Thai Iced Tea with Almond Milk: An Ode to Summer

Summer is here and it is here to stay. With the temperatures soaring, all I want to do is to stay indoors and drink refreshing summer coolers! Also, recuperate from the last 3 weeks of super busy-ness!

June started out on a fabulous note! We drove to our friends' place in the Chicago suburbs to be a part of their son's First Holy Communion. What followed was a week of too much fun, food and just plain good time spent with good friends.

My friend and I took the kids strawberry picking while the fathers were at work. We grilled, the kids roasted marshmallows in the fire pit and gobbled up s'mores. We ate biriyani and kebabs at Devon Ave - Chicago's Indian/Pakistani suburb, ate paan and drank freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, soaked in some gorgeous sunshine on the beaches of Lake Michigan - the list is endless.

We even watched Lionel Messi (of Argentina) in action during the Copa America Argentina vs Panama match. Argentina won, of course. It is a bummer that Argentina bowed out to Chile in the final and Messi is on the verge of announcing his retirement from international football (soccer, in the States). I am glad that we got to see him in action - what a superbly talented player he is.

Now coming back to the recipe, I drank Thai Iced Tea for the first time at a Thai restaurant in Dallas suburbs almost 10 years back! And boy, was I hooked! While I do not have too many options to eat when I go to a Thai restaurant due to my allergies, but I will almost always order the Thai Iced Tea to wash down the spicy food.

I could have used store bought Thai Tea mix, but most of the pre-mixes contained food dyes and my Twinings Darjeeling tea (black) was the perfect substitute.

That cute little hand pouring almond milk belongs to my 6 3/4 year old! Such a trooper he is, always ready to help his Mamma out! Of course, he has his moments and he's an expert at pushing my buttons, but at the same time just plain adorable! And edible! 

Check out:

• Single Serve Raspberry Lemonade
• Single Serve Limeade (or Lemonade)
• Mango Kiwi Popsicles

Ingredients for Thai Iced Tea: (Servings - about 4)

• Water - 4 Cups
• Loose Leaf Black Tea - 2 heaping tablespoons
• Almond Milk - 1 to 1 1/2 Cups (makes this a vegan recipe)
• Coconut Sugar - 4 tbsp (you can use brown sugar instead)
• Maple Syrup or Agave - 1/4 Cup
• A generous splash of vanilla extract

To make the Thai Iced Tea, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Take it off the heat. Measure out 2 heaped tablespoons of tea and add it to the hot water. Let the tea leaves steep for at least 30 minutes for a stronger brew. I steeped mine for 45 minutes.

Strain out the tea leaves, and to the liquid add the sugar and maple syrup and stir till the sugar granules dissolve. Taste and adjust for sweetness. 

Stick the black tea concoction in the fridge for at least 2 to 3 hours. I made mine a day ahead.

Use a jar with a spout for storing the tea for easy pouring. I used my 4-Cup glass measure, covered it up with cling/plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge.

Fill two tall glasses with ice cubes. Fill three fourths of the way with the black tea concoction and top it off with almond milk (or you can use coconut milk, whole milk, half & half, condensed milk).

Sit back and enjoy your tall glass of Thai Iced Tea!