Home Made Chai Latte'

If you love a great chai latte' but don't want to run to Starbucks and spend $3 every time you want a cup, you need this recipe. It is so easy to make it at home. You probably have nearly everything you need in your cupboards right now.

In the final step, I give tips for saving more money on this recipe. So don't miss the last step!

WARNING! Many people (myself included) have developed addictions to this recipe! Proceed at your own risk!

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients.

Here's what you'll need:

Saucepan
2 C. Water
2 Regular Tea Bags
1/8-1/4 teaspoon EACH of ginger and cardamon
1 whole clove
1 cinnamon stick
6 Splenda packets or 1/4 cup Sugar
2 1/2 C. Milk

Step 2: Mix Tea and Spices.

In your sauce pan, add water, spices, and tea bags. Bring it to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes.

Step 3: Boil It Up.

After boiling, it will look like this. Don't worry if a tea bag breaks open. You can strain the tea later.

Step 4: Add the Sweetener.

Now add the Splenda. If you'd rather you can use 1/4 C. Sugar. I have tried using less sweetener, gradually using less and less, and you get used to the less-sweet taste. I've heard of people using honey, but it would change the taste.

Step 5: Add the Milk.

Now add the milk, and return it to a boil. This won't take long, and if you aren't careful, it will boil over. Quite a mess!

Here's a neat little trick: if you take a stick of butter and run it quickly around the rim of the pan when it's hot, the chai won't boil over.

Step 6: Strain and Enjoy

Now you get to enjoy it! I use a little cup strainer as shown in the picture. This is especially great if a tea bag breaks open. But also after boiling milk, you can get a "scum" on top. While the tea, spices and scum are harmless, they can be unpleasant to consume. So the strainer is nice to have.

Step 7: Money Saving Tips and Variations

OK, I promised you some money saving tips. Here they are.

First, try finding the spices at a health-food store. You can usually buy in bulk there, and purchase small amounts by weight. It's much more economical, and you can keep them fresh - they lose their flavor over time.

If you want larger quantities, Sams and Gordon Food Service have spices in 1 lb containers. This is how I purchase my cinnamon sticks. And while I'm on cinnamon sticks, did you know you can reuse them? Rinse them off and let them dry out again. Give them a sniff and if you smell cinnamon, use them again. You can get 3-4 uses from them anyway.

As for the Splenda, I did a little research and discovered that it is cheaper to purchase the box of 1000 packets at Sam's club than to use even the Walmart brand of measurable sweetener.

VARIATIONS

I love this chai just the way I described it. But if you want to vary it, try one of these ideas:

Richer Chai: Use whole milk or even some real cream instead of skim milk.

Dessert Chai: Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Make-ahead Chai: My sister makes double, triple or even quadruple batches of the first 4 steps and keeps it in canning jars in the refrigerator. Then when she wants chai, she just adds the milk and heats up what she wants. It keeps a week or more in the fridge. (But personally, I like it fresh!)

Comments

[Matthew J.D]

Umm.. I don't understand why people are wasting so much time making chai like this. You save yourself the cost of a Starbucks chai but then have to buy the groceries and spend 30 min making it this way. You can LITERALLY buy the same chai that Starbucks uses at any grocery store, Walmart, or Target. It's TAZO's chai concentrate. You pour half a cup of it into a mug, the rest milk, and heat for a minute or so. It's exactly how Starbucks does it except they use the steamed milk.

[ArtisanEclectic]

Actually, seeing a Starbucks employee squirt some syrup into a cup of steamed milk is the reason I decided to learn to make my own Chai. Sure, I had to buy a few spices, but you can get a lot of cups out them and once you've done it a few times, it gets quicker than waiting in line for a cup of something someone "made".
In fact I haven't made a cup in a while... I'll have to stock up on a few spices.....

[treep1]

Matthew, some people have time, others have money. I have more time than money. This recipe is very inexpensive to make. I've had the Tazo chai and it's good, but personally I like this one better. It really is a personal thing. Make/drink what you like/can afford. ?

[SaraB83]

I am weaning myself off caffeine slowly and decided to downgrade to black tea from coffee. I made this for the first time today with black tea, ground cloves because I didn't have whole ones, stevia glycerite and I used full fat coconut milk. It came out so good! Thanks for sharing!

[xTupacRMT]

Great Recipe! Perfect for a relaxing beverage! FOR SWEETING: If you want to be healthy, use STEVIA (made from a plant) instead of sugar! Or add some honey!

