The best iced chai latte is the one made at home, from scratch. Sweet, spicy, and milky, my iced chai latte recipe is one you’ll make over and over again.
CONTENTS
Recipe Highlights
- This iced chai latte recipe is made with ice, black tea, milk, a blend of spices, and sweetener. There’s no single set blend of spices that makes up a chai and this recipe was created through A LOT of trial and error, mixing a variety of spices to get the perfect balance.
- The best chai is the one you make yourself from scratch since you can tailor it to your taste. There aren’t artificial ingredients and sweetness can easily be adjusted. (Powdered chai mixes are WAY too sweet.)
- This recipe includes a chai concentrate which you can use to make iced (and hot) chai lattes all week.
- Chai is a drink from India that’s made with black tea, milk, and a blend of spices. It’s known as masala chai in India but we, in the U.S., just shorten it to chai. Chai translates to the word ‘tea’ in Hindi so it’s incorrect to say “chai tea” since you’re just saying “tea tea.”
Love chai? Try these recipes: Starbucks Iced Chai Tea Latte Copycat, Chai Latte from Scratch, Starbucks Chai Latte Copycat, Chai Frappuccino, and Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte.
Ingredient Notes
- Black tea
The base for chai is black tea and since it’s a beverage out of India, black tea from that area, like Assam, is the natural and obvious choice. You can use loose tea, tea sachets, or tea bags. - Filtered water
Use good quality water for a better tasting drink. - Spice blend: Cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, whole cloves, star anise, black peppercorns, ground nutmeg, ground ginger
The spices that are easy to find and available in India make up the blend. Use whole spices whenever possible since they’ll extract the most flavor. - Vanilla extract
Vanilla smooths out the spice blend notes. It’s a flavor enhancer. - Honey
Use any sweetener you like but I’m using honey. Brown sugar would also be great. - Milk
Any kind of milk is fine to use and I often make it with oat milk.
Tea Sommelier’s Tip: Since the black tea is going to be blended with strong spices and milk, you don’t want to use the highest quality. Tea bags are fine to use for this recipe. Even Lipton tea bags are fine to use if that’s what you have.
Step-by-Step Instructions
For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to see the recipe.
- Crush and roughly chop star anise, cloves, and cardamom pods.
Bigger whole spices are crushed to make it quicker to infuse the drink. - Combine all chai concentrate ingredients except for the vanilla extract in a saucepan. Simmer on low heat.
- Strain solids and add vanilla extract. Let cool.
The chai concentrate can be cooled in the refrigerator for about an hour or chilled in the freezer for a few minutes. - Pour chai concentrate halfway into a cup with ice and add milk.
Use 1 part chai concentrate and 1 part milk.
Expert Tips
- If possible, get the whole spice instead of ground since it’ll taste more flavorful. (Although I did use ground nutmeg since it’s easier to work with.)
- Make this iced chai latte recipe vegan by using oat milk and maple syrup instead of honey.
- If you want a stronger chai flavor, use less milk and more chai concentrate.
- Whole milk or half & half will give you a creamier iced chai latte.
- Cardamom is the most used ingredient in chai and it’s usually blended with ginger, star anise, cloves, cinnamon and pepper. Other spices that can be added include nutmeg, fennel seed, coriander, and vanilla.
Questions You May Have
Yes, iced chai lattes are made with black tea which contains caffeine.
Any strong black tea works great for chai but I like to stick with black teas like Assam, Orange Pekoe (Ceylon & India), and English Breakfast tea.
Any baked good or pastry, like a scone or pound cake that isn’t too sweet, is great with chai. I find cakes with icing and pies to be overly sweet for it to be a good pairing. Chocolate also pairs well, especially dark chocolate.
Chai concentrate can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator in a covered or airtight container. It’ll keep for up to 4 days. Don’t add milk into the chai concentrate until it’s ready to drink.
Related
- Iced Earl Grey Tea Latte
- Iced Matcha Latte
- Iced Brown Sugar Tea Latte
- Iced Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Latte
- Every Starbucks Tea Drink Ranked by Caffeine
Did you make this? Please leave a star rating below or a review in the comments section.
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Iced Chai Latte
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups milk (any kind)
- 4 cups Ice
Chai Concentrate
- 2 ½ cups water
- 2 tablespoons black tea
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 10 cardamom pods
- 10 whole cloves
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
INSTRUCTIONS
MAKE CHAI CONCENTRATE
- Crush and roughly chop the star anise, cloves, and cardamom pods.Bigger whole spices are crushed to make it quicker to infuse the drink.
