I will confess that tamarind has long been one of those ingredients I’ve overlooked. Sure, it’s a mainstay in our Shrimp Pad Thai recipe, but what else can one do with it? Well, that mystery has been solved, because this tamarind iced tea is all you need this summer!
What is Tamarind?
Tamarind is a tree plant that produces edible pod-like fruit. These pods look like large, earthy brown pea pods. Inside is a tart, tangy pulp that lends itself well to sweet and savory applications in Mexican, Thai, Ghanaian, Caribbean, and Indian cuisines, among others.
You can make your own tamarind paste using fresh tamarind pods, but for ease, we call for tamarind concentrate. You can find it at Asian groceries and specialty stores.
Not only can fresh tamarind pods be harder to come by, the jarred concentrate will allow you to have a big pitcher of iced tea or any tamarind drink ready that much faster.
A Refreshing Summer Drink
Unsurprisingly, across most of those foodways, everyone came to the same realization that tamarind makes for an incredibly refreshing summer drink.
The tangy and tart sweetness, when mellowed with sugar and water, is just about perfection.
We’ve made ours with a little bit of iced tea and lemon to create a delicious summer refresher.
It’s great for sipping, but it’s even better with a big plate of noodles or something porky off the grill to go alongside it!
Tamarind Iced Tea Recipe Instructions
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Turn off the heat, and add 4 tea bags. Steep for 20 minutes. You can let it sit longer if you need to make things in advance, but just be mindful that this can cause slight bitterness, so it’s best to remove the tea bags. Allow the tea to cool.
To your pitcher, add the brewed tea, 2 cups ice, lemon slices, tamarind concentrate, and your sweetener of choice.
We’ve offered ¼ cup as a starting point, but you should tailor it to your preferences for sweetness. We put ½ cup of honey in ours.
Stir thoroughly using a long wooden spoon.
And serve!
Tamarind Iced Tea
Ingredients
- 6 cups water (1400 ml)
- 4 black tea bags
- 2 cups ice
- 1 lemon (sliced into thin rounds)
- 1/2 cup tamarind concentrate or tamarind paste
- 1/4-1/2 cup simple syrup (to taste; can substitute honey or agave)
Instructions
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Turn off the heat, and add 4 tea bags. Steep for 20 minutes. You can let it sit longer if you need to make things in advance, but just be mindful that this can cause slight bitterness, so it’s best to remove the tea bags. Allow the tea to cool.
- To your pitcher, add the brewed tea, 2 cups ice, lemon slices, tamarind concentrate, and your sweetener of choice. We’ve offered ¼ cup as a starting point, but you should tailor it to your preferences for sweetness.
- Stir thoroughly using a long wooden spoon, and serve!
Delicious and refreshing! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thanks, Nancy!
Today was a hot and humid day. I happened to have some leftover tamarind so I followed your recipe and made some tamarind iced tea. The tamarind added a new dimension to the sourness instead of just the lemon sour taste. Very refreshing. Love it. 🥰
So glad you enjoyed it, Jill! :)
Just made this drink ! This is really good! Very refreshing!! I used agave nectar as I didnt have honey !
Wonderful, Melissa! :)
The video on this page of a live lobster being ripped apart reaches new levels of cruelty. Well done. I’m not a vegan or even a vegetarian, but you managed to make me feel sick. I will unsubscribe.
Hi Mike, The lobster is placed in the refrigerator/freezer to put it into a more sedated state before we process it. That said, dispatching or killing animals and crustaceans is a reality of a carnivore. Since you’re not a vegan or vegetarian, I assume you eat chicken, pork, or beef and maybe you should witness, as I have, how these animals are killed for food. It’s not pretty, like the neat packages you find in the store. For freshness reasons, lobsters are one of the few creatures we do still dispatch in our home kitchens. However humane the process is, it is a reality of making the choice to eat meat. I understand if you want to unsubscribe or perhaps already have done so. Nevertheless, others can see our comment thread here and come to their own conclusions.
I’m doubly confused! Firstly, though previously I have been posting comments as “Mike”, I’ll change to “MikeD” in future just to make it clear that I am not the same Mike who was upset by your method for killing and preparing the lobster. I am in total agreement with you Bill about how we need to be fully aware of how the animals we eat are treated and killed.
Secondly, I don’t see any reference to the preparation of lobster on this page. Persumably the comment was supposed to have been posted on the Cantonese-Style Ginger Scallion Lobster page.
Which aisle is an Asian market would I find this concentrate? Is it by the teas? I get lost in my local market.
Hi Linda, I can’t say with 100% certainty as all stores are different, but you might try by the canned fruits, coconut milks, bamboo shoots, etc. Good luck!
puedo hacer jugo de tamarindo sin el te ? solo la bebida ? el envase que capacidad en litros de jugo podria tener?
Si! pruebe con 4 tazas de agua y agregue según sea necesario
I adore tamarind. It grows here but they pulled the trees in my area down to build apartments. I always have the pulp block version in the fridge but forget it there. Must make this ASAP.
that’s so sad :( This will be excellent with the block of pulp! Since making my pad thai, I’ve seen the light on the merits of pulp over concentrate!!!
I will try this ice tea thank you
Thanks, Kathy! Hope you like it
Tamarind is indeed delicious and refreshing but can be a strong laxative
if taken in excess. Limit your intake to one or two cups
of this tea until you know how your digestive system
will respond.
GOOD TIP! Thank you, Emily! I didn’t have any adverse effects with drinking a couple of cups of this in one sitting, but that’s a super helpful note!
Great refreshing drink idea using tamarind. We’ve been having a heatwave and going to make this ASAP lol
We thought it was good timing, too! xD
Can I make this with loose leaf tea? If so, how many teaspoons?