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
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.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
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.
I use this recipe all the time.
The concentrate keeps me healthy over the winter months. It lasts a little longer than a week for me in the fridge.
I’ve made this recipe twice, once as written, and once adjusted to my tastes. As written, the recipe is on the weaker side (compared to Starbucks & Panera). I prefer my chai tea strong and spice, so I doubled all ingredient amounts but kept the water at 4 cups; I omitted the nutmeg and all spice. I crushed/crumbled all the spices, simmered them for 30 minutes (covered) before adding the tea bags and steeping for 5 minutes. I noticed that many reviewers had trouble finding star anise. These can be found on Amazon at a fair price, but if you’re in a pinch, substitute 1 tsp of lightly crushed fennel seeds per 1 star anise (they have similar anise flavor profiles). Lastly, if you prefer a stronger chai tea but without the “bite,” keep the black pepper corns to four and don’t crush them.
Amazing!!! Absolutely loved it. I added more sugar t0 my drink and it was better than Starbucks chai and I’m addicted to it.
FYI Chai means tea, so you are saying teatea when you say chai tea :)
Was thinking the same thing. ;)
Ultimate..
How much water do you use to make concentrate?
I’m curious, what other type of tea can replace black tea?
I know this is old, but I use Darjeeling in mine. It’s still a black tea, but lighter in flavour so the sources can really shine. I’ve used green tea, white tea, and decaf black tea before as well. I just don’t steep the green or white tea as long, to avoid bitterness.
To Bethany, if you started with 4 cups of water, and you simmer it for 15 minutes with a lid on, you should end up with 4 cups of concentrate. If you boil it for a long time uncovered, it may reduce a lot, and that might be how you ended up with 3/4 cup.
I’ve made this recipe about 20 times and I love it! I substitute vanilla extract for vanilla bean. You can adjust the spices to your liking after you make it a couple of times.
Thank you so much for this recipe! We love it! With the family working from home now and stopping by the house frequently, I make multiple batches EVERY week. We love chai, and this is so delicious and convenient. I use the excuse that I am saving my children money at the coffee shops while I pour myself another latte…
Just a quick question: how much of the concentrate should we end with? The recipe says 4 cups of concentrate, but I only got 3/4 of a cup… Not sure where or what went wrong, but any help would be greatly appreciated! :) Thanks!
Made this chai tea today with all the ingredients. Very nice with milk or iced I would recommend this to anyone. I added some turmeric for a bit more color but it did not change the color much Love it
How do you get only ¾ off a cup when one of the ingredients is for cups of water?
Did you add the 4 cups of water in the recipe? If so you may have boiled too long or didn’t cover when simmering.