Iced Karak Tea Recipe: Easy Cold Karak at Home

Karak is the tea of the Gulf, but from May to October a hot cup is not always what you want. Iced karak keeps everything people love about it, the strong black tea, the creamy milk and the cardamom, and serves it cold over ice. This recipe shows two ways to make it: a quick one with an instant karak sachet, and a traditional one brewed from loose tea. New to karak? Start with our guide to what karak tea is and where it comes from.

What Is Iced Karak?

Iced karak (also called cold karak or iced karak chai) is karak tea served cold over ice. The base is the same as the hot drink: strong black tea cooked with milk and cardamom, sometimes with saffron. The only real difference is the temperature, and that the tea should be a little stronger, because melting ice dilutes it. Across Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain it has become a popular summer order next to iced coffee.

What You Need (Quick Version)

• 1 sachet Lucarise Cardamom Karak Tea (12 g), with its 1 g stevia sachet
• About 50 ml hot water
• About 100 ml cold milk
• A tall glass full of ice

How to Make Iced Karak With an Instant Sachet

1. Empty one Cardamom Karak Tea sachet into a cup or jar.
2. Add about 50 ml of hot water and the stevia sachet to taste (all of it, half or none), then stir until the powder has fully dissolved. The powder dissolves best in hot liquid, so do not skip this step.
3. Fill a tall glass with ice.
4. Pour the karak over the ice, then top up with about 100 ml of cold milk.
5. Stir and drink straight away. For a frothy finish, shake the karak and cold milk in a closed jar for 15 seconds before pouring it over the ice.

For the topping editions, make the drink the same way and sprinkle the topping on top just before serving: Pistachio Karak Tea gives a nutty iced karak, and Saffron Karak Tea a golden, fragrant one.

How to Make Traditional Iced Karak From Scratch

If you prefer to brew it the classic way, this version follows the usual Gulf method of cooking the tea and spices first, then the milk.^[1] It makes about two glasses.

• 500 ml water
• 3 teaspoons loose black tea
• 2 to 3 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• A few saffron strands and a small piece of cinnamon (optional)
• About 120 ml evaporated milk
• Sweetener to taste, for example Lucarise Stevia Reb-M Sweetener – Cardamom
• Ice

1. Put the water, tea and spices in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the tea is very dark.
3. Stir in the evaporated milk and simmer for another 5 minutes.
4. Take the pan off the heat, strain the tea and sweeten it while it is still hot.
5. Let it cool, then chill it in the fridge.
6. Pour over a glass full of ice and serve.

Tips for Better Iced Karak

• Make it strong. Ice waters the drink down as it melts, so use less hot water with the sachet, or brew the traditional version a little longer.
• Use karak ice cubes. Freeze some prepared karak in an ice-cube tray and use those cubes instead of plain ice. The drink stays strong to the last sip.
• Sweeten while hot. Sweeteners dissolve more easily in hot tea than in a cold glass.
• Chill the glass. A glass from the fridge keeps the ice from melting too fast in the Gulf heat.

Keep reading

Iced karak: quick questions

What is iced karak?

Iced karak is karak tea served cold over ice: strong black tea with milk and cardamom, sometimes with saffron. It is the summer version of the hot karak sold across the Gulf.

Can I make instant karak with cold milk only?

The powder dissolves best in hot liquid. Dissolve the sachet in a little hot water first, then add cold milk and ice.

How do I stop iced karak from tasting watery?

Make the karak stronger than you would for a hot cup, chill the glass, or use ice cubes made from frozen karak.

Does iced karak have caffeine?

Yes. Karak is made with black tea, which naturally contains caffeine. See our caffeine chart to compare it with coffee, matcha and other drinks.

Is this iced karak sweetened?

Lucarise karak has no added sugar: the cardamom karak comes with a separate stevia Reb-M sachet, so you choose how sweet it is. The milk powder in the mix contains a little natural milk sugar (lactose), so a glass is low in sugar rather than completely sugar-free.

References

1. International Centre for Culinary Arts (ICCA) Dubai. Iced Chai Karak. iccadubai.ae