Now that it’s spring I’m really focused on getting last year’s produce out of the freezer to make room for this year’s. Something I have an abundance of are one cup bags of frozen apricots. These are perfect for a variety of smoothies: apricot smoothies, apricot banana smoothies, apricot peach smoothies and my favorite – Thai Tea Apricot Smoothie.
Several weeks ago I came across a simply delicious Thai Iced Tea recipe over at my friend’s blog – Wok with Ray. I immediately ran out and bought a one pound bag of Thai tea, the smallest size bag the Asian market sold. With all that tea Bobby and I have been able to mix up our afternoon tea time with Chai tea and Thai tea as well as play around with other uses for Thai tea. When developing this Thai tea apricot smoothie, I went with the orange color of Thai tea and selected apricots and mango as the fruits. What a delicious way to get your vitamins and morning caffeine all in one drink.
Thai Tea Apricot Smoothie
*See Kitchen Notes for additional information, substitutions and links if applicable.
- 2 Tbsp. Thai Tea loose tea leaves*
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup frozen apricots*
- 1 ripe mango or 1 cup frozen mango slices
- ½ cup vanilla yogurt optional
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ to 1 cup Almond milk*
Place 2 Tbsp. Thai tea in a measuring cup. Add enough HOT water to measure 3/4 cup. Let steep for 3 to 5 minutes.
Add ice to the measuring cup until the liquid measures 1 cup. Stir to melt ice. Strain into another cup.
- In the blender* add the apricots, mango, yogurt, 1 Tbsp. maple syrup, vanilla extract, and ½ cup almond milk.
- Strain the Thai tea and add ½ cup of the strained tea to the blender.
- Blend until smooth. Taste for sweetness. Add more maple syrup if desired.
- If the smoothie is too thick, add more almond milk. Don’t be tempted to add more Thai tea. It could make the smoothie too bitter.
- Blend until smooth and pour into two glasses.
Thai Tea – Thai tea is a black tea with an assortment of herbs and spices and sometimes orange dye. The actual ingredients vary with different manufacturers. In addition to the black tea, ingredients could include star anise, orange blossom water, tamarind, and food coloring. The flavor is quite unique and one that I have become addicted to.
Apricots and mango – You can use frozen or fresh fruit; however, since the tea may be warm, it’s best to use at least one frozen fruit so that the smoothie will be cold enough without having to add ice. I use frozen apricots and fresh mangoes. I’ve also used peaches in place of the apricot for a delicious Thai Tea Peach Smoothie.
Maple syrup – You can use any sweetener you choose. I personally like maple syrup in my smoothies, but agave nectar, sugar or honey would also work. If you use honey or sugar, be sure to add it the strained, warm tea so that it will dissolve.
Almond milk – You can substitute the almond milk with soy milk or regular milk, but I wouldn’t suggest coconut milk. It overpowers the wonderful flavor of the Thai tea. If you choose to take the decadent route, you could use a couple tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk, the milk used in restaurant-style Thai iced tea drinks. If you choose this route, then eliminate the sweetener.
Blending smoothie – I put the ingredients in a large bowl and use an immersion blender. You could also use a regular blender.
Vegan option – For a vegan smoothie, omit the yogurt and increase the amount of almond milk. The smoothie will be a little thinner, but not by much.
To make this smoothie even more appealing, check out the health benefits of Thai tea
If you enjoy this apricot smoothie, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this pudding as well.
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This shake is gorgeous, MJ – I remember it from Food Fetish Fridays this spring and I’m still fan! The combination of apricots and thai tea sounds delicious – a wonderfully bright way to way up in the morning!
I love apricots and this sounds simply amazing! Definitely on the to make list.
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I bet this tastes incredible. The color is more gorgeous than a sunset. 😉
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Thai tea. I must keep a lookout for it although like you, I am not a fan of food coloring. I do like your smoothie as the combination of apricots and mangoes sounds fantastic! Love the color too!
I have never made a smoothie with apricots, or tea. The flavor combo with the mangos sound really amazing! Beautiful, Hugs, Terra
Thanks Terra! I make smoothies quite often with apricots but this was a first for me on adding the tea. It just sounded right and was so good!
MJ, this is just so perfect for any time of the year especially now when the warm weather is knocking. Love the color, the flavors and whole combination sounds extremely refreshing. I have to try this soon! Thank you for sharing and have a wonderful week!
Thanks Sandra! The color is amazing, isn’t it? I hope you have a wonderful week as well.
