Here’s how to make chai concentrate using tea bags and pantry spices for the best homemade chai lattes. With this delicious masala chia concentrate, you can easily make a hot chai latte, iced chai, or dirty chai latte at home.
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If you love this recipe, you’ll also love my hot & delicious chai latte, iced chai latte, turmeric latte, homemade hot cocoa, and pumpkin spice latte.
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We just spent two weeks in India (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra) and enjoyed A LOT of chai.
In India, masala chai is made with tea, sugar, warm spices, and milk and served in either small paper cups or terra cotta cups. This was the best part about India: endless chai on every corner!
Years ago, I created my famous homemade chai latte recipe.
I wanted to see how my American version (which is based on the Starbucks chai concentrate) compared to authentic Indian chai.
The verdict: My recipe is spot on in terms of spices and flavor. Chai, in India, is served sweet with a spicy side due to the spices which are boiled with a bit of water and milk and then strained.
In India, no chai syrup or pre-made mixes are used. That’s only an American local coffee shop or Starbucks chai latte thing. And let’s be honest, the mixes don’t always taste the best.
In the past, I’ve shared how to make an iced chai tea latte and my version of a hot Starbucks chai tea latte. Btw, chai means tea. So it’s just a “chai latte.”
Today, I’ll show you how to make the foundation for both an iced and hot chai latte: my homemade chai concentrate recipe.
Ingredients Needed
- 2 cups water
- 2 black tea bags like English breakfast, OR 4 grams of loose-leaf tea leaves
- 2 whole cloves or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 2 TB pure maple syrup or honey
Equipment Needed
- 1 medium saucepan for boiling the spices and tea
- fine mesh sieve for straining the spices from the concentrate
Substitutions & Variations
How to Make Homemade Chai Concentrate
Step 1: Bring the water and spices to a boil.
In a small saucepan, bring the water and spices to a boil. Whisk the spices in the water. Once the water boils, turn off the heat and allow the spices to steep in the water for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add tea bags and steep for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, turn the heat back on and add the black tea bags and maple syrup. Return to a slight boil (the goal is a hot liquid for steeping). Once boiling, turn off the heat. Steep the tea bags in the water and spices for 5 minutes.
Step 3: Strain the tea and spices
Remove the tea bags and strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer.
Step 4: Store the concentrate
Place the concentrate in a storage jar with a lid (I use a glass mason jar). The homemade concentrate, full of so much flavor, is ready to use or store for later! I’ll show you how to use this concentrate below.
Video Tutorial For Concentrate and Latte
How to Make a Hot Chai Latte With This Concentrate
To make a hot chai latte, you’ll need milk. Use any dairy milk (whole milk, skim milk, etc.) or a plant-based milk (almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, or coconut milk).
With your milk and concentrate, here’s how to make a latte, step-by-step…
- Step 1: In a small saucepan, bring milk, maple syrup, and a pinch of cinnamon to a slight boil (the sides of the milk will begin to bubble), stirring often. Once the sides of the milk begin to bubble, remove the pan from heat.
- Step 2: Using an immersion blender, blend the milk until it’s frothy. Alternatively, use a fork to vigorously whisk and froth the milk.
- Step 3: Pour 1/2 cup chai concentrate into a mug. Slowly pour in the frothed milk. Sprinkle the top with an extra pinch of cinnamon, if desired.
- Step 4: Serve warm.
How to Make an Iced Chai Latte With This Concentrate
To make an iced chai latte, you’ll need your choice of milk (plant-based or dairy) and ice cubes. The chai concentrate should be fully cooled (and chilled in the fridge).
With your milk, ice, and concentrate, here’s how to make an iced latte, step-by-step…
- Step 1: Fill an 8-ounce drinking glass with ice cubes.
- Step 2: Pour 1/2 cup of the chilled concentrate over the ice cubes. I recommend using a small strainer, positioned over the glass, to pour the chilled concentrate through the strainer and into the glass. As the concentrate chills, some of the spices (that weren’t filtered out when making the concentrate) and sweetener can clump together, so the strainer will catch this.
- Step 3: Add 1/3 cup of cold milk of choice (dairy milk or dairy-free milk) to the concentrate: vanilla or plain almond milk, coconut milk, or whole milk, etc.
- Serve cold.
How many lattes can you make this concentrate?
- This recipe makes 2 cups of concentrate.
- You’ll use 1/2 cup of homemade chai concentrate at a time to make a latte.
- You can make up to 4 lattes with this 2 cups of concentrate.
- The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you want to make more lattes.
How to Store & Reheat
- Store the chai concentrate (once fully cool), in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Reheat the chai concentrate in the microwave or a saucepan on the stove-top. Then warm the milk and make a hot latte. Or, use the cold concentrate to make an iced latte.
Favorite Homemade Coffee Shop Drinks
- How to Make Chai Concentrate With Tea Bags
- Ultimate Homemade Chai Tea Latte Recipe
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- Easy Homemade Hot Chocolate (Dairy or Dairy Free)
- Homemade Mocha Peppermint Latte
- How to Make a Turmeric Latte (Golden Milk)
- How to Make Homemade Coffee Creamer
- Iced Matcha Green Tea Latte Two Ways
How to Make Chai Concentrate Recipe
Equipment
- 1 medium saucepan
- fine mesh sieve for straining the spices from the chai concentrate
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 black tea bags like English breakfast, OR 4 grams of loose-leaf tea leaves
- 2 whole cloves or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 2 TB pure maple syrup or honey
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring the water and spices to a boil. Whisk the spices in the water. Once the water reaches a boil, turn off the heat and allow the spices to steep in the water for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, turn the heat back on and add the black tea bags and maple syrup. Return to a slight boil (the goal is a hot liquid for steeping). Once boiling, turn off the heat. Steep the tea bags in the water and spices for 5 minutes.
- Remove the tea bags and strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve 1/2 cup of chai concentrate to make a latte right now. Store the remaining chai concentrate in a jar in the fridge up to 2 weeks.
- Use this concentrate to make an iced chai latte or hot chai latte.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I love chai and this was delicious!
Yay, Amy! So happy to hear you liked it. Thank you for sharing.
After India, I’ve been making chai in the morning again! I love to heat some of the concentrate directly in a saucepan with milk. So good!