Iced Thai coffee (kah-feh yen) is great both during the day and in the evening, or to accompany your favorite Thai dish. This drink, an excellent combination of flavors from all over the world, perfectly balances exoticism and tradition, managing to please everyone.
There are many variations of Thai cold coffee, although each of them includes among the ingredients: coffee, cream, a sweetener and one or more spices. The article illustrates three different recipes to prepare this drink, with different preparation times, from the slowest, which takes a whole night, to the fastest, ready in a few minutes. Let's see them together.
Index
Ingrediants
Long preparation
- Coffee - Use a blend of ground coffee suitable for the tool you will be using to prepare it. Use Java quality, with not excessive toasting, for an ideal preparation.
- Brown sugar, 2-4 tablespoons per glass (30-60 g)
- Spices, 2 teaspoons per glass (10 g). The use of cardamom is a must, also add cinnamon, almond extract or other sweet spices that meet your taste.
- Condensed milk, or cream, 30-60 ml per glass.
Soluble Thai coffee
- 1 l of water
- 25 g of Thai coffee powder
- 170 g of sugar
- Ice flakes, or cubes, to be poured into each glass
- 200 g of evaporated milk, or a mixture of milk and fresh cream in equal parts
Quick preparation
- 250-300 ml of cold coffee
- 30 ml of cream or condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons of sugar (30 ml)
-
1 tablespoon of ground cardamom
For a vegan variant, or for non-dairy, you can substitute condensed milk with evaporated soy milk, or use the recipe for kah-feh dahm yen described in the following sections
Steps
Step 1. Choose the recipe you want to make and prepare all the ingredients and tools you will need by following the instructions in the 'Ingredients' and 'Things you will need' section
Method 1 of 4: Long prep
Step 1. Prepare the coffee following the instructions for using a French coffee maker
For more details read this article.
Step 2. Pour the coffee into a carafe
Add the sugar and spices, and mix very carefully.
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Let the coffee rest in the refrigerator overnight.
Make Thai Iced Coffee Step 3Bullet1
Step 3. For serving, pour the coffee into a tumbler glass filled with ice, and leave some free space on the top
Complete the coffee by adding the cream or milk very slowly.
Mint leaves can be used as a decoration
Method 2 of 4: Soluble Thai coffee
Thai coffee powder, thanks to the addition of corn and roasted sesame seeds among its ingredients, has a unique flavor. If possible, buy a pack, and try it at least once in this version.
Step 1. In a saucepan, pour the water and the Thai coffee powder, heat them using medium heat
Bring the water to a boil and then remove the pot from the heat.
Alternatively, use the ground coffee in a French coffeemaker, as in the previous version
Step 2. Add the sugar, mix carefully to dissolve and then let the mixture cool
Step 3. When the coffee has cooled, strain it
Use a very fine sieve or coffee filter and pour it into a large jug.
Step 4. Place the coffee in the refrigerator until ready to serve
For the service, follow these simple instructions: fill each glass with crushed ice, or cubes, and add about 180 ml of coffee. Complete by adding the evaporated milk or cream (about 3-4 tablespoons per glass).
Method 3 of 4: Quick preparation
Step 1. Pour cold coffee into a tall glass
Step 2. Add the cream, or condensed milk, and sugar and mix carefully
Step 3. Add the cardamom and mix again
Step 4. Top the coffee with a spoonful of cream or condensed milk, then serve it to the table
Step 5. Finished
Method 4 of 4: Kah-feh dahm yen
Step 1. If you don't like cream, condensed milk and evaporated milk you can avoid using them by turning your Thai coffee into the drink known as Kah-feh dahm yen (or o-liang, in Chinese)
Advice
- As in the classic version of Thai cold coffee, the cream will have to float on the surface of the coffee. Use a spoon and, placing it gently on the coffee, pour the milk very slowly.
- About 50 years ago the US military supplied its bases in Thailand with Eagle Brand milk (existing since 1856). Even today, Thais use it to make their coffee.
- In the first recipe, the coffee can be made with a coffee machine, but you will get a better flavor using a piston coffee maker.
- Alternatively, it is possible to use cold American coffee instead of espresso, which, due to its very intense aroma, could cover the other flavors. Either way, experiment with both versions and choose the one that best suits your taste.
- Serve the drink quickly. Condensed milk tends to dissolve quickly in coffee, making your Thai coffee less palatable.
- Instead of making hot coffee, you can use a piston coffee maker with cold water. Soak the ground coffee in the coffee pot overnight, and then brew the coffee the next morning. This way you can cold extract all the flavor of the coffee. Instead of sugar, use a sweetener in syrup.
- Try different flavors. Add your favorite spices and enrich the flavor by making it more structured. Also experiment with some unusual variations, such as using coconut milk as a substitute for animal milk.