Mm, what a lovely idea for a drink. I’d never heard of thai tea before… I’ve never been able to quite get on board with “chai” tea… the flavouring just seems weird to me, and I was worried that this was that (I read thai as chai), so it’s nice to see it’s not. The colour in that smoothie is fantastic – love apricots too. Rare is the time when I’m able to get good fresh ones though. They either seem sour as anything, or ripe but really “dry” :(.
As you say, the trick is to get frozen ones, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen frozen apricots for sale before… I’ll have a look next time in the store.
Thanks Charles! Well, I’m a chai tea lover, but I think Thai tea has become my new love. 🙂 The color is fantastic, isn’t it? I got really bummed yesterday because it’s been so warm here I thought we would have another great apricot crop. But we had a hard freeze Saturday night so there goes the apricots. Now I have to slow down on using what I have in the freezer. 🙂 I’m sure purchasing frozen apricots is a trick. I’ve never seen them. Good luck and have a great week!
I’m not sure what Thai tea consists of, but I know it tastes good! 🙂 I order it often whenever I’m at Thai restaurants. This smoothie looks so much better tho. Love the color. Love that mangoes are in it. Love everything about it. Thanks for sharing the recipe MJ!
Thanks Como! If you like the Thai teas served on restaurants, you’ll love this. I don’t make mine near as sweet, but you can make it as sweet as you want.
I have had many thai tea, but definitely not with apricot and yogurt. I have a bag of thai tea at home too. I should perhaps whip up your smoothie this weekend. 🙂
Thanks Lokness! I do hope you get a chance to try this. Since you obvious like Thai Tea, I think you’ll love this smoothie.
What a vibrant drink, MJ! And it looks so refreshing, too!
What a flashy wanton orange color Mj! That’s the right season for mangoes now, ours are getting ready and should be falling of the trees one of these days. But there is no way that I ll get apricots here. I kind of miss apricot here in Asia, they are some of my fav fruits from europe. Very inspiring drink MJ and great combination of flavors. =)
Thanks Helene! The orange color is amazing! It blew me away. 🙂 Oh to have mangos picked ripe from a tree. You are so lucky to have all of that wonderful tropically fruit in your back yard. Since you can’t find apricots in Goa, just choose any other fruit that is orange. I’m sure it would work. Have a wonderful weekend!
I love smoothies but have never tried one like this with that Thai tea. I need to go pick some of this up and whip up a batch. Sounds incredibly delicious!
I’m a big tea drinker and this seems totally my kind of smoothie 🙂 I love the addition of apricots and mango! So flavorful and delicious!!
Aha…I have all the ingredients mentioned to make this gorgeous smoothie! At last 🙂 I so much relate apricots with ‘MJ’s Apricot kitchen’…may be I could try this out with my Darjeeling tea leaves…
Thanks so much Sanjeeta! I do love apricots! 🙂 Darjeeling actually sounds pretty good, a different flavor, but since I have a cup of Darjeeling every morning anyway – makes since to use it in a smoothie. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.
I love Thai tea but haven’t been able to find it here. Your smoothie sounds like one my husband and I both would love. I’m going to check the Asians stores for the tea again because now I’m craving it and your smoothie. Thanks for sharing the recipe and info on exactly what it is.:)
Thanks Nancy! When you go to the Asian market, you might have to ask. Thai tea wasn’t in the tea section at our market. I never would have found it if I hadn’t asked.
You found a delicious way to use your apricots! Especially now that spring is here such smoothies are perfect to take the thirst away!
The texture looks so creamy. I really want one of these right now. I love apricots.
Apricots would give it a nice tarty taste. Very nice recipe
All the sudden I got thirrrrrrsty!!!! You succeeded to make us crave for this drink, MJ! I love Thai tea, and I can’t wait to make this. Weather is getting warmer, and perfect season to start making cold drinks!
This looks and sounds great, MJ. I’m all for new smoothies to start my day. This one, with a bit of caffeine, sounds perfect for me.
I am off to the Asian market for the some Thai tea. My mother-in-law would love it black but I am excited about this recipe! The spices in the tea really sounds delicious. I wonder if you could use an Orange Pekoe but add a few things like star anise?
Thanks Debra! I don’t see why you couldn’t create your own flavored tea. Orange pekoe sounds like a great base and throw in whatever spices you want. Let me know if you try it and what you come up with. I love playing with teas!
I’ve never seen frozen apricots! I must hunt some down. What a gorgeous drink…and it must taste scrumptious!
