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Iced grass jelly tea in 2 tall glasses on a rectangle plate.
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5 from 2 votes

Grass Jelly Drink (Easy Homemade Grass Jelly Tea)

This grass jelly drink is perfect for a hot summer day. With only 4 ingredients, this sweet, icy tea is easy to make and enjoyed by all!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Chilling time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Asian
Servings: 4 glasses
Calories: 234kcal
Author: Priya Maha

Ingredients

  • 1 liter water
  • 250 g grass jelly (sweetened)
  • 45 g brown sugar
  • 1 pandan leaf (knotted or cut into short strips)
  • 1 bag black tea

Instructions

Making the black tea

  • Measure half of the water (approximately) into a medium sized pot.
  • Wash the pandan leave and knot it or cut it into short strips (about 2 to 3 cm length). Drop the leaf into the water pot.
  • Turn on the heat and let the water boil with the pandan leaf. The fragrance from the pandan leaf will be infused into the water as it boils.
  • Put on the lid. As soon as the water boils, ,turn the heat off. Add in the tea bag.
  • Let the tea steep in the hot water for approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Letting the tea bag steep in the hot water for more than 2 minutes will give you a much stronger tea taste. Since this is meant to be a light tea drink, 1 to 2 minutes of steeping is sufficient. Discard the tea bag.
  • Add sugar into the hot black tea and stir to dissolve.
  • Remove the pandan leaf and discard it. If you knotted the leaf, use a pair of tongs to remove it. If you had cut the leaf into small strips, simply strain the tea to remove the leaves.
  • Add the remaining water into the light black tea. Mix and place the drink in the refrigerator to chill before serving.

Assembling the grass jelly drink

  • Remove the grass jelly from its packet (or can).
  • Slice it into thin strips.
  • Add some grass jelly strips into a drinking glass. Add ice cubes (optional) and pour in the chilled black pandan infused tea. Serve.

Notes

  • Tea bags can be substituted with loose tea leaves. Use 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea for every tea bag.
  • Black tea can be substituted with other types of tea like green tea, oolong tea, or Earl Grey. You can also substitute tea for soy milk. Soy milk is a another famous way for enjoying the grass jelly. The black jelly and white soy milk combination is sometimes referred to as 'Michael Jackson drink' after his famous Black and White song.
  • White sugar can be replaced with brown sugar or cane sugar in the exact same quantity. You can also use simple syrup, or other flavored syrups like pandan syrup, palm sugar syrup, rose syrup and even Earl Grey syrup. Start with small quantities and test the tea before adding more syrup to suit your liking.
  • If you choose to cut the jelly into cubes instead of strips, make sure the grass jelly cubes are small enough to pass through straws. Also, the jelly tastes better when cut into small cubes or into strips to balance its rather bland taste with the sweet drink it is served with.
  • It is recommended for the drink to be prepared slightly concentrated as it will dilute when served with ice cubes. Another option would be to make the tea in advance and keep it chilled. That way, you need not add too many ice cubes that might dilute it further.

Nutrition

Calories: 234kcal | Carbohydrates: 61.6g | Protein: 3.9g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 79.4mg | Potassium: 718.2mg | Fiber: 4.8g | Sugar: 12.8g | Calcium: 407.5mg | Iron: 13.5mg