ChaTraMue

Thailand’s sticky tropical heat calls for near-constant refreshments, and few are as popular as cha yen (cold tea). Brewed with robust black tea, laced with sugar, a generous glug of sweetened condensed milk, and poured over crushed ice, this orange-tinted drink has long been a roadside staple. But it’s Cha Tra Mue, founded by a Chinese tea trader in Bangkok’s Chinatown, that turned the icy beverage into a global icon.

The brand started as an importer of Chinese tea in the 1920s, but quickly realized that the local market had little appetite for hot brews. In 1945, the company began sourcing Thai tea leaves from the tea-growing highlands of Chiang Rai in Thailand’s north, which worked well in the refreshing iced drink that soon became its signature product.

Today, ChaTraMue has a branch in almost every Thai mall (plus more than 50 outposts around the globe), but remains family owned and fiercely proud of its heritage. While its creamy cha yen is still the star, the menu offers many other old-school refreshments: smoky, bittersweet o’lieng coffee made from robusta beans, brown sugar, roasted corn, and soybeans; rose-scented milk tea; and lemon tea sweetened with honey. ChaTraMue's instant Thai tea mix, sold in metal tins emblazoned with the brand’s old-timey design, makes for brilliant souvenirs.