Taste of Thailand: The Best Thai Iced Coffee Recipes

Thai iced coffee is a sweet, cold coffee made with coffee beans, cardamom, and a little almond extract that give out a strong smell when roasted.

Thai iced coffee is a little sweeter than your regular cup of coffee and it contains anywhere around 90-150 calories. In comparison, a regular cup of black coffee just contains less than 5 calories. So if you’re going to drink Thai iced coffee, make sure you consume it responsibly!

Now you must be wondering how is Thai Iced coffee different from normal coffee? and what can be the benefits of switching to it?

Now, don’t you worry since I have gathered all the information you need about Thai Iced coffee under this article and saved you the hassle of going through multiple websites?

The Origin Of Thai Iced Coffee

Iced coffee originated from Algeria, in the 1840s. The first iced coffee was called the mazagran since it was invented by the French during the battle of Mazagran.

The authentic Iced coffee is known in Thai as ‘Oliang’, and comes from a Teochew dialect since the Teochews majority compromises of the Thai Chinese people, in which the ‘O’ means ‘black and ‘Liang’ means cool.

What Is Thai Iced Coffee Made Of?

Thai iced coffee gives a very strong coffee effect, three ingredients make it unique, coffee, condensed milk for the sweetness, spices such as cardamom that are directly added to the coffee beans before brewing, and a kind of almond flavoring that gives it a refreshing smell.

Thai Iced tea can be found at any corner of Thailand, its consumed nationwide due to its refreshing aroma, high caffeine, and sweetness of condensed milk that subsides the strong smell of coffee and a blend of spices that balances the sweetness.

Now that we have talked about its ingredients let’s take a look into the nutrition facts that Thai Iced tea gives you.

Nutrition Facts Of Thai Iced Coffee

Thai Iced Coffee is one of its own since it has a unique set of ingredients that goes into making one. Following is the chart of nutrition value that a 10oz of Thai Iced coffee can provide you.

Looking at the table you can see what kind of nutrition this Thai iced coffee serves you, if you’re someone with a low nutrition diet, a Thai iced latte a day will do great.

However, if you look into the calories, it’s mighty. If you’re someone with low-calorie content or on a weight loss diet, you might want to skip this coffee.

What is Different About Thai Iced Coffee?

In the traditional days, Thai iced coffee was served black and sugar was added to sweeten the drink.

Nowadays, Thai iced coffee is made with strong coffee beans which gives off a bold smell and flavor, to balance this flavor they add condensed milk and some spices.

The coffee beans of Thai Iced coffee are brewed using a coffee sock filter and spices are directly added so they can give off their taste and smell while being brewed.

The addition of condensed milk goes against the tradition because it changes the color of the coffee and it no more stays black as mentioned in its origin name.

How Much Caffeine Is In Thai Iced Coffee?

Generally, a cup of coffee contains 95mg of caffeine, this means Thai Iced coffee might contain around 100mg to 150mg of caffeine.

Caffeine is found in cocoa, tea leaves, and coffee beans. It is a naturally stimulating agent which stimulates the brain and central nervous system of the body.

Caffeine works by blocking off the adenosine receptors which makes you fall asleep, hence the blockage helps you stay awake, alerted, and energized.

According to the FDA, a healthy individual can have no more than 400mg of caffeine daily.

This limit is only advised so that you don’t overdose because overdosing can cause serious health risks such as:

• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Abnormal Heart Rhythym
• Depression
• Mood swings

If you wanna read more about these side effects, have a look at my other article here.

So if you’re someone who is caffeine sensitive Id suggest you keep a tab of your caffeine intake and read the nutritional label of whatever you’re consuming just to be varied.

However, the amount of caffeine in Thai Iced Coffee is enough to give you a boost and help you perform better mentally and physically.

How Many Calories does Thai Iced Coffee has?

Thai Iced Coffee contains about 155 calories per serving. Calories tell you the amount of energy you will be getting from a drink. It does give you energy but causes weight gain simultaneously.

If you have an active lifestyle a cup of Thai Iced Coffee in the morning can help you get through your daily tasks, however, if you’re health-conscious or on a weight loss diet, you might have to reconsider your choice.

According to the NHS, the daily recommended calorie intake for women is 2,000 and for men is 2,500.

