Make your own chai latte
A recipe for homemade Starbucks-style chai latte, which may even be a bit better than that.
Equipment
- pestle & mortar or just something heavy to whack the spices with
- pan with lid that holds at least 1 liter
- Fine sieve
- pitcher or other container that holds at least 1 liter
Ingredients
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns seeds and stems removed, alternatively use all black pepper instead
- 7 cloves
- 6 green cardamom pods
- 1 1/2 star anise
- 1 l water
- 5 cm piece of ginger thinly sliced
- 4 black tea bags I like M&S decaf
- 1/2 c sweetener I like maple syrup or cassonade
- milk I like unsweetened soy milk, amount in recipe
Instructions
- Smash the spices roughly with a pestle and mortar or under a cloth with something heavy (so it doesn't jump everywhere). You just want everything to be slightly, not finely, cracked.
- Toast the cracked spices in a pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, shacking occasionally, until fragrant.
- Now add 1 liter of water and the thinly sliced ginger and bring to a simmer. If any water has evaporated from the pan due to the high heat from the toasting, be sure to top it off. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer gently for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, chuck in your 4 tea bags, cover with a lid and allow to steep for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes remove the tea bags and stir in your sweetener until dissolved.
- Strain the tea through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher and discard the spices and teabags.
- You can keep the tea in the fridge until further notice or make yourself a cup: pour 3/4 c of warm tea in a mug. Froth 1/2 cup of milk and combine.
Notes
- Obviously for this recipe everything is to taste, but the sweetener and tea to milk ratio are especially to taste, so be sure to experiment to find what configuration you like best.
- For this recipe I do really recommend you use whole spices, see intro.
- The chai-base minus the milk keeps for 5-7 days in the fridge.
- Because the container I bought holds 2 liters I double this recipe, this works fine as well should you be so inclined.