Vietnamese Lime Iced Tea (Tra Chanh Hanoi) is a refreshing drink that is well-loved by young people in Hanoi, Vietnam. You need just a handful of ingredients to make this popular Vietnamese drink.
Overview of Vietnamese Lime Iced Tea (Tra Chanh Hanoi)
I don’t know since when lime iced tea got popular in Hanoi. Ever since I was in university (about 10 years ago), it has been a part of the street food scene. So many street vendors sell tra chanh in Hanoi, especially around the Old Quarter area.
Young patrons often sit on plastic chairs with a glass of lime iced tea in front of them, munching on some sunflower seeds and chit-chatting all night. People sometimes order tra chanh while eating street food snacks, such as grilled pork sausage (nem chua nuong).
How to Make Vietnamese Lime Iced Tea (Tra Chanh Hanoi)
This recipe is how I like to make it at home. Feel free to tweak it to your liking. You will need only 5 ingredients: tea bags, water, limes, honey and ice.
For tastier results, you can use loose leaf tea. Tea bags are convenient, but the quality is not as good as loose leaf tea.
The video below will show you how easy it is to make this iced tea. The amounts in the recipe card are for 2 servings, but in the video I doubled it up to 4 servings.
This drink is usually made with green tea in Hanoi, so I use green tea in the photos as well as in the video and recipe card. However, I actually like it better with oolong tea and I strongly recommend using oolong tea to make it.
For sweeteners, I love the combination of lime and honey, but other sweeteners such as maple syrup or sugar will also work.
I usually don’t drink beverages with lime or lemon juice on an empty stomach. For this lime iced tea, I often drink it with food/snacks or after eating.
I often get asked where I got the glasses in the photo, so here’s the link on Amazon to purchase these 10.25oz Bormioli Rocco glasses. You can also find them on Sur La Table. They are pretty and very affordable.
Other iced tea recipes you may like: Passion Fruit Iced Tea and Brown Sugar Milk Tea. Other cold drinks you may like are: Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Ca Phe Sua Da) and Iced Tamarind Juice.
I’d love to hear what you think about the drink, so please feel free to leave a comment. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.
Vietnamese Lime Iced Tea (Tra Chanh Hanoi)
Ingredients
- 2 green tea bags
- 1 cup hot water (at 175F)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 4 1/2 tablespoons lime juice (about 3 limes)
- ice
Instructions
- Brew green tea in hot water for 3-5 minutes, or to desired strength.
- Discard tea bags and add honey, stir to combine. Set it aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Add lime juice and mix. Pour into serving glasses with a lot of ice and serve.
Thanks for sharing the lovely recipe! Where did you get those glasses???
Hi Samantha,
The glasses in the photo are from Bormioli Rocco and they also come in other colors. I got mine at Sur la Table, but they are also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bormioli-Rocco-387595GRS021524-Romantic-Tumbler/dp/B01FFX6G7M/?th=1.
The glasses in the video are from Luminarc, and I bought them at a local store.
Thanks for stopping by!
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I love that you showed us how to make it. I also bought the organic ooh long tea you recommended! Thanks for posting this and I can’t wait to try it tonight!
Thank you so much for the comment! I’d love to hear how it turns out for you and I hope you will enjoy it.
My Dad made a limeade drink for my brother and I growing up and I crave it often!! So sweet and tart! I would like to try it with some green tea like you have done here.
I also like limeade. I sometimes skip the tea and just make limeade when I’m too thirsty to wait for the tea to brew :D. I hope you will give my lime iced tea a try :).