Thai Tea at Home

The Hubs and I were riding around trying to figure out what to eat one evening.  Finally, we decided on Thai food.  I got on yelp and found the nearest restaurant near us.  I can’t remember the name of it now but it was a Maw and Paw place off the beaten path in Houston.

We had eaten Thai food many times before but had never had Thai Tea.  The reviews on Yelp were all raving about this particular tea so we had to try it!  For $2.99 you get a huge mug of it.

Unfortunately, there is no refills but after googling the recipe while there, that is probably a good thing:

1. It was 7:00 pm and I don’t need that much caffeine that late
2. It has tons of whipped cream!
3. Has lots of sugar also !

But it is ssssooooo good!!!!!  If you have never tried it, I highly recommend.

For the record, I do not like Chai tea. This tastes nothing like that.

When I googled Thai Tea Recipes, they were saying to buy this tea.  Immediately, while at the table, I hit purchase.

There are lots of recipes but from what I read, they’re mostly all the same. You adjust the cream, sugar, and tea ratio to your personal taste.

The tea is loose leaf tea.  This was a huge problem since I don’t know how to make tea from loose tea leaves, much less a large amount.   I finally  just decided to try it out in the coffee pot which worked out great!!!!!  I filled up my coffee bin with the tea leaves and waited on it to fill up.

Some recipes said to make it while its’ hot, some said its’ best the next day, etc.  To me, I like to make it then divide into mason jars and add the sugar so it will dissolve.  When I am wanting the tea, I just open up a jar, add some ice and my cream.

The pictures below are me making it my first time.  I was very upset I didn’t have the fancy layering the restaurant had. I was thinking surely it was the order the drink had to be poured.  Then I saw in one of the recipes that the layering comes from the sugar in the tea. Therefore, you can’t substitute the sugar if you want the layering look.  I tried this method the next time and I had my layers!!!!

My first attempt…. no layers 😦

No matter what if you start out with layers or not, it eventually turns orange no matter what

Here is a recipe along with some interesting facts as to why the tea is orange, different options you can try, etc.

Pumpkin Pie Moonshine

Last year I was on Pinterest and saw a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Moonshine. Well, everyone loves Pumpkin everything so I had to try it.

And what better excuse to make a big batch and Boo the neighborhood?!?! However, this year I decided to change things up and actually Booze the hood instead.  What do you know??? It actually took off !  By the end of the season, over half the neighborhood had participated in my little experiment.  Funny how I had Booed three years in a row and it never spread but put some alcohol on someone’s porch and everyone plays along!

Here is the recipe I use.  Everyone enjoyed it so much last year, I have made it several times since and have given it as gifts as well.  The only thing I do different is I cook everything to dissolve the sugar before adding the alcohol.  Also, I usually double the recipe so I add an extra cup of everclear in case I have a spill or something.  And of course you will see below that happens sometimes. 🙂

And yes I know this isn’t “real moonshine” but it tastes a lot better and you may (depending on how much you have) remember what you did the next day.  I personally like to refer to it as No carb pumpkin pie.

Here are all the spices ready to be mixed in

I love my magnalite pot !  It is the best thing my mother ever gave me!  Like I said, I double my recipe and this is a roaster full without the alcohol added yet.  Crap!  How am I going to fix this issue?

Guest of Honor

Ah Hah!!!!  I will transfer it all to my cooler then add the booze!  I am so brilliant!!!

Maybe Brilliant is a strong word???

Note to self:  check the spout thingy next time before you start adding things to a cooler.  Thankfully I put the extra cup of Everclear in. 

Its’ almost like the cooler was made to make moonshine don’t you think?

 

 

My finished product!  I also boil the jars after to seal the lids so it will last longer.  Plus, when I give them as gifts, it looks more professional after I “pretty them up” with material or ribbons or whatever I have around the house.