This homemade iced chai tea latte recipe is a healthier alternative to Starbucks’ popular drink, and it’s so easy to make. With a few pantry spices, 2 black tea bags, and dairy or plant-based milk you can easily make your own. With a refreshing, strong chai flavor, this naturally-sweetened drink is a must-make!

Pouring milk into a mason jar filled with ice and chai concentrate.
Make your own chai tea latte with this homemade chai concentrate recipe and milk.

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What Makes This Recipe So Good?

I shared my internet-famous, reader-favorite homemade chai tea latte recipe in 2014. The recipe starts with a homemade chai tea concentrate that’s made from simple pantry spices, black tea bags, and water. Warm milk is added to the concentrate to make a classic latte. It’s the perfect drink for fall and winter.

By summer, I’m all about iced everything: iced coffee, iced tea, and homemade popsicles. Summer time in Florida (my home) is no joke when a warm day reaches 100+ degrees.

A couple of years ago, I took my famous hot latte and turned it into a new recipe: a refreshing iced chai. It’s super easy to make either a hot or iced drink. It’s just a matter of chilling or warming the homemade chai concentrate, which I’ll show you how to make today, and then adding cold or hot milk and ice cubes.

What makes this iced chai latte AMAZING is the from-scratch chai concentrate.

Pre-made concentrates or pre-mixed chai tea bags from grocery store never have the same great flavor as a fresh concentrate. By making the homemade version, which takes just 10 minutes and lasts up to 2 weeks in the fridge, you’re guaranteed to make a delicious drink every time!

What Readers Say:

“Best Chai Tea I have ever had! And it is very easy as well – very little active time”

KAITILYN

What is an Iced Chai Tea Latte?

Chai tea latte originated in India. In India, the word chai translates to “tea.”

A traditional chai tea latte is a combination of tea and milk. The homemade chai tea latte recipe we’re going to make today, and what most of us recognize as that infamous chai latte taste, is called masala chai.

The main ingredients are a blend of tea, milk, and different spices (like cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger).

For an iced chai latte, you need a chilled chai concentrate, chilled milk, and ice cubes. That’s it.

The stronger chai flavor comes from the chai concentrate, which is made with warm spices and black tea. Some folks use Tazo chai concentrate (used to make the Starbucks iced chai tea latte) but the pre-made mix doesn’t taste as fresh and delicious as making the homemade version. Give it a try and tell me what you think!

Ingredients on a countertop to make a chai latte: spices, maple syrup, and tea bags.
Ingredients needed to make an iced latte: warm spices from your pantry, tea bags, water, and maple syrup.

Ingredients Needed

This easy recipe is two parts: first, make the chai concentrate. Then, chill the concentrate in the fridge. Second, once the concentrate is cold, make a tasty drink by mixing the concentrate with cold milk and ice cubes (a latte).

For the Chai Concentrate:

To Make a Latte:

You’ll use 1/2 cup of homemade chai concentrate at a time to make a latte. The concentrate stores well in the fridge, for up to 2 weeks. You can make up to 4 lattes with 2 cups of concentrate. And the concentrate recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

  • 1/2 cup chai tea concentrate from the recipe above
  • 1/3 cup whole milk or dairy-free milk: coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk

How to Make, Step By Step

Total Time: Making the chai concentrate is the most time-consuming part of this recipe (10 minutes). Make the chai concentrate in advance, then pour into a mason jar and chill in the fridge. Once you have the chai concentrate made, an iced latte takes just 2 minutes to make.

Step 1: Make Your Own Chai Concentrate

Heat 2 cups of water and the spices in a small saucepan over medium heat on the stove top. Let the ingredients simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add 2 tea bags and maple syrup (or honey).

After another 5 minutes, pour the concentrate (hot water, spices, sweetener and tea bags) through a fine mesh strainer and into a heat-safe jar. Allow the concentrate to cool at room temperature (about 30 minutes), then place in the fridge.

Time-Saving Tip: Short on time? Buy a chai concentrate or “chai tea bags” (which pre-mix spices with black tea) from the store. Store-bought concentrates and pre-mixed tea bags lack the strong flavor profile that you’ll get from this homemade concentrate, but they will give you the chai experience if you’re short on time.

Use this same concentrate to make a hot latte, if desired, just warm the concentrate and follow this hot tea recipe.

