A Chai Tea Latte is a cosy and warm hug in a mug. Warming winter flavours like cinnamon, cloves and ginger mixed with sweet tea and frothy steamed milk, this is a comforting hot drink that will make your house smell amazing.
Chai Tea Latte
This rich and creamy Chai Tea Latte takes just 10 minutes to make and it will save you a fortune on coffee shops drinks this winter. Not to mention this is a lower in sugar too. A delicious and warming mix of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom brewed in to black tea and then mixed with sweetened frothy milk. This is easy to make vegan too.
This made my house smell absolutely amazing. I might even start making this just to use as an alternative to air freshener.
Why should you try it?
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What Is a Chai Tea Latte?
Originally from India, a Chai Tea Latte is a coffee shop favourite all over the world. Similar to a classic latte (a mixture of espresso and streamed milk), the coffee is swapped for black tea infused with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom.
The great thing about making your own is that you are in charge of the flavour balance. If you prefer your drinks heavy on the cinnamon, but you don’t like so much ginger, then you can change the amounts.
What Spices Go in to a Chai Latte?
Cinnamon – We like our chai latte heavy on the cinnamon, as it is one of the sweeter spices. We use cinnamon sticks when making the latte, but then add a dash of ground cinnamon on top when serving.
Cloves – Cloves really add some warmth to the drink and they are definitely essential in our opinion. They compliment the cinnamon perfectly.
Cardamon – Not only is cardamon warming, but it is a little bit floral too. Use the whole pods, but you want to gently crack them open a little before adding to the pan.
Ginger – We used fresh ginger, as it just has so much more flavour and some spiciness, but you could use dried ginger instead.
Peppercorns – Black peppercorns add some real heat to the chai, and it really helps to balance the sweetness.
What Tea Is Best To Use?
If you want to get all fancy, then get some loose-leaf tea, however we used bags of tea as that is what we had on hand. Tea bags don’t actually save any more time though, as you strain all the spices anyway.
You want to go with an English breakfast tea or a black tea blend, as all the flavours should come from the spices.
How To Get The Milk Frothy
We use an electronic milk frother, as it’s really easy to use and it’s the quickest way. You could also whisk it by hand and it’s almost like an arm workout at the same time.
We have also put milk in to a French press and pressed it down a couple of times and it gives you nice and frothy milk.
How To Sweeten a Chai Tea Latte
We love a sweet chai latte – but you don’t want it to be too overpowering. We used a couple of spoons of honey, but you can use another liquid sweetener like maple syrup or agave and that would make it vegan too. Alternatively, just add a spoon of sugar.
Vegan Chai Tea Latte Recipe
It’s easy to make a vegan version of this, you just swap the dairy milk for your favourite vegan milk. It might not get as frothy unless you use something like a barista oat milk or cashew milk. If using a vegan milk, then blend it up to make it frothy.
If you want to try making everything yourself, why not use our Easy Homemade Almond Milk. You could also use coconut milk too, as that is really creamy, but it would take on a whole new flavour.
How To Store Chai Tea
You can make up a big batch of the tea base and then keep it in an air tight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Then just heat it up a cup at a time and froth the milk fresh each time.
How To Serve a Chai Tea Latte
You can keep it just as it is, but if you want to make it a little more indulgent, then add some whipped cream on top and then a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. And a cinnamon stick stuck in the top.
Extra Tips:
- A chai latte is a perfect blend of spices, but the perfect blend will depend on the individual. Experiment with the balance that you prefer.
- A milk frother will make this so much easier, however if you don’t have one then you can whisk the milk by hand.
- Make this vegan by using cashew or coconut milk and sweetening it with granulated sugar or maple syrup.
- You can batch make the black tea blend and keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days and then heat it and froth the milk fresh each time.
How To Make a Chia Tea Latte – Step by step:
Want to try some other drink recipes? How about these:
Healthy Nutella Smoothie
Cinnamon Mocha
Apple Pie Smoothie
Peach Iced Tea
Mulled Apple Juice
Blueberry Smoothie
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DON’T FORGET TO RATE THE RECIPE ↓
Chai Tea Latte
Ingredients
- 1000 ml boiling water
- 3 vanilla pods seeds scraped out
- 10 whole cloves
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 15 g ginger peeled and sliced
- 4 black tea bags
- 500 ml skimmed milk
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Put the boiling water, vanilla pod and seeds, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and ginger in a pan and bring back to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the tea bags and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Heat the milk.
- Using a tea strainer or a fine mesh sieve, strain the tea in to cups or glasses. Fill with hot milk and stir in the honey.
Shakir @ The Life Hype says
I just can’t live without Chai, and this awesomesauce recipe reminds me to have a sip.
Rhiannon says
Pinned here as well. I’m excited to try it! :-) xx
Dannii says
Thank you for pinning :)
Jan @GlugofOil says
Great recipe, I’ll have to give this a go – thanks for sharing.
Dannii says
I hope you enjoy it :)
Besma says
Hi Dannii!
This is such a great recipe, thanks for posting it! I first had chai latte at a small Indian restaurant and couldn’t believe how fragrant and delicious it was, and have been trying to recreate it ever since!
Thanks again,
Besma (http://www.curiouslyconscious.com/)
Dannii says
It makes a really nice change from regular tea.