Thai Iced Tea Blend

Backlog:

I’ve had this as a traditional thai iced tea using sweetened condensed milk (AMAZING) as well as coconut milk (tasty). Then I got a little experimental and tried it with some ginger ale instead of milk or coconut milk (quite good!)

I brewed it at double strength so it wouldn’t be weak tasting with the addition of the milk. This is key, I think, because the flavor of the tea is really well pronounced without tasting bitter or overpowering, it marries perfectly with the sweetened condensed milk in particular … this addition makes it taste EXACTLY like a Thai Iced Tea that I’d buy in a restaurant. Better even. I like that I can taste the subtle notes of vanilla and the cardamom and anise. It doesn’t taste overpowered by any of these spices, instead, they accent the flavor of a good, strong black tea.

This is easily the best Thai Iced Tea product that I can make at home. And based upon my experiences with it as an iced tea, I decided to up the rating a bit… I do love Thai Iced tea!

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 8oz at 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: approximately 3 and a half minutes
Served: Cold

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cardamom, spice
Steeped Tea Smell: bakey black tea
Additives: 2 tsp sugar, ice, 4 tbl sweetened condensed milk
Flavor: heavily spiced black tea
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet, astringent
Liquor: nearly opaque dark brown to a cloudy light brown

Delicious! Very much like the many thai teas I have had while dining out. I zipped through this sample in the hot weather and was sad to find I had no more sniff

I tried the next batch hot and cold, both were good
(4 tsp 500ml at 212°F – 3 minutes, 2 cups 1 tsp sugar each, 4 tbl milk each 2 hot and 2 cold)

I even did a resteep, and it worked out fine

Note: breville had lots of grit in cups / teapot – suggest using tsac method

Rating: 4/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.teatra.de/2012/06/24/arbor-teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-organic-thai-iced-tea/

I got this in my Sips By box and was thrilled, as it’s been on my wishlist here for like 5 years. I just never got around to trying it.

And it’s exactly what I was afraid of. Another reputable tea company trying to create Thai Tea naturally. The spices just never come out recognizable. All I can taste in this is very loud cardamom and maybe a tiny bit of vanilla. It’s unfortunately nothing like what you would get in a Thai restaurant.

Also, I want to mention that this tea is super granulated and fine, so your spoon is going to get a dense, hefty amount. I know this is to keep it from being watered down too much by the milk, but it’s still something to consider during preparation.

I think this is a good tea. I can tell it is high quality and the taste is good; however the tea is just not agreeable with me for a couple reasons.

I really want to like this tea but the flavor is “off” from what I usually drink at restaurants. Perhaps in this case, I am better off ordering from restaurants even though I am sure the leaf quality is lower ><

I also found that this blend didn’t agree with my stomach at times; nothing major, just rumbling stomach. (I tested the tea by itself and still had gurgling stomach) I might be sensitive to one of the ingredients.

In general I don’t like spicy teas but I’ve always liked Thai Iced Tea for some reason. This is an aromatic tea with a smooth vanilla taste. I’d definitely recommend it to chai tea drinkers. It goes well with organic condensed milk, half & half, and white sugar. I experimented with raw honey and brown sugar but I definitely think white sugar is best.

I want to score this higher but I have to score this purely on taste, but don’t let that dissuade you from trying this tea. I generally don’t like chai teas, plus I have a very picky palate; additionally they have a sample of this tea for only $2 =)

I don’t drink black tea but I’ve always loved the iced tea served at Thai restaurants. I was thrilled to be able to reproduce the results at home using Pantai Thai tea mix from my local Asian grocer however I didn’t care for the added artificial orange color. So I was really excited when I discovered Arbor tea’s additive-free organic version.

I really wanted to love this tea but sadly it tasted nothing like authentic Thai iced tea. The tea leaves smelled heavily of vanilla and that’s what the flavor of the tea was. Basically a strong black tea with a very dominant note of vanilla. I tried steeping it according to Arbor tea’s instructions and simmering it (traditional way) and both were unpalatable. The smell of the tea was too nauseating to even bring to my lips.

This is a really nice chai. It’s odd but I like it simply sweetened, no creaminess needed. The vanilla is the dominant flavor but the spices hold their own. I’m actually tempted to try it hot.