- Combine all chai concentrate ingredients except for the vanilla extract in a saucepan. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.Stir occasionally.
- Strain solids and add vanilla extract. Let cool.The chai concentrate can be cooled in the refrigerator for about an hour or chilled in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
ASSEMBLE DRINK
- Pour chai concentrate halfway into a cup with ice and add milk.Use 1 part chai concentrate and 1 part milk.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
- Instead of 2 tablespoons loose tea, use 4 tea sachets or 6 tea bags.
- If possible, get the whole spice instead of ground since it’ll taste more flavorful. (Although I did use ground nutmeg since it’s easier to work with.)
- Make this iced chai latte recipe vegan by using oat milk and maple syrup instead of honey.
- If you want a stronger chai flavor, use less milk and more chai concentrate.
- Whole milk or half & half will give you a creamier iced chai latte.
- Chai concentrate can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator in a covered or airtight container. It’ll keep for up to 4 days. Don’t add milk into the chai concentrate until it’s ready to drink.
- The base for chai is black tea and since it’s a beverage out of India, black tea from that area, like Assam, is the natural and obvious choice. You can use loose tea, tea sachets, or tea bags.
- Since the black tea is going to be blended with strong spices and milk, you don’t want to use the highest quality. Tea bags are fine to use for this recipe. Even Lipton tea bags are fine to use if that’s what you have.
Wow! Really good! It was strange how flavorful it is compared to Starbucks, it always tastes watered down to me which is why I never get it there anymore.
I’m looking forward to trying some of these recipes, saved this first. My husband and I are not tea drinkers, correction not much for hot tea. I know this is iced but even some of your hot tea recipes look enticing.
Btw, Chai or Tsai is the Greek word for Tea. Since we don’t have a C in our alphabet it would be Tsai & same, you’d just ask for Tsai not Tsai tea since that’s what it means. Interesting to see similarities in other languages as well as cultures.
I use Blue Lotus Chai (a powdered chai). Hands down the best. It has a spicy profile, perfect! And no junk in it. Great recipe, thanks for sharing.
This sounds delish! If I wanted to make it a hot chai, would I add more water, to account for the lack of ice cubes in the finished product?
Hi Jocelyn, since the hot chai is made with milk, you can make the recipe without adjustments.
Great recipe! I just made some and it is so delicious. Thank you for giving us your amazing Chai recipe and your cheat sheets!
If I leave out the star anise, will it change the overall flavor?
Hi Kyla, it’ll change the flavor slightly but not a ton. You can leave it out.
This sounds so good! Could you use chai tea bags for your concentrate or do you recommend only making it from scratch? I always have chai tea bags on hand. Excited to try this!
Hi Lilee, I like mine made from scratch so that I can adjust the flavor just the way I like it. If you like the chai flavor of the tea bags you have, you can use that instead of making it from scratch.
I hope to try this recipe today! Can you add coffee to it after making it?
Hi Amy, yup! It’ll be like a dirty chai (chai + espresso).
I read the directions a few times and still managed to accidentally add the milk while simmering. Do you think I can just add ice and drink a cup or so at a time? I won’t forget next time. I’m so annoyed with myself lol
Hi De, you can make it however you like! I love adding ice to make iced chai.
How long can you store the chai concentrate in the fridge for? I love chai tea in the morning but as it progresses into spring I would love to have a iced chai too.
Hi Kaitlyn, the chai concentrate can be kept in the fridge for about 4 days.
Hi! I just tried this and love it! I am also trying the vegan way and used pure maple instead of honey and used almond milk once ready to be consumed. I usually order a “spicier” chai at a coffee shop however – what would you add to make it more spicy?
Thanks!
Hi Marissa, add a little more pepper or ginger to make it spicier!
I just made this and loved it!!! I usually don’t let myself have Chai’s because of all of the sugar. But I tried an iced chai latte at a local bakery last month and loved it. It was so refreshing and more spicy than sweet. I’ve been hooked and looking for a way to recreate it at home. Now I can, thanks to this recipe!! And I used 2 TBSP agave instead of 3 of honey. For me, that was the perfect sweetness. Thank you : )
This looks so good! I love all the spices that go into it! I bet that’s so healthy too!
Gorgeous photography!
Thanks, Nicole!