As you are reading this post today, I am happy to be snuggled up with a warm blanket at a blogging retreat in Park City, Utah. There is snow falling outside our door, good blogging friends are near, and I am happy to be nestling in for some much needed R&R.
I don’t know about you, but it seems like fall has gotten off to a busy start. Busy, busy, busy. Always a little more busy than I’d like. Always trying to work on that. I embarrassingly didn’t even realize that the leaves were changing in Kansas City until I saw it on Instagram!!
Still, the transition into fall is one of my absolute favorite times of the year, and I have been trying to take small moments during the day to pause and soak it up. I’ve learned that one of the small habits that seems to always help with this is to cozy up with a warm drink first thing in the morning or at the end of the day. There’s something about holding a steaming hot mug and then taking slow, thoughtful sips that is the essence of comfort and calm.
So today, I thought I would share with you a recipe for one of my favorite comfort drinks — homemade chai tea.
I first learned to love chai back in the day at — you guessed it — Starbucks. I instantly got hooked on the drink and all of those delicious spices, and began stopping by to order an iced chai almost every day for work. Then the $4 daily expense got a little ridiculous. So I learned to buy Tazo chai concentrate at the grocery store. Then (bonus!) I learned that it was sold even cheaper at Costco!
But after years of buying those mega 3-packs of concentrate, I began to get tired of the uber-sweetness of that brand of chai. I loved the spices, but the sugar was too much. So I finally learned how to make homemade chai.
And friends — it is so easy!!!
My version is all based around making a chai concentrate so that you can refrigerate it and keep it around for multiple batches. All you need are a handful of spices and seasonings and about 20 minutes, and then you’ll have plenty of concentrate ready to make as much hot chai or iced chai as you’d like.
But the best part is that you can totally tweak the recipe according to your taste. If you really love the sweetness of the chai you get at Starbucks, by all means, add in more sugar and/or honey. If you like yours really peppery, add in more peppercorns. If you like yours really strong or really weak, that’s the joy of concentrate — you can control exactly how much flavor you get. Bottom line, everyone has their own preferences with chai, so with a homemade recipe you can make it your own!
With the holidays coming up, I’ll also add in that this is a perfect comfort food gift to jar up and give to your chai-loving friends.
Hope you enjoy!
Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 0 About 4 cups concentrate 1x
Description
Make homemade chai tea with this delicious and simple chai tea concentrate recipe.
Ingredients
- 12 cardamom pods, gently crushed
- 8 whole black peppercorns
- 8 whole cloves
- 4-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
- 4 cups water
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 3 whole allspice (optional)
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar (more or less to taste)
- 2 star anise
- 1 vanilla bean, sliced down the middle
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
- 4 black tea bags
Instructions
- Bring all ingredients except tea bags together to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes. Pour mixture through a strainer and reserve the liquid for concentrate, and let cool to room temperature.
- Mix equal parts concentrate with water or milk to make chai tea. Or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one week.
To Make Hot Chai Tea:
Combine 1 part chai tea concentrate with 1 part water or milk (cow’s milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc.), and stir to combine. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally. Or heat in the microwave until simmering.
To Make Iced Chai Tea:
1 part water or milk (cow’s milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc.), and stir to combine. Serve over ice.
Thank you very much have been looking chi looking forward to making it to night many thanks
Thank you for posting this recipe, it sounds wonderful! I’m hoping that by making and keeping this chai at work, with my almond milk and coconut milk, it will keep me from running down to Starbucks three times a day! :)
Excited to try this recipe!! I drink chia every a.m.
I follow a recipe that’s very similar to yours, Ali, and it turns out great every time. I can’t get some of the whole pods and spices here in Costa Rica, but it even works well with grounds though you have to strain it very well. Gorgeous pics. Can’t wait to try your recipe.
There is a little coffee shop across the street from auto mercado and bac san jose in Lindora, There is also a scotia bank drivethrouh if I’m not mistaken that goes back into Lindora, It’s like a little triangle piece of commercial real estate, I think they have a small patio on the main road. But that was where I had my first iced Chai and it was amazing. Check them out if they are still there.
I wonder if you can freeze it in an icecube tray then heat up in a month or so? Also, what would be the amount used for things like allspice and cardamom if you cannot find it whole? I couldn’t find it, so I just guessed. I’m hoping for a more accurate measurement than my “guessing”. Also couldn’t find star anice at all. But then again, I don’t live in a thriving metropolis either.
I think you could definitely freeze these! And here are some ground conversions:
1 star anise = 1/2 teaspoon ground anise
10 pods cardamom = 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
HI, Ali. I can’t wait to try this! In the ingredient list: “8 Whole Cloves” of what?
Never mind. I’m a dummy. ha!
Hi there,
Sorry, confusing. 8 whole cloves of cloves. :)
~Ali
Dear Ali, I just made your recipe, I did not have the cardamon seeds, fresh ginger, vanilla leaves and the black tea bags, what I did is: I used powder ginger, pure vanilla extract, and a couple of chai tea bags plus everything else in your recipe, and it was FABULOUS!!!!! I served it with almond and coconut milk and honey, it felt like heaven.
Thank you a lot for your recipe, love it!!!
Just a few technical questions:
If I wanted to double the batch size, should I double all of the ingredients, or just some of them?
Cardamom pods are not readily available in my area, is there an amount of ground cardamom that you recommend as a substitute?
The same question applies if I don’t have fresh ginger on hand. Does ground ginger act as a substitute, and if so, how much? Or how much candied ginger?
Sorry to bug you so much! I absolutely love chai tea and on my first run through making it, these were all the issues I encountered. I’m also making this for a house full of people, so we really will go through at least 8 cups in week!
Thank you so much for posting this, making it myself is so much cheaper than buying all those concentrates.
Hi Cara!
Yep, if you want to double the batch size, I would double all of the ingredients. And you can substitute a little over 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom for the 12 cardamom pods. And a little over 1 tablespoon ground ginger for the 4 inches of fresh ginger. I hope you enjoy it! :)
This is delicious. First run, I made it as above, and loved it. I’ve made it several times since then with just a couple of changes. I use 4-5 anise and I add about 1 tsp of coriander seeds, my favourite spice. Otherwise, I don’t change a thing. I also make batches minus the tea (red rooibos for me) to use as a liquid base for my smoothies, and with just some banana and spinach in the blender, it’s awesome. Thanks:)
I also made chai masala pancakes using this instead of milk, with a caramel berry chai sauce, and it was awesome.
I want to make a batch using coconut milk instead of almond milk next…
“chai” masala is the ambrosia of the gods, and I’ve never nailed a recipe for it before, so thank you very much:)
Shawn
Shawn, please share your pancake recipie. Sounds amazing!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been thinking that there had to be a way to make my own concentrate for over a year now and I found this recipe and finally did it! So much better than Starbucks OR Tazo brand, because I can customize my taste and sweetness!
Brilliant and I greatly appreciate it =)