Step 2: Make the Latte

Fill an 8-ounce drinking glass with ice cubes. Pour 1/2 cup of chilled chai concentrate over the ice cubes, followed by 1/3 cup of cold milk (dairy milk or dairy-free milk): vanilla or plain almond milk, coconut milk, or whole milk, etc.

Now savor the best iced chai latte! And enjoy the money you’re saving by making this drink at home.

Chai latte in a mason jar filled with ice.
Iced Chai Latte

3 Variations: Dirty Chai, Dairy Free, Chai Ice Cubes

Variation 1: Dirty Chai

If you love an iced coffee, but want a spiced tea as well, the dirty chai is the way to go! For a hot dirty chai, a shot of espresso is added to the chai concentrate and milk. For a cold drink, cold brew or iced coffee is used. To make an iced dirty chai, add ice to an 8-ounce drinking glass, then 1/4 cup of chilled chai concentrate, 1/4 cup of chilled coffee and cold brew coffee, and 1/3 cup milk of choice.

Variation 2: Dairy-Free Chai

One of my favorite variations of this drink is to use coconut milk or vanilla almond milk instead of whole milk. Coconut milk adds an amazing tropical flavor to the spiced concentrate! I like canned coconut milk vs. the carton, which is extra creamy and delicious!

Variation 3: Chai Ice Cubes

Pour the chai concentrate into an ice cube tray and freeze. Add the ice cubes to a glass of milk. As the ice melts, you’ll have a delicious latte that isn’t watered down.

Hand holding a chai latte in a mason jar.
Pouring milk into a mason jar filled with ice and chai concentrate.
5 from 9 votes

Homemade Iced Chai Tea Latte

This homemade iced chai tea latte recipe is a healthier alternative to Starbucks’ popular drink. Quick, easy, made with simple ingredients.
Kristin Marr
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 chai lattes
Calories 44 kcal
Cost: $3

Equipment

  • 1 medium saucepan
  • 1 fine mesh sieve for straining the spices from the chai concentrate
  • 1 mason jar or airtight container for storage

Ingredients

Homemade Chai Concentrate:

Chai Latte:

  • ice cubes
  • 1/2 cup homemade chai tea concentrate from the recipe above
  • 1/3 cup whole milk or dairy-free milk: coconut milk, cashew milk, almond milk, oat milk

Instructions

Homemade Chai Concentrate

  • In a medium 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.
    2 cups water, 2 whole 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
    Spices boiling in water on the stove-top in a white pot.
  • 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.
    2 TB pure maple syrup, 2 black tea bags
    Adding tea bags to the hot water with warm spices.
  • Remove the tea bags and strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer and into a heat-safe jar.
    Staining the chai tea concentrate through a fine mesh strainer into a glass bottle.
  • Allow the concentrate to cool at room temperature (about 30 minutes), then place in the fridge to chill. Store the chai concentrate in a jar in the fridge up to 2 weeks (sealed with a lid).
    Chai concentrate on a kitchen counter in a glass jar.

Make an Iced Chai Latte

  • Fill an 8-ounce drinking glass with ice cubes.
  • Pour 1/2 cup of the chilled chai 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.
    Pouring chai concentrate into a mason jar filled with ice cubes.
  • Add 1/3 cup of cold milk of choice (dairy milk or dairy-free milk) to the chai concentrate: vanilla or plain almond milk, coconut milk, or whole milk, etc.
    Pouring milk into a mason jar filled with ice and chai concentrate.
  • Serve cold.

Notes

Make a Hot Latte: Use this same concentrate to make a hot latte. Use this hot chai latte recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 44kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 15mgPotassium: 66mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 36IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 48mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

This recipe is perfect for the warmer months. Enjoy this iced drink with a summer snack, as a morning ritual with eggs or a healthy yogurt bowl, or as a mid-day treat.

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5 from 9 votes (7 ratings without comment)

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7 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This is WAY better than Starbucks. Seriously, I will never be caught buying anything from them again. So so good! Thank you for this recipe and I can’t wait to try it cold 😋 It is even better than our local coffee shops chai which was better than Starbucks. Give the bunnies a hug for me!

  2. 5 stars
    I love making this drink during the summer. Coconut is my favorite–so creamy and delicious. Let me know what you think of this recipe and how you make it your own.

    1. Do you keep the lid on while it’s heating up and steeping? There’s a big difference in concentration depending on whether I keep it covered or not and neither seems to give the just right strength.