This means a cup of Thai Iced coffee won’t take much of your calories but you need moderation if you’re a gym enthusiast.

How Much Sugar Does Thai Iced Coffee has?

Sugar gives you a quick boost and a sweet taste but it can contribute to weight gain. Thai Iced Coffee contains about 26g of sugar per serving.

This is relatively a large amount of sugar to consume in a day through a single drink because according to the AHA, the daily recommended dose for women is 25g, for men is 36g and for children under age 6 is 19g.

You might want to keep a tab of your sugar intake if you’re consuming Thai iced coffee every day because the recommended dose is given to be consumed in the whole day applying to not only what you eat but what you drink too.

Sugar does give you benefit but it can cause health risks if you overdose, these health risks include:

• Weight gain
• Type 2 diabetes
• Sugar cravings
• Mood swings
• Jitters
• Headache
• Tooth Decay

So if you want to avoid the health risks you can keep a tab of your sugar intake and read the nutritional label of whatever you consume.

Why Does Thai Iced Coffee Taste Different?

Thai Iced coffee tastes different because of its unique formulation which dates back to the 1840s but nowadays it has been somewhat changed.

Now the coffee beans are brewed in a sock filter and spices such as cardamom are added within so it can have all the aroma and taste of it while being brewed.

To balance the spice and the strong smell of roasted coffee beans both, condensed and evaporated milk are added which gives off a sweet smell and taste to the coffee.

Moreover, some say almond extract or milk is also added to this drink which subsided the hot taste and makes your Thai coffee creamy and sweet.

Is Thai Iced Coffee and Vietnamese Coffee The Same?

Not really. Thai Iced Coffee and Vietnamese Coffee contain many similarities but they are somewhat different.

To be specific, Thai Iced coffee and Vietnamese coffee are brewed using different methods. The Thai Iced coffee is brewed using the ‘tungdtom‘ or a coffee sock filter made up of a muslin bag that has a metal ring with a handle.

Whereas, Vietnamese Iced coffee uses the ‘Phin‘ a Vietnamese single-serving filter.

Moreover Vietnamese Iced Coffee is sweeter than Thai Iced Coffee and during brewing, spices are added in the Thai Iced Coffee to give a bold smell and taste to refresh your mind and soul.

Benefits of Thai Iced Coffee

Thai Iced coffee provides you with many benefits such as:

• The cardamom can help prevent GI Diseases.
• Its anti-inflammatory and anti microbial
• It helps with circulation and protects against heart disease
• The cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar and is a powerful antioxidant
• It also helps improve brain functions
• It helps you burn fat and lower risks of heart disease

Above are some of the many benefits that Thai Iced Coffee gives you. Now in my opinion, if you’re getting that whole lot of benefits from one drink might grab it three to four times a week.

How is Thai Iced Tea Different than Thai Iced Coffee?

The only difference is that coffee is replaced by black tea for Thai Iced Tea and for some places food color is also added due to which the Thai Iced tea gives golden color.

Thai Iced tea also uses evaporated, coconut and whole milk in its formulation and the tea has some vanilla taste due to vanilla extract.

Does Thai Iced Coffee Give You Energy?

Yes!. Thai Iced Tea gives you energy. It contains a whole lot of calories, a good amount of caffeine, some sugar, and vitamins.

The calories added in it contribute to giving you the energy to help you complete your daily work tasks when you’re at your lowest.

Caffeine can help you improve your physical and mental performances, moreover, it can help you stay awake and focused.

The spices and sugar mixed can provide you with a soothing effect that can help you relax your mind and concentrate better.

Summary

Thai Iced Coffee was invented in the 1840s, it has a unique formulation process. It uses unique ingredients that make it one of the most consumed coffees of Thailand.

It is made with coffee beans roasted and brewed with all the spices including cardamom and cinnamon. Sweetener is also added such as condensed milk to balance out the taste of spices.

In terms of nutrition, Thai Iced coffee is packed with fats, calories, carbs, and vitamins, so if you’re low within the nutrition diet you can make it a part of your day.

With this, I hope I cleared all your concerns regarding Thai Iced coffee. You can watch the following video if you want a Thai Iced Coffee recipe.

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