Thai Drinks

In a country as hot as Thailand, it's unsurprising that its most popular drinks feature plenty of ice! More surprisingly perhaps is that condensed milk is also a feature of some. Its sweet milkiness helps to combat the heat of the spicy food for which Thailand is renowned.

Thai Iced Tea

Per glass you need:

• ¼ pint water
• 2 teaspoons black tea leaves
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon condensed milk
• crushed ice

Boil the water and pour on top of the tea leaves (in a teapot or jug). Allow to stand for 2 minutes and then strain. Add the sugar then leave to cool. Fill a glass with crushed ice and add the condensed milk. Pour on the cold tea and stir before serving.

Thai Iced Coffee

Per glass you need:

• 2 tablespoons filter coffee
• ¼ pint water
• 1-2 tablespoons condensed milk
• Ice cubes

Prepare the filter coffee in your usual way. Place the condensed milk in a tall glass. Half-fill the glass with coffee and stir well. Fill the glass with ice and stir again before serving.

Coconut Milk

• 1 young coconut
• 3 cups of cold water

Break open a coconut and grate the flesh into a large piece of cheesecloth over a bowl. Pour over the water. Squeeze the water and grated coconut together with your hands. Do this for about 5 minutes then lift the cheesecloth up, make a ball of the coconut and squeeze out as much of what is now coconut milk as you can. Discard the coconut and enjoy the drink.

• A young coconut is pale-coloured and doesn't have the rough hairy covering of an older one.

Iced Watermelon

• 1 watermelon
• Ice

Cut open the watermelon and roughly chop the flesh. Discard most of the seeds.

Crush the ice well before putting some in a blender. Whiz it to make a slush. Add the watermelon flesh and keep whizzing and adding ice or watermelon until you have a drink of the right consistency. Serve in a tall glass with a straw.

Thai Lemonade

• 200 ml water
• 4 oz sugar
• 3 lemons
• ½ litre soda water
• Ice

Put the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Halve and squeeze the lemons. Put the juice into a jug with the soda water. Add the sugar syrup, stirring and tasting until it's just right for you.

Fill a glass with crushed ice and cover with the lemonade. Serve garnished with a slice of orange and a straw.

Thai Cocktail

• 2 oz white rum
• 2 cups roughly chopped pineapple flesh
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 2 oz orange juice
• 1 oz coconut milk
• crushed ice

Place the first 5 ingredients in a blender and whiz for 30 seconds. Add crushed ice and blend until you have a slush. Add more ice as necessary. Serve garnished with a slice of pineapple.

• For an authentic Thai flavour use seeded and sliced fresh jackfruits if available.
• Jackfruits are part of the mulberry family and can reach 3' in length and weigh up to 75 lbs!

We'll finish off with a drink that looks a little bit unusual!

Thai Sweet Basil seed drink.

For this you need Thai Basil seeds, which are available from Asian supermarkets - or you can grow your own!

• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon clear honey
• 4 teaspoons Thai sweet basil seed

Stir the sugar into the water until it dissolves. Add the honey and stir. Add the basil seeds and stir. Leave for a few minutes before drinking.

• The basil seeds will expand and it will look as though you are drinking frog spawn!
• Thai custom says that this drink is an aid to slimming.

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