This Southeast Asian sweet drink, locally known as teh tarik or “pulled tea”, is a blast to make. Test your pouring skills to the max for the perfect froth on top of this amazing bitter sweet teh tarik recipe.
Why We Love This Recipe
Teh Tarik is pure bittersweet tea deliciousness whether you serve it hot or over ice. Hint: Iced teh tarik in summer is the best!
Either way, it’s the perfect sidekick to spicy Asian dishes like Vietnamese Ca Ri Ga or Thai panang curry.
This morning we decided it was high time we recreated this recipe because:
- We love hot frothy teh tarik during our Southeast Asian adventures and we love the buzz
- Because we absolutely needed to have one again right now!
Related: Thai Iced Tea / Matcha Latte / Kopi Tarik
What You’ll Need
Just three ingredients for this delectable drink – tea, condensed milk and water.
What is Teh Tarik?
Teh Tarik (aka “pulled tea” in Malay) is a strong, hot tea mixed with sweet and creamy condensed milk that’s repeatedly poured (‘pulled’) between two cups or mugs until it transforms into rich, frothy tea heaven.
This process of ‘pulling’ Malaysian tea between two containers is the key to creating that lusciously thick and silky smooth texture.
It’s similar in flavour to Malaysian 3 Layer Tea (Teh 3 Peng), except where Teh Tarik uses condensed milk, 3 Layer Tea is sweetened with gula melaka (palm sugar syrup).
How to Make Teh Tarik at Home
- Place teabags or loose tea in a strainer in a mug and pour over boiling water. Steep for a few minutes until tea is dark and intense, then allow to cool for a few more minutes. Strain through a cloth if necessary.
- Add 2 tbsp condensed milk and stir until spoon is clean.
To Pull the Tea:
(Caution: Please be careful with hot tea to avoid a nasty burn!)
- Pour the tea into a stainless steel jug, then pour into a mug or tea glass. Try to gain as much height as possible while pouring. Repeat until tea is frothy.
- Serve hot or over plenty of ice for a chilled summer drink.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Carefully increase the height as you pour the tea between the two jugs. This will help your aim get better as you go, but also help the tea become more and more frothy.
- For a delicious winter drink, serve hot! For a refreshing summer alternative, serve over ice.
FAQs
When made with regular black tea, teh tarik does contain caffeine. Black tea is naturally lower in caffeine than coffee.
Teh tarik is usually less sweet than other styles of milk tea as it is made with condensed milk only. Some styles of milk tea are made with condensed milk AND sugar – definitely a treat for the sweet-tooths out there!
Variations
- Instead of using the traditional pulling method, you can get a similar frothy effect with a handheld milk frother
or the steam wand on a coffee machine (which helps if you’re worried about messy kitchens or burnt hands). You can also use a tea infuser if you have one. - Authentic teh tarik uses tea dust or loose leaf tea strained in a cotton tea strainer, however our homemade version uses tea bags for a quick, convenient alternative.
- Milk Tea Milo – Add Milo powder to your coffee before pulling, or serve with undissolved milo powder on top, just like a Milo dinosaur!
or the steam wand on a coffee machine (which helps if you’re worried about messy kitchens or burnt hands). You can also use a 
if you have one.
But seriously, however you go about achieving it, you NEED the frothiness guys. It’s what makes this drink so awesome.
Just promise us you won’t go pouring hot tea all over yourselves.
And now it’s your turn! Go make your very own Teh Tarik and enjoy that frothy goodness. We want to see your photos, so snap away and tag us in @wandercooks. And most importantly, have fun!
Can you beat my awesome pouring pattern? 😉
Got a craving for more sweet Asian drinks? Give these a try next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating below!
Ingredients
- 250 ml boiling water
- 2 black tea bags or ½ tbsp of loose black tea leaves
- 2 tbsp condensed milk
- Ice optional
Instructions
- Place teabags (or tea strainer and loose leaves) into a mug and pour over boiling water. Steep for a few minutes until tea is dark and intense, then allow to cool for a few more minutes.2 black tea bags, 250 ml boiling water
- Add 2 tbsp condensed milk and stir until spoon is clean.2 tbsp condensed milk
For "pulling" the teh tarik:
- (Caution: Please be careful with hot tea to avoid a nasty burn!) Pour the tea into a stainless steel jug, then pour into a mug or tea glass. Try to gain as much height as possible while pouring. Repeat until tea is frothy.
- Serve hot or over plenty of ice for a chilled summer drink.Ice
Video
Recipe Notes
- Carefully increase the height as you pour the tea between the two jugs. This will help your aim get better as you go, but also help the tea become more and more frothy.
- For a delicious winter drink, serve hot! For a refreshing summer alternative, serve over ice.
- Does teh tarik have caffeine? When made with regular black tea, teh tarik does contain caffeine. Black tea is naturally lower in caffeine than coffee
- What is the difference between teh tarik vs milk tea? Teh tarik is usually less sweet than other styles of milk tea as it is made with condensed milk only. Some styles of milk tea are made with condensed milk AND sugar – definitely a treat for the sweet-tooths out there!
- Instead of using the traditional pulling method, you can get a similar frothy effect with a handheld milk frother or the steam wand on a coffee machine (which helps if you’re worried about messy kitchens or burnt hands). You can also use a tea infuser if you have one.
- Authentic teh tarik uses tea dust or loose leaf tea strained in a cotton tea strainer, however our homemade version uses tea bags for a quick, convenient alternative.
Nutrition
28 Comments
K
19/11/2022 at 9:46 amSo… you true tea lovers may wanna kick me to the curb, but – – – – anyone tried this with coffee instead of tea? Seems like it could be interestingly good????
