Thai Iced Tea

Cha yen is made from a strong black tea blend brewed heavily, sweetened with sugar and condensed milk, cooled, poured over crushed ice and finished with a float of evaporated milk that sinks through it. The colour is the thing people ask about: the characteristic orange does not come from the tea but from food colouring added to the commercial tea powder blends used almost universally, and versions brewed from plain black tea come out brown. The blend also usually contains crushed tamarind seed, star anise and other flavourings alongside the tea. It is made at street carts to order, with the brewing done through a long cloth sock filter that vendors pour between vessels to aerate, which is part of the show. It is extremely sweet - the standard is sweeter than most foreign visitors expect - and asking for less sugar is normal and understood at most carts.

What you actually see

• The sock filter - long cloth strainers poured between vessels to aerate.
• The layered milk - evaporated milk sinking through the tea over ice.
• The colour - orange from food colouring in the tea blend, not the leaves.
• The blend - tea with tamarind seed, star anise and other flavourings.

When to go

Any time; carts operate through the day and into the evening. Bottled versions are in every convenience store but are not the same thing.

Honest expectations

Very sweet by default - ask for less sugar, which vendors understand. The orange colour is added food colouring. Ice from street carts is generally from commercial suppliers and safe, but visitors with sensitive stomachs sometimes prefer to avoid it.

Nearby

Sold at carts and stalls in every town in the country.