Easy Homemade Chai Tea Latte Recipe: How To Make at Home
Elevate your chai game with this homemade chai tea latte concentrate, crafted with real, aromatic spices like cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cardamom—guaranteed to outshine any store-bought version you’ve ever tasted!
There is something so warm and comforting about a hot chai latte on a chilly day but this versatile recipe can also be made into an iced cold version during the summer time!
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The Secrete To a Great Chai Tea Latte Concentrate
If you have tried recreating a coffee house worthy chai tea latte at home, you may have been disappointed with other homemade chai latte recipes. Especially if the recipe you have used only calls for chai tea bags and a few black peppercorns. I’m sorry, but that is just not going to cut it! It does take a bit of effort to gather the whole spices for this recipe, but believe me, it is worth it!
There isn’t an easy way to fake your way to an authentic tasty masala chai without the real ingredients. And what most people are craving and trying to recreate is a masala chai. Masala means “spices” and the word Chai means “Tea”.
I usually head to my local health food grocery stores to find the spices from their bulk section. This way is easy and more cost effective than ordering each spice in bulk. Unless you REALLY love Chia, like my husband. If you can’t find one or two of the spices, go ahead and make it anyway. It will still be delicious!
Ingredients Needed to Make the Best Chai Tea Concentrate
The ingredients needed for the perfect balance of Chai spices are:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, maple syrup or honey (I prefer light brown sugar)
- 2 inches knob of fresh ginger root. Peeled and cut into small slices.
- 6 Cinnamon sticks
- 3 star anise pods
- 15 whole cloves
- 10 allspice berries
- 6 cardamom pods
- 8 tea bags of black tea
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 6 cups water, filtered
- Whole Milk or plant-based milk of your choice
What Equipment is Needed to Make a Delicious Homemade Version of a Chai Latte Recipe
To make a chai tea latte at home, you will need:
Medium Saucepan: a medium sized saucepan is a versitale size and can be used in many other recipes.
Fine Mesh Sieve: Use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the spices.
Milk Frother: This is a key piece of equipment that will steam and froth milk to get that coffee house style beverage at home.
Handheld Milk Frother: If you’d like a lower price point, you can use a handheld milk frother. You’ll just need to warm your milk in another saucepan.
How to Make This Easy Recipe for Chai Tea Latte Concentrate at Home
Homemade Chai Tea Latte Recipe:
- Add 6 cups of filtered water into a medium sized saucepan and place on stovetop.
- Over low to medium heat, stir in the brown sugar or honey until dissolved.
- Add the ginger medallions, cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole cloves, allspice berries, and cardamom seeds to the saucepan.
- Increase heat to medium-high heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Turn heat down to the lowest setting, and add the tea bags. Steep for 10 mintues.
- (Water shouldn’t be simmering or boiling. If your stove is too hot, just remove the pot and place it on the counter with a hotpad to steep the tea.)
- Strain the tea bags and spices out by placing a medium sized bowl on the counter, place a fine mesh sieve on top of the bowl, and pour the contents of the saucepan through the sieve to strain.
- Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Makes about 4 cups of concentrate.
- Store the finished concentrate in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.
- To make a hot or iced chai latte, use the concentrate in a 2:1 ratio with milk of your choice.
Storage of Your Homemade Latte Concentrate
To Store the finished concentrate, let it come to room temperature then place it in a mason jar with lid or other liquid-tight container in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.
How to Make a Dairy Free Version of a Chai Tea Latte at Home
It is so simple to make this chai tea concentrate into a dairy free latte. Once you have followed the recipe to make the concentrate, you will use it in a 2:1 ratio with your favorite dairy-free milk alternative. Coconut milk, almond milk, and oat milk are all a great option. I used oat milk for the lattes in the photos for this post.
How to Make an Iced Chai Tea Latte at Home From Scratch
To use this homemade Chai Tea concentrate to make an iced Chai Latte simply fill a glass with ice cubes. Fill the bottom 1/3 of the glass with your milk of choice or a plant-based milk of your choice, then top off the rest of the cup with the homemade concentrate.
Feel free to top with some whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon on top to rival your local coffee shop. Also, try it blended!
How to Make a Chai Tea Latte Like Starbucks
How to make a hot Chai Tea Latte like a pro! Once you have made the recipe for the Chai Tea Concentrate it is super simple to make it into a latte. The process is very similar to how you would use a pre-bought mix from the local grocery store, like Tazo chai concentrate, but tastes even better!
Pour some of the hot concentrate into a glass about 2/3’s full. (If the concentrate isn’t hot enough, simply warm it up some.)
Then take 1/3 of your choice of milk and place it into your milk steamer/ milk frother. Turn the frother on and once it beeps/ finishes frothing the milk, pour it into the cup till full. Sprinkle some cocoa powder or cinnamon on top for the finishing touch.
Can I Use This Chai Tea Concentrate to Make a Dirty Chai Tea Latte?
You can definitely use this Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate to make a dirty Chai Tea Latte. Just follow the same instructions as above but use a large mug or cup so there is room to put in a shot of espresso from your espresso machine or espresso maker.
What is Chai Tea Latte Made Of?
What most Westerners call a Chai Tea Latte is a blend of black tea with spices like star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and ginger root.
“Chai” simply means “tea,” and “latte” refers to a drink with milk—so you can use any milk you prefer.
Other Cozy and Sweet Recipes to Try:
Viral Homemade Caramel Popcorn Recipe is great for anytime of year but I do find myself reaching for it more in the fall/ autumn and winter seasons. This recipe is famous and you’re going to want to try it!
Gluten Free Gooey Butter Cookies Another favorite recipe of all my friends and family! Absolutely delicious.
Thank You
As a stay-at-home mom, your support means everything to me. I truly hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you could pin it, share it, or leave a review, it would help others find it and allow me to continue creating more recipes to share. Thank you so much for your support!
How to Make the Best Chai Tea Concentrate: Hot or Iced Chai Tea Latte
Equipment
- medium saucepan a medium sized saucepan is a versitale size and can be used in many other recipes.
- Fine Mesh Sieve Use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the spices.
- Milk Frother This is a key piece of equipment that will steam and froth milk to get that coffee house style beverage at home.
- Handheld Milk Frother If you'd like a lower price point, you can use a handheld milk frother. You'll just need to warm your milk in another saucepan.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar maple syrup or honey (I prefer light brown sugar)
- 2 inches knob of fresh ginger root. Peeled and cut into small slices.
- 6 Cinnamon sticks
- 3 star anise pods
- 15 whole cloves
- 10 allspice berries
- 6 cardamom pods
- 8 tea bags of black tea
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 6 cups water filtered
- Milk of your choice Whole milk, coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, or any other preference.
Instructions
- Add 6 cups of filtered water into a medium sized saucepan and place on stovetop.
- Over low to medium heat, stir in the brown sugar, or maple syrup or honey until dissolved.
- Add the ginger medallions, cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole cloves, allspice berries, and cardamom seeds to the saucepan.
- Increase heat to medium-high heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Turn heat down to the lowest setting, and add the tea bags. Steep for 10 mintues.
- (Water shouldn’t be simmering or boiling. If your stove is too hot, just remove the pot and place it on the counter with a hotpad to steep the tea.)
- Strain the tea bags and spices out by placing a medium sized bowl on the counter, place a fine mesh sieve on top of the bowl, and pour the contents of the saucepan through the sieve to strain.
- Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Makes about 4 cups of concentrate.
- Store the finished concentrate in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.
- To make a hot or iced chai latte, use the concentrate in a 2:1 ratio with milk of your choice. See notes for more details.
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