Happy Saturday friends! In my opinion, there's no better way to start the weekend morning than with a ginormous, steaming cup of tea. I'm a HUGE tea drinker. I'll drink coffee if I'm dying but honestly a half a cup gives me legit jitters. But you know what's even better than tea? A homemade, Spiced Chai Latte.
Whole spices freshly steeped, just brewed darjeeling black tea, and frothy milk (with a tidge of brown sugar of course 😉 ) makes for a perfect Saturday morning. My dad and I are all about the Spiced Chai Latte. The scent alone is heaven. However, we've always bought the pre-made boxes at the store and I figured it was high time I learned how to make it from scratch.
Important: This is a take on the traditional spiced chai not the Starbucks version aka a lot less sugar and a bit more spice. And can I just say, WAY better. As your steeping the spices, the aroma fills your house and smells like Christmas morning. Whole anise stars, cardamom pods, ground black pepper, a pinch of ground ginger and nutmeg...mmmm. And THEN you add darjeeling black tea?! I can't even.
Fair warning: I enjoy my Spiced Chai Latte spiced. None of this cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar and call it a day stuff. I let my spices steep for 10 minutes to really infuse the tea with their flavors. If you're a little more on the sweet taste bud side, I would add more milk and less tea mixture to your personal cup. Don't skimp on the steeping! Otherwise you end up with vaguely flavored water. Gross. Diluting the spice with milk is a much better option.
Alright guys. Enjoy your weekend and make sure to whip up your own steaming batch of Spiced Chai Latte!
Spiced Chai Latte
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 3-4 (6 cups) 1x
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 8 cardamom pods
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 4 whole star anise pods
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 darjeeling black tea bags
- 2 cups milk
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed (use 2 tablespoons if you like a spicer chai, and go up to a ⅓ of a cup if you like a sweeter chai)
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- In a medium pot, heat water, cardamom pods, cloves, peppercorns, anise pods, ginger, cinnamon sticks and ground nutmeg to a boil. Add tea bags and steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and steep for five minutes more.
- Meanwhile, heat milk and brown sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Scald but do not boil. Using an immersion blender or a whisk, blend until frothy. Let cool for 1 minute.
- Strain the tea and add milk. Enjoy warm or over ice!
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Tad Gielow says
This recipe is Dad approved!!
Judith says
I tried it with 0,5l almond milk, and Turkish tea but it was not spicy at all to my taste ;-/ only thing missing was the anise buds.. maybe that was the problem? I used half the measurements that u used for 1,5l of chai, too 😅 I like it really spicy,,
Dan says
I did not have the fortune of trying this breakfast delight. Seems perfect for a weekend morning.
Lori says
Gorgeous photos! I could well use a glass of it 🙂
Lauren @ A Nerd Cooks says
You know, I never thought of using an immersion blender to froth the milk! I always assumed you needed a fancy milk frother thing, which I've been unwilling to buy. I love love love chai lattes, and can't wait to try yours out! Gorgeous photos, too.
Aberdeen says
Thank you so much! You know I did used to have one those, never used it and no idea what happened to it ???? but the immersion blender works wonders!
Chris says
10/10 would chai again
Bailey B says
There's a coffee shop down the road with an AMAZING almond chai latte and I wanted to make one on my own. This recipe lives up to the challenge. Good flavor and great spice that makes you feel all the warm feelings you need for cooler weather. Thanks Aberdeen!
I also couldn't find Darjeeling tea at my local grocery store, so I subbed with the black tea from Bigelow - I'm not sure how this compares with the Darjeeling tea, but it was still delicious!
Bailey B says
Forgot rate it!
Michelle says
I followed the recipe to the T. My first batch was bland so rather than nixing the entire thing, I added more spices and steeped another 4 tea bags in the entire batch. It upped the flavor quite a bit. I think the recipe is amazing but everyone’s taste buds are different so it took a bit of tweaking to find “my perfect” cuppa spiced chia tea latte.
Rina says
I just made this, and love it! I’ve been looking for this recipe for a long time! I didn’t have whole spices, except the cinnamon sticks, and the ground spices still gave it great flavor! I also substituted the anise stars for cloves. I know the whole spices give it more flavor, but I didn’t want to wait til my next trip to town to make it, and I still really enjoy it! Thank you, Aberdeen, for making this recipe!