Thai Iced Tea Rum Punch
Strong spiced black tea, sweetened condensed milk, and aged rum over crushed ice — the takeout-counter drink turned into a ten-serving punch for about a dollar a glass.
Ingredients
- 10 cups water
- 10 bags black tea or 1/3 cup loose-leaf Ceylon or Assam
- 4 star anise pods
- 6 cardamom pods lightly crushed
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 ounces
- 1 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
- 2 cups aged dark rum
- 8 cups crushed ice for serving
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk for floating
- 10 star anise pods optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil, then take it off the heat and add the tea, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon stick, and salt.
- Steep for 5 full minutes. This is a deliberately over-strong brew — anything less vanishes once the milk and ice go in.
- Strain out the tea and whole spices, pressing gently on the bags, and stir in the vanilla while the tea is still hot.
- Whisk the sweetened condensed milk into the hot tea until it fully dissolves. Hot liquid is the only way it incorporates smoothly; cold tea leaves it as a sludge at the bottom.
- Whisk in the 1 cup of evaporated milk, then cool the mixture to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Taste once it is cold, since cold mutes sweetness. Add a tablespoon more condensed milk if it needs it.
- Stir in the rum just before serving, and give the pitcher a good stir — the milk settles as it sits.
- Fill tall glasses with crushed ice, pour the punch over, and float a spoonful of evaporated milk on top of each for the layered look. Add a star anise pod if you have extras.
Notes
Plain store-brand black tea bags are perfect for this. Ten bags cost pennies, and at this strength with this much spice, an expensive tea would be wasted.
Buy star anise and cardamom from the bulk bin or the international aisle. The same quantity in baking-aisle jars can run five times the price.
A mid-shelf aged rum is the sweet spot. Skip spiced rum here — the tea already carries the spice, and the two sets fight.
One can of sweetened condensed milk and one of evaporated is under four dollars total and carries the whole batch. Leftover evaporated milk keeps 5 days refrigerated and goes into mashed potatoes or a pan sauce.
Crushed ice is not optional if you want the restaurant texture. Put cubes in a zip-top bag and hit them with a rolling pin, or pulse them in a blender.
The tea base without rum keeps 4 days in the refrigerator, so brew it the day before and finish the punch as guests arrive.
Make it alcohol-free: this one is the easiest of the batch — the tea base without rum is simply Thai iced tea, exactly as it is served at any Thai restaurant. Keep the rum out of the pitcher and pour 1 1/2 ounces per glass for anyone who wants it.
Serving note: 2 cups of rum across 10 servings is about 1 1/2 ounces each, one standard drink. The condensed milk hides alcohol well, so mention that it is in there.