grin and tonic

Thai Iced Tea - at home!

After a recent trip to the Asian market here in town, I found a canister of single-serve Thai tea bags. Naturally, I decided to buy them since Thai Iced tea at a restaurant runs you about 5 bucks and it the most delicious thing ever.

If you live in Charleston, H&L has the tea bags. I’m positive other Asian markets will have it, if not something really similar. I found the same brand on Amazon, so if you like this as much as I do, try it. It’s cheap as dirt. http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Brand-Thai-Premium-Quality/dp/B00478QLGI/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1310861874&sr=8-17 

Here’s what you do. 

• Put one tea bag in a tea strainer. I used my Teavana tea steeper. (Some of the tea leaves tend to escape from the bag.)
• Add about 8-10oz of near-boiling water. I take it off the heat right as the kettle is about to whistle.
• Let the tea steep for 4-5 minutes. The directions say 3-4 but I think it should go a little longer since you’re going to ice it and add cream.
• I put about 4 spoons of sugar in. (probably equivalent to about a tablespoon?) That’s a lot, I know. But this isn’t exactly health food.
• Once the sugar dissolves, pour the tea over a full glass of ice. A Tervis tumbler works nicely as do almost all my pint glasses.
• Top the glass off with your dairy product of choice. Heavy cream tastes the most like the tea in a restaurant, but I’ve found that original CoffeeMate creamer is really close, dairy free, and fat-free. If I had to guess a measurement, it’s probably about 2 tablespoons or so.
• I usually mix the tea before I drink it, but that’s a personal preference.

Be careful, as the tea is very red-orange and stains EVERYTHING it touches. 

I’d imagine a little nutmeg or even some cardamom would make a great garnish on top.

This has been my lifesaver this summer when it has been too hot to drink coffee, and as any tea-drinker knows, the ritual of making tea is almost as relaxing and comforting as drinking it.

cleared out the following list. screencaps are cool but it takes far too long to get through my tumblrs.

shutting it up

My tumblr will remain open, but I’m going to go ahead and make my Twitter feed private. Love you all, but the drama has finally gotten a little far out of hand.