Oliang (iced black coffee)

Oliang is the iced black coffee of the Thai street, and its name is Chinese in origin: o means black and liang means cold, as the Hokkien-speaking Chinese of Thailand's trading towns spoke it. It belongs to the tradition of the old coffee shop and the roadside stall, where the Chinese-Thai families who kept them made coffee in a cloth filter and served it sweet and cold. Thompson records it among the drinks of the street, where it is carried today by stallholders who still pull the coffee through cloth rather than press or machine.

Oliang is a strong infusion of dark-roasted coffee, traditionally Coffea robusta grown in the south of Thailand and roasted dark, often with grains or seeds added to the roast according to the stallholder's habit. The ground coffee is steeped in near-boiling water in a cloth sock filter hung from a metal ring, then poured repeatedly from a pot with a long spout to concentrate the liquor. It is sweetened with sugar or sugar syrup while hot, poured over a full glass of ice and served in a tall glass or a tied plastic bag with a straw. The liquor is dark, thick and bittersweet, with a heavy body and a caramelised edge from the roast.

Oliang is drunk in the morning and through the heat of the day, alongside fried dough sticks (pa thong go), steamed buns and the small sweet snacks of the street. Its bitterness and weight stand against the sweetness and oil of these foods and clear the palate between mouthfuls. The ice and sugar make the coffee refreshing in tropical heat, while the dark roast keeps the flavour from thinning as the ice melts.