11 Incredible Recipes Of How To Make Homemade Chai Tea Easily

Chai tea is one of the most energizing beverages one can have in the morning. For many years, this beverage has been the most popular morning drink in India.

It has lovely aromatic taste notes and a robust flavor that gives you the right energy you need to start your day well.

Chai tea also makes an excellent beverage to share with a friend or family member on a cold evening. It’s a great way to forge connections and build relationships.

While there are various ways to make chai, many people still don’t know how to make chai tea at home. They only enjoy this type of tea in tea and coffee shops.

As with most beverages, delicious and authentic chai tea requires you to have some skill and knowledge on how to prepare it.

If you are a tea fanatic and have a thing for chai tea, you have landed on the right page.

This article will provide 11 incredible recipes of how to make homemade chai tea easily. But first, let’s learn what chai tea really is.

What is Chai Tea?

Originated in Southern Asia, chai tea is a creamy, spiced tea usually enjoyed in India but is becoming popular in most parts of the world.

It’s a beverage prepared by boiling black tea in milk, water, and often a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices.

The most common type of black tea used in chai tea is Assam, though other types may be used. It delivers a robust and full-bodied flavor.

Chai tea is usually made whole, as it’s the best way to realize the richness in the tea and spices used.

It can be made with various fresh spices, including a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and star anise. However, different people have a blend that suits their taste.

The most commonly used sweetener for chai tea is plain white sugar. Other sweeteners like jaggery, unrefined cane sugar, and concentrated sweet flavor can also be used.

Chai tea is usually paired with some snacks and spicy treats such as samosa, small sandwiches, pakora, and murukku.

If you drink chai tea every day, you can reap various health benefits, including balanced blood sugar levels and improved heart health. Chai tea is also believed to enhance digestion and reduce nausea.

It’s easy to make chai tea at home, only that you need to have a few ingredients and follow a specific recipe.

So, what are the ingredients of chai tea? Well, the ingredients can vary depending on the recipe you want to use.

In this case, there are many homemade chai tea recipes you can follow to make a delicious beverage in the comfort of your home.

Here are the 11 best homemade chai tea recipes you can try at home:

1. Homemade Chai Tea Latte

This is a sweeter version of regular chai tea usually made with soluble powder or syrup that is similar to a chai flavor.

It’s made by mixing steamed milk with black tea that has been brewed with spices then topped with frothy milk foam.

Chai tea latte is often served hot but can also be enjoyed as an iced beverage. Here is how to prepare it at home:

Ingredients

1 chai tea bag (black tea)
¾ cup of boiling water
Cloves and cinnamon stick
1 ½ teaspoon of honey
1 teaspoon of white sugar
¾ cup of milk

Instructions

Pour your clean water into a kettle and let it boil.
Add cloves and cinnamon sticks or any other spices you plan to use into the boiling water.
Transfer the boiling water with spices into a teapot and steep your teabag for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Discard the teabag and add honey and sugar to dissolve in the tea to sweeten the beverage.
Froth the milk to form a frothy and thick liquid and heat it on a small saucepan over low or medium heat.
Transfer the steeped tea into mugs and add warm milk. Then top the drink with a scoop of hot-frothed milk and stir to enjoy!

2. Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate

Chai tea concentrate is one of the easiest ways to enjoy spiced tea that suits your taste.

If chai tea is your favorite comforting drink, here is a recipe for homemade chai tea concentrate:

Ingredients

4 cups of clean water
Black tea bags
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of honey
½ cup of coconut sugar or raw cane sugar
Small piece of fresh ginger
10 whole cloves
½ teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg
8 cardamom pods2 whole star anise pods
½ teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon of orange zest

To prepare a chai tea concentrate, you’ll need a good strainer and a quart-sized glass bottle. Once you gather all the ingredients and the equipment necessary, you can follow these instructions:

Prepare your spices and lay them on a cheesecloth, and tie it with small kitchen twine. If you don’t want to use a cheesecloth, you’ll just have to add the spices directly into the water.
Add your clean water and sugar to a small saucepan and let them boil over medium-high heat. When the water boils, reduce the heat and put the tea bags and the cheesecloth into the simmering water.
After simmering for about 20 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat and strain the infusion through a sieve.
Then add one tablespoon of honey to sweeten your concentrate and stir to dissolve. If you didn’t use a vanilla bean, it’s time to add the vanilla extract, then stir the mixture.
Let the mixture cool before transferring it into a container or airtight jar. When the concentrate has fully cooled, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to one week.
To serve the concentrate, mix a small amount of it with sweetened or unsweetened milk. You can use hot milk or serve over iced milk for a cold drink.

