Chai latte

Name: Chai latte
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 500 ml water; 10 cardamom seeds; 8 whole clove; 2 whole star anise seeds; 1 cinnamon stick (approx. 5 cm); 4 tsp black tea; 200 ml warm milk

Enjoying a warm drink full of spices is utterly delicious. To get a warm and spicy flavour, make a traditional chai latte. It is full of flavour with cardamom, cloves, star anise, and cinnamon. With our recipe for chai latte, you can prepare flavourful spiced lattes with beautifully fragrant and warming spices in just 15 minutes. Try this hug in a mug next time you need a bit of warmth.

https://www.arlafoods.co.uk/recipes/chai-latte1/

Instructions

Boil the water and spices in a saucepan with a lid for about 5 minutes.
Add the tea and let it steep for about 5 minutes.
Strain the tea, whisk the warm milk until frothy, and pour it in.

Enjoy!

Questions about chai latte

Making a chai latte from scratch is quick and easy with a recipe like ours. If you are interested in knowing more about this deliciously spicy drink, keep reading to see some of the most frequently asked questions.

What is a chai latte?

A chai latte is a hot beverage made by combining black tea with spices and whisked warm milk. A range of aromatic herbs and spices may be used to spice up the dark, malty flavours of the black tea but popular choices include cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, ginger, and peppercorn. Tea latte is, as such, a rich and warming drink.

How to make a chai latte?

When you are in the mood for a creamy, hot drink, knowing that a spiced chai latte is easy to prepare at home comes in handy. Simply boil water and spices in a saucepan and add a loose-leaf black tea of choice to steep after about five minutes. As the spiced tea infuses, heat and whisk milk until it is delightfully frothy. Strain the tea and pour in the creamy milk. Pour the hot drink into your favourite mug or cup and enjoy the spiced latte drink while it is still warm.

Does chai latte have caffeine?

Although almost non-existent, this spiced beverage does contain a small amount of caffeine. Black tea usually contains about 20 mg caffeine pr. 100 g, but it is such a minuscule amount that in most cases, you will not notice it. In comparison, regular coffee usually contains around 40-50 mg. Dirty chai, which is made by adding an espresso shot to the latte, contains, as you would expect, more caffeine as espresso is quite concentrated.

How to make an iced chai latte?

This easy chai latte recipe can easily be made in an iced version if you are in the mood for a cool, refreshing beverage that still has plenty of spicy flavours. After preparing the spiced black tea, allow it to cool before you whisk your cold milk to make it frothy. This may take a bit longer than if the milk was warm. Combine the two and pour the iced latte over the ice cubes to keep the drink nice and cool. Enjoy your iced and spiced latte drink immediately.

Ingredients

Water	500 ml
Cardamom seeds	10
Whole clove	8
Whole star anise seeds	2
Cinnamon stick (approx. 5 cm)	1
Black tea	4 tsp
Warm milk	200 ml

Hot and flavourful chai latte

Chai is the Hindi word for tea, meaning that a chai latte is a tea made by combining spiced black tea with whisked warm milk. The best chai latte yields a rich, creamy hot tea with frothy milk foam and warm spices. Though you can use any type of milk to make your homemade chai lattes, you will gain a richer flavour and a creamier consistency with whole milk.

If this rich and warming drink is right up your alley, you might also like to try our recipe for turmeric latte  which yields a beautiful golden latte drink with fresh turmeric and ginger as well as a spicy peppercorn mix.  

Warm spices and rich black tea

The best black tea for a chai latte is a rich loose-leaf tea such as the intense Assam or the musky-sweet Darjeeling tea. You can, of course, also use staple black tea types like English Breakfast or the bergamot-infused Earl Grey as chai latte ingredients if you already have some in your pantry.

With the addition of spices like citrusy cardamom, warming clove, liquorice-like star anise, and fragrant cinnamon, even these regular types of black tea will be transformed into delicious rich chai latte.

Experiment with the recipe

Whether you enjoy your chai latte hot or cold, low or high in caffeine, there is a new favourite beverage waiting for you. Below, we outline the most popular chai latte variations to inspire you to fall in love with chai lattes.

Iced chai latte

Take inspiration from the delicious and beloved coffee drink iced latte and make a refreshing spiced but iced tea latte that is perfect for warm days or when you want to recreate that special summer feeling.

To make the iced version, prepare the spiced black tea and allow it to cool before combining it with whisked cold milk and pouring it over ice cubes.

If you would like to make a so-called chai ice blend which is almost like creamy slush ice with chai spice, simply blend the beverage with ice until the ice has been entirely crushed and the drink has a smooth and even texture. You might also like to experiment with freezing spiced black tea in ice cube trays and blending these with cold milk for an even more intense ice blend.

Dirty chai latte

This 'dirty' version of the spiced drink features coffee. More specifically the tea drink is infused with a refreshing shot of intense espresso. 

Though this variety of the beverage was invented by accident when a barista added a shot of espresso to a tea latte by mistake, the coffee brings the drink a lovely earthiness as well as a slight sharpness both of which complement the flavours of the spices and the richness of the frothy milk well.

This rendition of the drink may of course also be iced if you have discovered you prefer it this way.

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