Thanks Liz! Now that you mention it, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen frozen apricots at the store. A friend of mine has a couple of apricot trees and whenever she gets a good crop, she invites me over to pick some. Last year was a bumper crop so I was over there at least once a week for a month! To freeze them, I just pitted and sliced and then added a touch of sugar. They freeze great!
This looks so beautiful. I love the flavour of apricots and doesn’t it end up being such a pretty colour xx
I always get Thai iced tea when I go to Thai restaurants–it’s so good! Using it in a smoothie sounds even better, though. And healthier too!
OMG, you really raised the bar on Thai tea by adding mango, and apricot. I am looking at the ingredients — maple syrup and vanilla extract? Wow, those flavors will be very festive on every sip of this smoothie. Very nice and vibrant shot of the drink, MJ!
Thank you so much for the mention there my friend it’s very nice of you.
~ ray ~
Thanks Ray! Thank you for turning me on to the Thai tea leaves. I love that flavor and I don’t need the sweetened condensed. It’s so good!
Now doesn’t that sound delightful?
LL
MJ, this is utterly beautiful and such a creative use of ingredients across the board. I can’t get over the color – exquisite! And you’re right; whenever you see vibrant colors like this, you know you’re working in some powerfully nutritive vits/mins. I love yogurt in my smoothies, so that would definitely make it’s way in to my version as well.
Just had a quick read of Sissi’s note above – I believe Thai tea is sometimes used as an abbreviation for Thai iced tea which would include the sugar. Traditional Thai tea (on its own) was originally made from ceylon tea but given ceylon’s elevated price, black tea is often used as a substitute.
Thanks Kelly! I’m with you on the color. The first time I made this I went WOW! So much prettier than some of my other smoothies. I’m with you on the yogurt. I always have it in the fridge, so anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup gets added to my smoothies. I saw that about ceylon tea originally being used. It did surprise me that they stopped adding it because of costs. I couldn’t find what type of black tea is now used, but whatever they use, I love it. I can tell it’s not ceylon because that is actually my least favorite black tea. I’m actually a Darjeeling girl. 🙂
The color is just stunning! First time I came across such a wonderful smoothie combining tea, apricot and mango..
Very interesting! Sounds like a great snack – and I love that you have daily tea time!!
Thanks Jane! Yep – Bobby and I both work from home and are semi-retired, so a daily tea is one of our self-indulgent treats.
Very cool stuff! An interesting way to use Thai Tea (and clean out your freezer!). I’ll bet the combo of flavors is really interesting. Fun recipe and post – thanks.
What a great looking smoothie! What’s in Thai tea? Is it spicy like Chai? A green, black or herbal tea?
Thanks Amber! Thai tea is a black tea with other flavors like star anise, orange blossom and/or tamarind. It’s not spicy at all – just naturally sweet and citrusy. The anise isn’t very strong because I really have to think about it to taste the anise or licorice flavor of the anise.
If only I had apricots in my freezer (or would be able to find any around to buy)…
Fantastic clicks, Mj. I want one now!
Wow! What gorgeous color on that smoothie!
Love all the flavors you have here MJ! I bet it tasted fantastic. 🙂
I have already forgotten how gorgeous apricot colour is…. Such a vivid, sunny smoothie would instantly improve my mood, even though I have never had Thai tea (I must check if they sell it here; thank you for the precious notes: I don’t know why but I was sure Thai tea was something packed with sugar and a kind of ready-to-use product). I have never thought of apricot and mango combination, which sounds very tempting. I don’t have any frozen fruit, but lots of preserves, so I know what you mean by trying to get rid of last year’s produce… (Actually I still have some which are three years old!).
Thanks Sissi! When you order Thai Tea in a restaurant, yes, it’s quite sweet and fatty because most restaurants use sweetened condensed milk and lots of it. That’s one of the reasons why I love Ray’s version because he uses milk and you can use only as much sweetener as you desired. However, the basic flavors come from Thai tea leaves and seasonings. When I bought it at the Asian market it wasn’t in the tea section, I had to ask and they took me to the other side of the store to beverages. Not sure why it was over there because it was a bag of tea leaves. When I use to can, I too had a pantry full of 3 to 5 year old preserves, jams, jellies, etc. Now I’m down to a make it when you need mode and only what you need. 🙂
The color for that smoothie is INSANE! Love the flavors you’ve included!
Thanks Giulia and Jen! I agree the color is insane and does speak spring! Lots of good tastes.
What a delicious smoothie! With a very springy colour 🙂