Recipes, Drinks & Cocktails

Easy Chai Tea Latte Mix with Star Anise

This time of year, a dirty chai latte is one of my go-to coffee orders. It’s warm, spicy, and subtly sweet. It’s similar to a pumpkin spice latte, except it never goes out of style or season. They are particularly my favorite during the winter months.

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It’s the type of latte that I want to sip on at home while I’m sitting on the floor wrapping Christmas presents and watching Christmas movies. Chai tea can have many different variations. It’s great with a few shots of espresso, frothy almond milk, whipped cream, freshly ground nutmeg, or even a shot of whiskey if it’s a chilly Saturday morning. The options with chai are aplenty and it will cost you a fraction of the price that you would pay at Starbucks!

Ingredients for Chai Tea Concentrate:

  • Ground ginger
  • Ground cinnamon
  • Cinnamon sticks
  • Cardamom
  • Allspice
  • Star anise
  • Cloves
  • Nutmeg
  • Molasses
  • Sugar
  • Water
  • Black Tea bags

How to Make Chai Tea Concentrate:

  • In a small sauté pot, stir together spices, sugar, molasses, cloves, and star anise.
  • Before transferring the mixture to a container, sift out the star anise from the concentrate. This will help add to the flavor of the chai mixture.
  • Heat on low-medium heat until the mixture has slightly thickened.
  • Transfer concentrate to a jar or seal the container tightly and refrigerate.
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How to Make a Chai Tea:

To make chai tea: Simply brew up a fresh cup of hot water and mix with a few tablespoons of the chai concentrate. I love using my OXO electric kettle for this instead of waiting for water to boil (who has time for that?!). This kettle has a permanent spot on my countertop because of how easily and quickly it boils water. Plus, it’s so chic and makes me feel like a scientist with its clear and sleek design.

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What is a Chai Latte made of?

A chai latte is steamed milk and a chai concentrate blend. To make them at home, I just froth up a jug of my favorite almond milk and pour it over a few tablespoons of chai concentrate mix.

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My Capresso milk frother is by far my favorite new small kitchen appliance. I know without a doubt I’ll be brewing up fresh hot chocolate with this frother all winter long.

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What is in a Dirty Chai Latte?

A dirty chai latte is ‘dirty’ because it usually has 1-2 shots of espresso. This is actually the way I prefer a chai latte because you get the wonderful taste of chai with the added caffeine of coffee.

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Are Chai Lattes healthy?

They certainly can be! The recipe for today’s concentrate calls for a moderate amount of sweetener. If you want the blend to have less sugar, just go ahead and reduce the amount of sugar added.

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And of course, you can't forget a sprinkle of nutmeg on top! I used my Swissmar Nutmeg Mill to grind some fresh on top of my lattes.

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Easy Chai Tea Latte Mix with Star Anise

theinspiredhome.com

Author

Elizabeth Van Lierde

Published

December 5, 2019

Modified

September 15, 2020

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 tablespoon of molasses
  • 1 tablespoon of whole cloves
  • 3 star anise pods
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons of ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon of allspice
  • ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
  • 8 bags of black tea

DIRECTIONS

To Make the Chai Tea Concentrate:

  1. In a small saucepot, stir together sugar, water, molasses, whole cloves, star anise, cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, allspice, and nutmeg.
  2. Bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, remove concentrate from heat and add in 8 bags of black tea.
  3. Steep for 8-10 minutes.
  4. Remove the tea bags and strain into a jar or seal tight container.

To Make the Chai Tea:

  1. Boil 8-10 ounces of hot water.
  2. Pour over 1-2 tablespoons of chai concentrate (more to your preference).

To Make the Chai Tea Latte:

  1. Heat almond milk in a frother until hot and foamy.
  2. Pour over 1-2 tablespoons of chai mixture or to preference.

To Make the Dirty Chai Tea Latte:

  1. Fill a mug with 2 tablespoons of chai concentrate, 2 shots of espresso, and the rest with warm frothed milk.
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