3. Starbucks Copycat Tea Latte

This is a delicious type of chai tea from Starbucks. It’s usually made with water, milk, black tea, and spices.

It has a significant amount of caffeine, making a great drink to uplift your mood and keep you energized.

Here is how to make Starbucks copycat tea latte:

Ingredients

½ cup of water
2 chai tea bags (black tea)
½ cup of milk
2 tablespoons of sweetener like honey or white sugar
Powdered cinnamon and nutmeg

Once you gather the ingredients you can follow these instructions to make a Starbucks copycat chai tea latte:

Pour clean freshwater into a kettle and bring it to a boil.
Steep the teabag in a teapot with black tea for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Add hot milk and honey or any other sweetener you like into the steeped tea.
Use a frother or immersion blender and blend until the mixture is frothy.
Transfer your Starbucks copycat chai tea latte into a cup. Then sprinkle some cinnamon and nutmeg on top and enjoy with a snack!

4. Indian Chai Hot Chocolate

This is a delicious beverage made with hot chocolate and chai tea. It tastes like normal chai tea but with some chocolate taste notes.

Ingredients

½ cup of milk
½ cup of water
1 chai tea bag
1 package of instant hot chocolate mix

Instructions

Pour the water and milk into a microwave-safe mug.
Turn the microwave on and cook on high for about one and a half minutes.
Remove the mixture and add the chai tea bag. Then leave the tea to steep for about two to three minutes.
Discard the tea bag and stir in your instant chocolate hot mix.

5. Hot and Spicy Himalayan Chai Tea

If you love spices that much, you can make this delicious and robust chai tea variety in about 20 minutes. Here is what you need:

3 cups of water
3 tablespoons of light brown or white sugar
1 piece of ginger root
½ cinnamon stick
3 green cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
1 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon of black peppercorns
1 tablespoon of Darjeeling tea leaves
½ cup of milk

Instructions

Boil water.
Add all the ingredients except tea leaves and milk and then stir the mixture. Leave them to simmer in medium heat for about 20 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the Darjeeling tea leaves. Let the mixture steep for 5-10 minutes.
Stir milk into the mixture and bring to a boil.
Strain the tea into a jar or teacups, and enjoy!

6. Homemade Rooibus Chai Tea

Rooibus chai leaves are usually grown in South Africa, and they can be used as a substitute for the black tea used in most chai tea recipes.

Here is how to make Rooibus chai tea at home:

Ingredients

½ cup of whole milk
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons of cardamom pods (crushed lightly)
4 cups of water
1 teaspoon whole cloves
2 small pieces of ginger
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of loose Rooibus tea

Instructions

Bring water to a boil.
Reduce the heat, and add all ingredients. Let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes. While at it, ensure you stir gently.
Strain your chain and serve.

Read More:

What is Hibiscus Tea?

7. Slow Cooker Chai

This is an easy chai tea version usually prepared with whole spices and sweetened condensed milk. Here is how to make it:

Ingredients

1 quart of water
5 slices of ginger
5 green cardamom pods
8 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 black tea bags
5 ounces of sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

Pour your clean, fresh water into a crock of slow cooker.
Add ginger, clove and peppercorn.
Let the mixture simmer for 8 hours before putting black tea bag into the spiced water.
Wait for the tea to steep for five minutes.
Finally, strain your tea and add sweetened condensed milk.

8. Vegan Chai Tea

If you embrace veganism, you may want to try this vegan-friendly chai tea recipe. It involves swapping the dairy milk used in making chai tea with almond or coconut milk.

Ingredients

8 cardamom seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
8 cloves
2 cups of coconut or almond milk
4 bags of black tea
8 teaspoons of sugar

Instructions

Crush the cardamom, cloves, and peppercorns in a resealable paper bag.
Place the crushed ingredients in a saucepan. Then add ginger, cinnamon, milk, and water.
Turn the heat on and bring the mixture to a boil before turning the heat off.
Remove the saucepan from the heat source and add your teabags. Then let them steep for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Strain your vegan chai tea into cups and sweeten it with sugar or any other desired sweetener.

9. Chocolate Chai Tea

This is a spicy cinnamon chai tea with chocolate. It’s a great hot drink to enjoy on cold winter nights.

Ingredients

1 black tea bag
¼ cup of water
3 tablespoons of white sugar
2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups of milk
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
Sweetened whipped cream
2 cinnamon sticks

Instructions

Boil the water in a small saucepan and remove from the pan heat once boiled.
Add the tea bag and let it steep for about 4 minutes.
Remove the tea bag and stir in your white sugar and cocoa.
Return the saucepan to the stove and let the mixture boil over medium heat.
Add milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then pour the hot drink into mugs and top with the whipped cream.

