Fancy a tall glass of iced tea? Then you’ll be glad to know that you can sip this wonderful longan drink in just 10 minutes. So let us show you how to do it!
This longan milk tea is a fruity and dairy-free twist on the classic milk tea, a refreshing and energizing drink popular in Southeast Asia.
Traditional iced tea consists of sweetened black tea mixed with whole milk and served with ice.
In our recipe, we used all three basic milk tea ingredients: tea, sweetener, and milk. But we swapped out cow’s milk for a delicious mix of fresh longans and coconut milk drinks.
We’ve also replaced the classic black tea with a lighter tea so as not to mask the delicate flavor of longans. We used oolong tea, but green or white tea are good options too.
Longans are sweet and juicy grape-like fruits with a slightly earthy flavor, similar to lychees but not as sweet. You can find them at a local Chinese or Asian food market, or you can opt for dried longans, which are easy to find online.
Just a small handful of longans per serving are enough to give this milk tea a wonderfully fruity taste that harmonises wonderfully with the freshness of coconut milk.
And if you have a few extra longans to spare, why not make a comforting concoction with them? This Chinese Longan Tea with Red Jujubes is a quick and easy recipe to try!
frequently asked Questions
What tea do you use for milk tea?
Iced milk tea recipes, such as Tawainese bubble tea or Thai milk tea, typically use black tea such as Ceylon tea or Chinese black tea.
We recommend a lighter tea for this longan milk tea, as it should not overpower the delicate taste of fresh longans.
A good choice is light oolong tea, green tea, or even white tea.
We prepared our longan milk tea with jasmine oolong tea and loved the combination of longans and jasmine blossoms. Try it!
Should I use fresh or dried longans to make longan milk tea?
We recommend using fresh longans as you blend them with coconut milk to create a sweet and fresh coconut longan milk.
You can find these grape-like fruits at your local Chinese or Asian grocery store.
However, if you cannot find them, you can opt for dried longans. They look like yellow raisins and are available online.
To use them, soak them in coconut milk until fully rehydrated, then puree.
Alternatively, you can add the dried longans to the boiling water to make longan tea. Check out our Jujube Longan Tea Recipe for more tips on how to do this.
How does longan milk tea taste?
This longan milk tea is naturally sweet and refreshing as it is made with fresh longans and coconut milk.
You’ll taste the uniquely sweet and earthy flavor of longans, as well as the fresh, nutty notes of coconut – all complemented by the tea’s slight bitterness.