Homemade Chai Latte
Once you make this homemade "latte", you’ll never go back to store-bought! Masala Chai (Hindi for mixed-spice tea) is a tea beverage that originated in India, made by brewing spices, milk, and black tea together. The base is usually as Assam tea, but other black teas like Darjeeling are commonly used as well. Brewing this aromatic mixture together will make your home smell incredible, but nothing compares to the warming, cozy taste. You'll save time and money by making this at home, and you can reduce the sugar you get from coffeehouse blends by using Purecane! Bonus points: you can customize this by playing with the spice blend to your liking.
Ingredients
- 4 black tea bags (such as Assam, Darjeeling or Oolong)
- 4 Purecane™ Individual Packets
- 2 cinnamon sticks (+ more for garnish)
- 2 star anise pods (+ more for garnish)
- ¼ teaspoon whole cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 piece fresh ginger)
- 1 cup boiling water
- 4 cups milk of choice (use unsweetened non-dairy milk to make this recipe sugar-free and vegan!)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract (optional)
Directions
- Bring one cup of water to a boil.
- While water is boiling, break your cinnamon sticks in half and toss into a bowl. Roughly crush all other spices together with a mortar and pestle (or use the flat side of a spoon), and add to the bowl with cinnamon sticks.
- Once the water has been brought to a boil, add in spice mixture and tea bags. Boil for 3-5 minutes, essentially making a chai concentrate.
- Put chai concentrate through a fine mesh strainer to catch all the big pieces of spices and the tea bags.
- Add 4 Purecane™ Individual Packets to your concentrate to sweeten.
- Optional: add 1 tbsp vanilla extract to chai concentrate to make a vanilla chai!
- Add 2 tbsp of chai concentrate to one cup steamed milk of choice.
- Add star anise pods &/or cinnamon sticks for garnish.
- This makes 4 servings, so enjoy immediately or keep remaining chai concentrate in the fridge for up to a week!
