so refreshing and a little decadent. This version keeps the coconut milk but uses herbal tea and spices to add what sounds like a flavorful twist. Let’s find out if it’s a Pinterest success or a Pinterest fail!
…sometime last week, that memory made it’s way back into my head. The taste, the look, the shooting stars, and I decided that I needed to make my own version. A version that I can drink and not feel terrible because of the dairy and amount of sugar. I did some research and it turns out that coconut milk is a more than acceptable milk to sub for the half and half, and in fact, I think it adds a little something to the flavor and texture.
The Ingredients
Everything I needed to make this tea was easy to find. I had a few things like the spices and the coconut palm sugar on hand. That left me with needing to buy the hibiscus tea, vanilla bean, and coconut milk. The latter was inexpensive, and the tea and vanilla bean were around $6 each. The tea wasn’t bad price-wise considering I only used a few of the tea bags, making the vanilla bean the priciest item since it was a single use.
The Process
The instructions were so easy to follow, and no special equipment was needed. Just a few basics like a saucepan, sieve, and a paring knife to scrape the vanilla bean. If you’ve never done it, here’s a quick video tutorial on how to scrape a vanilla bean.
Cooling the spiced tea was the longest step. Fortunately, an hour in the refrigerator is completely inactive, so I was free to go about my day while I waited.
Putting the tea together was the easiest step. Just add ice to a tall glass, pour in the tea, then add coconut milk. I used light coconut milk that was shaken well, and I sure didn’t miss the extra fat. My tea was just as rich as traditional Thai iced tea with the twist of herbal tea and spices to add flavor.
The total time wasn’t listed on this recipe, but here is how it broke down for me:
- 7 minutes prep work
- 15 minutes to cook
- 1 hour to cool
- 1 minute to put it together
- 1 hour 23 minutes total