10. Iced Chai Latte

It’s very easy to make an iced chai latte at home, and you can actually make a big batch for the whole week.

Ingredients

4 chai tea bags
1-quart water
¼ cup of honey
¼ cup of water
3 cups of milk

Instructions

Steep the tea bags in cold water for about 8 to 12 hours
Combine honey and water and microwave them for about 30 to make the honey syrup. Then allow the mixture to cool.
Remove the tea bags and pour some tea into tea mugs. Store the remaining tea in the refrigerator.
Add a few ice cubes and two tablespoons of honey syrup to each mug. Then sweeten the tea with some milk.
Stir to combine the ingredients and enjoy your iced chai latte.

11. Homemade Chai Tea Mix

Give yourself an instant boost with a cup of delicious chai tea mix on a chilly morning or a gray day.

Homemade chai tea mix is an easy recipe you can prepare within a short time at home. It works best with vanilla sugar instead of regular sugar.

Here is how to make it:

Ingredients

½ cup of vanilla sugar
Non-dairy creamer
Instant tea
1 cup of nonfat milk powder
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
A pinch of ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

Instructions

Combine the milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla sugar, and instant tea in a large bowl.
Add ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom into the mixture. Then stir to combine the ingredients.
Blend the mixture in a blender until you achieve a consistently fine powder. For best results, blend one cup at a time.
To serve, add 2 heaping tablespoons of the chai tea mix into a cup of hot water and stir to combine.
Store the remaining chai tea mixture in an airtight container and store it in the pantry.

How to Mix Your Own Chai Tea Spices

Have you ever wondered how to make chai tea mix at home for a highly-flavored drink? Well, it’s pretty simple, provided you have all the ingredients.

The best thing about having a ready chai tea mix is that you can easily create delicious chai tea lattes, chocolate chai, apple chai, or any chai tea recipe anytime you want.

Here are the main spices you need to make a perfect chai tea mix at home:

2 teaspoons of ground cardamom
6 teaspoon of ground ginger
2 teaspoon of ground allspice
2 teaspoon of ground cloves
4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

To make your homemade chai tea mix, combine all the spices in a large bowl and mix them thoroughly. Then transfer the mix into an airtight container.

If you prefer a sweet spice to a bite, you can substitute the ginger powder with two teaspoons of coconut sugar, brown sugar, or white sugar.

FAQs

While tea bags are the most convenient to use when in a hurry, they cannot match up to the taste of a cup made from scratch.
With the right procedure and ingredients, you can prepare your chai tea in less than 15 minutes using Assam and Darjeeling tea.
Here is a simple step-by-step guide on how to prepare your chai tea at home from scratch:
Step 1: Gather All the Requirements
To prepare 4 cups of chai tea, you will require a piece of fresh ginger, and two cinnamon sticks. You also need 2 cups of whole milk, 2 cups of water, eight teaspoons sugar, eight cloves, eight cardamom pods, and four black tea bags.
Whole milk is best preferred here as it plays an essential part in developing the flavor of the spices. If you don’t want whole milk for any reason, use either soy milk or coconut milk.

Step 2: Crush Your Spices
Now that you have everything you need to start preparing chai tea, you first need to crush your spices.
You can do this with a spice grinder, a motor, or even grind them manually with a mullet and a plastic bag.

Step 3: Boil Your Spices
Put all your spices in a pan, add milk and water before bringing them to boiling. This ensures complete extraction of flavor from the spices.

Step 4: Steep the Tea
After the spices have boiled, remove the pan from the heat source and add your preferred tea. You can use either black tea bags or loose tea, whichever you prefer.
Now cover the pan and leave the tea to steep for a maximum of 5-10 minutes. Remember, if you steep your tea for too long, it may taste bitter due to over-extraction.
Use a strainer to separate the tea from the spices and the used tea before pouring it into mugs.

Step 5: Add Sweeteners and Enjoy
Chai tea is usually enjoyed unsweetened to allow you to taste the different spices. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add any. You are free to add brown or white sugar to suit your taste.
When satisfied that everything is okay, pour it into your cups and enjoy.

Yes, chai tea is good for you. Homemade chai is not only tasty and refreshing but also has a lot of health benefits. If you make it by yourself, you can easily choose not to add any artificial sweeteners or refined sugar, which can be an added advantage.

Here are some of the benefits that you will get by consuming homemade chai tea:

It has Antioxidants

The common black tea used in the preparation of homemade chai tea is Assam. This type of tea has higher amounts of polyphenolic content than other types of black tea.
Antioxidants are essential in protecting your cells and boosting your body’s immune system.

Boosts Your Energy

Homemade Chai tea has a higher caffeine content than other types of tea. The black tea in the chai tea is broken down and shaped to release more caffeine.
You can harness more than two times your energy after consuming a cup of homemade chai tea.

