Thai tea ice cream
A sweet, spiced, orange-tan ice cream that tastes like the iced Thai tea drink made with condensed milk.
Hard to find Look for it in specialty shops and seasonal runs. What the badge means
Thai tea ice cream turns the familiar iced drink into a scoop: strong spiced tea, sweetened condensed milk and that orange-tan color. It is hard to find, so making it yourself is often the easiest way to get it.
This page covers what it tastes like, how to make Thai tea ice cream at home, what to serve with it, how common it is and what the nutrition figures show.
What Thai tea tastes like
Thai tea ice cream is strong, sweet and spiced. It tastes a lot like the iced drink made with Thai tea mix and sweetened condensed milk. The tea comes through first, bold and a little warm with spice, and the condensed milk rounds it out with a rich, milky sweetness.
The color is orange-tan, the same shade you see in a glass of iced Thai tea. There are no chunks or swirls in the classic version. The flavor comes from two things: a strong Thai tea blend steeped into the dairy, and sweetened condensed milk, which adds both sweetness and body. The result is a smooth, creamy scoop with nothing in the way of the tea.
Where Thai tea comes from
The sources we use do not record who first made Thai tea ice cream or when.
What we can say is where the flavor gets its character. It is modeled on the iced drink made with Thai tea mix and sweetened condensed milk, and the ice cream keeps both parts. At home, the usual way to build it is to steep a strong Thai tea blend in warm dairy, strain it well, and let sweetened condensed milk stand in for part of the sugar. That gives the scoop its orange-tan color and its sweet, spiced taste.
On this site it sits in the regional and international section of the flavor library. In stores it is hard to find, so it shows up mostly in specialty shops and seasonal runs.
How to make Thai tea at home
The base style that suits Thai tea ice cream is French custard, made with egg yolks. Philadelphia style, with no eggs, works too. The Base Builder sets up a French custard base sized to your machine, in grams and cups. It gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.
The flavor goes in during cooking. Steep Thai tea mix in the warm dairy, then strain it well so no tea bits end up in the custard. Sweetened condensed milk can replace part of the sugar, which also brings the taste closer to the iced drink. No mix-ins are needed, so once the base is chilled you churn it as is.
If you already have a Thai tea ice cream recipe you like, the Recipe Scaler can resize it to fit your machine and convert cups to grams.
Base formula
Open the Base Builder: French custard (egg yolks)
Other styles that suit it: Philadelphia (no eggs)
The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.
What to serve with Thai tea
Thai tea ice cream goes well with flavors from the same part of the table. Serve it next to sliced ripe mango, which adds a bright, fruity contrast to the strong tea. Sweet sticky rice makes a warm, chewy base for a scoop. For a topping, toasted coconut adds crunch and a nutty note that suits the spice. Any of these three, alone or together, makes a simple dessert plate for a group.
- mango
- toasted coconut
- sweet sticky rice
How common Thai tea is
We give Thai tea ice cream a waxing crescent badge, 2 of 5, labeled "Hard to find." That means you are most likely to see it in specialty shops and seasonal runs, not in most grocery freezers. The badge describes how easy the flavor is to find, not how much people like it.
No survey we use lists Thai tea ice cream by name. So the badge here is our own judgement of how easy it is to find, with no survey line behind it.
No survey we use lists this flavor by name, so its badge is our own judgement of how easy it is to find.
- Rare Rare enough that you would most likely make it at home.
- Hard to find Look for it in specialty shops and seasonal runs.
- Sometimes found Found in some shops and some grocery freezers.
- Easy to find Common in most grocery freezers.
- Classic A classic you can buy almost anywhere.
Nutrition, roughly
FoodData Central has no record for Thai tea ice cream itself. The figures on this page are for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich: 207 to 249 kcal per 100 grams. The regular vanilla record lists 11 g fat and 21.2 g sugars per 100 grams, or about 137 kcal in a 1/2 cup (66 g) portion. Sweetened condensed milk and the tea blend change these numbers.
Nutrition per 100 grams
| FoodData Central record | Calories | Fat | Saturated fat | Sugars | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice creams, vanilla FDC 167575 1/2 cup (66 g): about 137 kcal, 7.3 g fat | 207 kcal | 11 g | 6.79 g | 21.2 g | 3.5 g |
| Ice creams, vanilla, rich FDC 167573 | 249 kcal | 16.2 g | 10.30 g | 20.6 g | 3.5 g |
FoodData Central has no record for Thai tea itself: these are the figures for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich. Mix-ins and sweeteners change them.
Questions people ask
What does Thai tea ice cream taste like?
It tastes strong, sweet and spiced, much like the iced Thai tea drink made with Thai tea mix and sweetened condensed milk. The tea flavor leads, and the condensed milk adds a rich, milky sweetness.
How do you make Thai tea ice cream at home?
Steep Thai tea mix in the warm dairy of a French custard base, then strain it well. Sweetened condensed milk can replace part of the sugar. The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.
Can I make Thai tea ice cream without eggs?
Yes. French custard with egg yolks is the main base style for this flavor, but Philadelphia style, which uses no eggs, also works. You steep and strain the Thai tea mix the same way.
What should I serve with Thai tea ice cream?
Mango, toasted coconut and sweet sticky rice all suit it. Mango adds bright fruit, toasted coconut adds crunch, and sticky rice makes a chewy base for a scoop.
Why is Thai tea ice cream hard to find?
We rate it 2 of 5 for how easy it is to find. It turns up mostly in specialty shops and seasonal runs. No survey we use lists it, so that rating is our own judgement.
More flavors to try
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Regional and international
Chai ice cream
Spiced black tea with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove
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Regional and international
Spumoni ice cream
Layered pistachio, cherry and chocolate, often with candied fruit
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Regional and international
Dulce de leche ice cream
Tan milk caramel ice cream with a dulce de leche swirl
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Regional and international
Kulfi-style cardamom pistachio ice cream
Dense Indian-style frozen milk with cardamom, pistachio and saffron
Plan and make it with these
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Recipe Scaler and Converter
Ice cream recipe converter: cups to grams
Scale an ice cream recipe by a factor, a batch volume or your machine, and see every line in grams and cups.
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Scoop size chart
Ice cream scoop sizes and the disher number chart
The number stamped on an ice cream scoop tells you how many level scoopfuls fill one quart, so a #8 holds 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) and a #16 holds 2.
Sources
- Ice creams, vanilla (FDC 167575) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
- Ice creams, vanilla, rich (FDC 167573) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Every data source the site uses is on the Sources page.