How to Buy Thai Tea

Thai tea is a powdered tea flavored with star anise, cinnamon, vanilla and often orange food coloring. You make Thai tea by pouring the dark tea over ice and topping with half and half, heavy cream or sweetened condensed milk. Most Thai teas are readily available online if you can't find Thai tea at your local stores.

Instructions

1. Find out how you like your Thai tea prepared. You can make Thai tea with or without milk and may serve it hot or cold. Your personal preferences can guide you through which tea to buy and what you need for its preparation. There are different Thai tea mixes if you want hot or iced Thai tea.

2. Talk to a server at your favorite Thai restaurant to discover how they prepare the tea and what brands they use or can recommend. Some tea manufactures use orange blossom and others use tamarind to give the tea a citrus taste, and if you prefer one flavor over another it's important you buy a brand with a flavor you enjoy.

3. Decide how much time you want to spend making your tea. You can choose to use a recipe if you want to buy the ingredients separately and brew the tea from scratch. Choose a premade mix for convenience. For example, Import Foods, an online Thai market, sells the Por Kwan brand of Thai tea mix. Curry Simple sells a concentrated Thai tea syrup so you can enjoy Thai tea anytime. This is a great option if you don't want to take the time to brew the tea yourself.

4. Purchase a tea filter to keep the powder from floating to the top of the water if you plan to brew your Thai tea.

5. Inspect the package prior to purchasing if you are buying in person. If you're buying the tea online, find a reputable online market with good feedback. The package of tea shouldn't have much tea dust in the packaging. Once you're happy with your selection, buy the tea and have fun brewing this popular drink.