Keeps Cholesterol Under Control

One of the most important benefits you will get from taking homemade chai tea is reduced bad cholesterol levels.
Thanks to ingredients like ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and black tea found in your favorite cup.

Almost all the spices found in homemade chai tea have significant health benefits. For instance, ginger is well known for its significant anti-nausea effects.
According to a study among pregnant women, consuming homemade chai tea can reduce nausea significantly.
Other ingredients like black pepper, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon have antibacterial properties that will reduce digestion problems to a great extent.

Improves Your Immunes System

It’s everyone’s goal these days to have a robust immunes system. However, many people have not realized that taking chai tea every day can improve your immune system.
Particularly, cardamom in homemade chai tea has Vitamin C in plenty and other essential nutrients to boost your immune system.

Enhanced Heart Health

Studies have shown that taking homemade chai tea has positive results to your heart health. Masala, one of the main spices of homemade chai tea, plays a significant role in reducing blood pressure and bad cholesterol.
Moreover, cinnamon, which is also another ingredient of chai tea, is good in reducing blood sugar levels.
Cholesterol and blood sugar are among the major causes of heart problems. By reducing their levels, you are actively preventing heart health problems.

Yes. It is okay to drink chai tea every day.

Drinking chai tea every day comes with a lot of benefits to your body. Some of the benefits are very crucial to your body, and they include improving your immune system.

The spices mixed in chai tea can also benefit the brain, inhibit nausea, improve digestion, and have a lot of antioxidants.

But how much is too much? Can drinking too much every day have adverse effects?
Well, despite its many advantages, drinking too much of it comes along with downsides. It may lead to heartburn, poor sleep, and headaches.

The exact amount of tea that can cause these side effects is not constant but varies from one person to another.

One of the most common ways to drink black tea at home is by making it with milk. But does all the chai tea prepared with milk taste great? The best answer to this question is that it depends on how you prepare your tea.
Here is a quick way you can prepare a tasty cup of chai tea with milk:

Step 1: Gather the Ingredients
Before you set the ball rolling, you better ensure you have all you need to cook your tea.
You will need spices like two cinnamon sticks, a piece of fresh ginger, five whole cloves, and ten whole cardamom pods.
You will also need 1 or 2 cups of milk, four bags of black tea, and 1/3 or more honey cups.

Step 2: Boil the Spices
Once you have everything that’s needed, you can get started. Pour 3 cups of water into a pan, add all your spices and bring them to boiling with high heat.
Boiling is necessary to extract all the flavors from the spices. Once the mixture has boiled, reduce the heat and leave them for 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 3: Steep Your Tea
Once the contents are ready, add your honey and the four tea bags into the pan and put off the heat source.
Let the mixture steep for a maximum of 3-5 minutes. You should not leave your tea too steep for too long. Extended steeping duration will mainly result in bitter tea.

Step 4: Add the Milk
Use a strainer to remove the solid spices and tea from your tea and put it in a warm serving mug or pot.
Heat the milk in a different saucepan, but don’t bring it to boiling. Boiling will break it apart.
Pour it into the pot with the tea and stir thoroughly.

Step 5: Serve and Enjoy
Pour your tea into cups immediately and enjoy. You can always add honey until you achieve your desired taste.

To prepare chai tea with tea bags for four people, you will need the following ingredient;

4 cups water
Four black tea bags
12 cardamom pods
Eight whole green cloves
One piece of ginger
Four stick of cinnamon
A vanilla bean sliced down the middle
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
2-star anises

Instructions:

Step 1
Once you have gathered the above ingredients, put them all in a saucepan except the tea bags.
Bring them to boil under medium heat, reduce the heat, cover them and allow them to simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 2
Add your tea bags and leave them to steep for 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a serving pot through a strainer. Serve into cups and enjoy.

If you prepare a lot of homemade chai tea and, for other reasons, fail to finish it, you don’t have to worry. Cover your tea well and place it into a refrigerator with temperatures of from 38 to 40F. It can stay good for up to 10 days.

If you just leave it on your counter, it will go bad within one day. Bacteria will ruin it due to milk and sugar.
If you consume your unrefrigerated tea that has stayed for hours, it will be unsafe and may cause food poisoning.

Conclusion

Most chai tea versions, especially the chai latte, have become a popular way to enjoy tea at coffee and tea shops.
Fortunately, you can make various versions of chai tea at home easily. Don’t hesitate to try any of the recipes provided above.
You’ll have excellent results if you gather the ingredients needed for the recipe you want to try and follow the instructions given. Good luck!

11 Incredible Recipes of How to Make Homemade Chai Tea Easily