Cha Manao

Why This Recipe Works

It is steeped with spices and a red coloring agent and then sweetened and served with lime juice. The backbone of this drink comes from loose-leaf Assam tea because it lends a delicate, not overly bitter flavor when compared to bagged tea. Thai tea blends contain a wide range of warm spices, so we chose cinnamon and star anise, as they were common throughout homemade blends and imparted earthy spiced notes. To keep the red color that is characteristic of Thai tea while avoiding unnatural food dyes, we opted to use annatto seeds. Whole annatto seeds gave us a deep red color without much added flavor, and they didn't leave the tea cloudy or gritty like powdered annatto did. Vanilla extract provided flavor without any additional sweetness, while lime juice—the most readily available citrus in Thailand—gave our cha manao its distinctively refreshing flavor. It was important to keep the sweet-sour balance appropriately strong as this is key to the identity of cha manao, so we still included some sugar and added the lime juice just before serving to preserve its fresh and vibrant qualities. This resulted in an iced tea that was lightly sweetened and delicately spiced with a nice, acidic kick.