Wandercooks
21/11/2022 at 10:21 amThat’s definitely not a crazy idea, and as tea lovers ourselves, we’d totally try the coffee version too! It’s called “kopi tarik”. Keep an eye out on the blog. 😉
kim
16/08/2019 at 8:17 pmI’ve never had anything like this, but I cannot wait to give it a try! It sounds cozy and delicious!
Wandercooks
23/08/2019 at 2:04 pmSuper cozy, but interestingly enough, it’s usually drunk in warm weather!
Tisha
16/08/2019 at 7:45 pmSounds like a drink I must try! Very interesting
Wandercooks
23/08/2019 at 2:04 pmDefinitely, it’s quite sweet and super creamy. You’ll have to let us know what you think. 🙂
Mary Bostow
16/08/2019 at 7:42 pmThe tea looks stunning! I’ve heard and read about this drink. It sounds so good. Can’t wait to try it!
Wandercooks
23/08/2019 at 2:03 pmThanks Mary – enjoy!
Lizzy
16/08/2019 at 7:21 pmTerima kasih! (That’s Malay for thank you) – for sharing this recipe! I’ve been missing teh tarik since leaving Malaysia and literally never thought to make it at home! Genius!
Wandercooks
23/08/2019 at 2:03 pmSama sama! 😀 So glad you liked it, and hope you get to re-create it at home.
Emily
16/08/2019 at 5:03 pmHahaa I just imagine trying to do this first thing in the morning! Absolutely love this post and it looks delicious!
Wandercooks
23/08/2019 at 2:01 pmHaha! Now that would be some entertainment. 😀 You can also try using a milk frother if you’re feeling lazy. 😛
Charla @ That Girl Cooks Healthy
13/03/2016 at 2:30 amI really want to try some teh tarik, sounds like the type of tea that I could do with in my life.
Wandercooks
15/03/2016 at 1:39 pmIt is so good and creamy, especially once you get it frothed up – wow.
Sarah
13/03/2016 at 1:55 amYes, yes and yes. This looks like the most perfect beverage!!! Delicious and satisfying, can’t go wrong!
Wandercooks
15/03/2016 at 1:41 pmWe completely agree, hope you get to try the real deal in South East Asia too – you’ve been warned though, it is highly addictive!
AiPing | Curious Nut
13/03/2016 at 1:24 amNo, you didn’t! *screams with delight.
Ok, I’ve got to admit. As much as I love teh tarik. I don’t do the ‘tarik-king’ if you know what I mean. I leave that task to my hubs. That’s pretty much the only thing he does around the house. My job here on earth is to focus all my energy in consuming JUGS of teh tarik! 🙂
Wandercooks
15/03/2016 at 1:47 pmYESSSSS hahahaha. Oh the jugs. Delicious delicious jugs. We are sitting here at the moment sipping on NORMAL tea when we realised we could be out the back ‘tarik-king’ up a storm. What has happened to us? The situation will be rectified tomorrow, never fear! Well as you know, Laura has been pouring our teh tarik ever since I poured a jug of water on my hand in our practise session. Woops?!
Felesha
13/03/2016 at 12:25 amThis looks just spectacular Can’t wait to try it!!
Wandercooks
15/03/2016 at 1:42 pmThanks Felesha, enjoy!
Noel
12/03/2016 at 11:12 pmLove this!!
Your sense of humor definitely shows in your writing, as a natural part of your voice.
I’ll be trying this!
Wandercooks
15/03/2016 at 1:42 pmThanks so much Noel! So glad you enjoyed the story 😀 Have fun ‘pulling’ the tea!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
12/03/2016 at 11:04 pmThat is my goal in the next month to capture pour shots — successfully!! WOW!! I’m amazed. I’ve been kinda sorta doing a far off version of your tea. I’m really a coffee drinker — big time!. Well hubby needs is decaf which does absolutely nothing for me so I switched to strong tea. I fell in love with Pu Ehr but it is hard to find so I’ve been buying black tea. Some is better than others so I’ve been adding the International Coffee cream to the tea. I don’t know if you guys get it in your neck of the woods but it comes in flavors, is thick as cream, and is sweetened. You can get lo-cal versions. So my Honey puts the “cream” in his coffee and I put it in my “tea”. Now me being nosey, do you remember what you had your camera set at for the shot?? I’ll have to do this on a timer unfortunately I only have two hands 🙁 Have a great weekend!!
Wandercooks
15/03/2016 at 2:03 pmHey Marisa! We had a fabulous weekend – a long one here over in Aus. We don’t have coffee cream here, but it does sound similar to condensed milk. Pu Ehr is quite a strong tea, we’ve tried it a few times but prefer the Tie Guan Yin – which is still savoury, but a little lighter in taste. No worries at all on the pour shot – I had the 50mm lens on, and the camera set at f4.0 @ 1/800 🙂 hope that helps Marisa! Pinch Of Yum has a great intro to the pour shot, biggest take away though is a faster shutter speed captures more action! http://pinchofyum.com/food-photography-10-tips-for-the-pour-shot 😀
Elizabeth
12/03/2016 at 6:22 pmOh my gosh this sounds AMAZING! I need to try this! best of luck with the house move too! 🙂
Wandercooks
12/03/2016 at 6:40 pmThanks Elizabeth! The good news is we now have a bed AND a kitchen table! Oh the joys of moving haha. Hope you enjoy the Teh Tarik!
Ariana Omipi
12/03/2016 at 6:14 pmI had never heard of this before but this looks so cool! The guy makes it look like such a fun experience to watch. Your recipe looks so easy I feel like even I could give it a go!
Wandercooks
12/03/2016 at 6:38 pmI was so happy I managed to pour the tea INTO the glass and not all over the lawn, and then I watched Mr Teh Tarik… I have a long way to go haha. 😛 Give it a try and let us know how you go! 😀