[KimS95]

Thank you so much! I have all the ingredients, going to make it this afternoon!

[lblondeau]

Artificial sweeteners such as Splenda are horrible for you health, especially at 6 packages. This recipe sounds great if one omits that and uses honey : )

[dmichalski]

For diabetics the use of Splenda or other artificial sweeteners are the only way they can sweeten their beverages. You might want to consider that before you make statements such as they are "horrible for your health." The alternative, using sugar, is not in the best interest of a diabetic person's health.

[ygm]

As "hurtful" as you think lblondeau's comment is, it is indeed truthful. You are the one who might want to do a little research as this sweetener is in fact, "horrible for your health".

[katherinepotatoes]

You should do some research prior to correcting someone who has had to reflect so much on their diet in general. The research on splenda or sucralose is actually pretty inconclusive, if you go way over the expected daily amount there are negative effects. However, if you go way over the daily amount of anything, there are going to be some lasting health effects. So what you said isn't truthful and telling someone that they haven't done a little research is much ruder than what ther first person said. The person providing the recipe said to use either sugar or splenda, it was good that that person was being inclusive of diabetics.

The data on high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, the importance of exercise and saturated fats are all much more conclusive then this data, so unless you exercise the proper amount, are way within your bmi, and eat an incredibly healthy lifestyle. Don't be rude.

[happy.gamish]

I have to watch what i eat.
While fruit is good and supper healthy for most too much is bad for me cause fruit has way more then8grams of natural sugar&8gramms of sugar is all im allowed in a serving of anything,a whole orange would be harmfull to me,but i eat a lot of vegatables,snack on nuts and eat brown rice when i eat rice,very very seldom eat pasta,eat the baer naked cereals,drink lots of water&diet juices&eat lots of salads&i eat 1 serving or less of all.
For desert sweet tooth graving i eat some low sugar weight watchers choclate or Low sugar cookies or gogurt. I put gogurt in the freezer&that becomes my ice cream. I watch my family eat cakes,pies, ice cream,fruit,anything that looks good to them for dessert.
So i know my body&stay healthy that way.
Some of the stuff thats advertised as healthy when my daughter&i see it we go "yikes,thats healthy?" Which is most items in A health food store.
I cant go to starbucks any more,but im glad a diabetic friendly version is included&cant wait to try this.
Everyones body is different&thats ok,thats actually kind of great&amazing imo.

[TylerW26]

My husband must watch his sugar intake and his dietician and our research has shown that berries are an excellent fruit suggestion. They are very low in natural sugar.

[hivant]

Diabetics can also use stevia. Stevia is a sweetener that is natural and has no calories. It is made from the stevia plant.

[happy.gamish]

Tried it,gives me same side effects as sugar,just a lil less strong side effects then sugar,but if u r diabetic&it works for u,then thats great.
It does still make my sugar level go high,but if it maintains yours,thats awesome,like i said every body is different.

[florencev]

There are some healthier sweetner options now. There's Xylitol and Stevia, also Evaporated Palm (Coconut) sugar with a Low 35% glycemic index. They all come from natural sources rather than Splenda which is synthetic.

[happy.gamish]

I know my body&for non diabetic ppl those options sound healthier,but i know splenda has never put me in a diabetic coma or made my neurothopy worse.
I tried truvia and stevia and almost had the same side effects as sugar,just not quite as bad,splenda has never given me any side effects,if i have any of the other sugars incl truvia&stevia there is a chance i wont be able to walk for a while&that my feet will hurt reall bad,the only way i can take those if splenda is not available is if i also take pain pills&they do make my sugar level go high,so for me im sticking with whats not broken. Why fix whats not broken. But i will look in to those for the non diabetic members of my fam.

[happy.gamish]

I have diabetes&any other sweetner can put me in a diabetic comma,almost got there when neighboer made us fresh pumpkin bread with pumpkins from his garden&the "healthy sugar".i forgot noone in his family had diabetes so unlike us he didnt use splenda,the rest of my day was horrible&not healthy at all,i had a lot of issues,health.Issues the rest of the day,but when we make cake with splenda im fine.

[jaquelina.jaramillo]

Why is there hate on a recipe

[JamesL76]

I love chai latte...there is somethig that just hits my taste buds....folks hating on this thread are not drinking enough chai latte...it makes me chill out...probably because I am allergic to it......I think I am gonna lay down now...nighty night to all and to all a good night!

[treep1]

I know right? If you like it, make it. If you don't, move on. No need to get uptight. ?