This recipe is for the creamy style of Thai iced tea that most Thai restaurants in America serve (ชาเย็น, also known as cha yen, cha nom yen or cha yen sai nom). While many Thai iced tea mixes often contain a low-grade powder or syrup, this authentic recipe gets its flavor from good-quality black tea and spices without any artificial ingredients. This means your Thai tea won't be bright orange, since the color comes from a dye added to Thai tea mixes.

Similar to hot Thai tea, real Thai iced tea is a mix of black tea, spices, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. It's a great drink for fans of masala chai and other spiced or milky black teas. The best part is it's easy to make and far cheaper to make from scratch than buying it.

If you don't have every one of the spices in this recipe on hand, that's OK—you can skip one or two. But if you want the full flavor, seek out the somewhat unusual ingredients (such as tamarind powder) at your local Southeast Asian or Indian market. Although you can use tea bags, it tastes better with loose-leaf tea because the flavor is richer and more complex.

• 2 tablespoons loose-leaf black tea
• 1 pod star anise
• 2 pods cardamom
• 1/2 cinnamon stick, optional
• 1/8 vanilla bean, optional
• Tamarind powder, to taste, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons evaporated milk, or coconut milk, or whole milk

• Gather the ingredients.
• Steep the tea, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, tamarind powder, and almond extract (if using) in the boiling water for 5 minutes.
• Strain the tea.
• Stir in the sugar and sweetened condensed milk until both are completely dissolved.
• Fill 2 tall glasses with ice.
• Pour the tea over the ice, leaving an inch or so of space at the top for the evaporated milk.
• Top up with more ice if needed, and then drizzle with 1 teaspoon of evaporated milk on each glass of tea.

• If you like this cha yen style of Thai iced tea, you also might enjoy cha manao Thai iced tea, which replaces the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk with lime juice and jasmine essence. It is especially refreshing in summer.
• And if you're a coffee drinker, be sure to try Thai iced coffee, which has the same spiciness and creaminess with a coffee base instead of tea.