A good bloggy friend Chrystina came to visit me recently and one of the things she asked is where the good Chai place was. It was not a question that I was used to, since around these parts we don’t have a large number of café’s or tea houses within walking distance. I pretty much make everything from scratch. I probably should have explained that better while she was here, but instead, I’ll do a post about it. Side note I did wait until after labor day to post this recipe because August is not the ideal hot chai latte weather. I think that’s a long enough wait yes?
My chai latte recipe is one I perfected way back in college because it was a necessity. You need that creamy, caffeinated goodness to get through late night study sessions you see.
Side note: not every chai latte has caffeine in it. Many swanky cafés use a from concentrate chai mix that is mostly sugar and spices with no actual tea (caffeine) in it. Some tea houses have actual chai tea, where all the spices are mixed up in a bag and steeped. This is not a recipe like either of those.
Personally these days I’m more of a fan of the chai tea, the steep-able version. I like the stronger flavor and have been trying to avoid added milks and sugars. I think my taste buds have changed quite a bit because I generally prefer no sugar at all. The things we do for health man.
This recipe is not about health. This recipe is about flavor, comfort, and caffeine, because what else are we really looking for from our chai latte?
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¾ teaspoons ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 black tea bags
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups vanilla almond milk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, teabags, and spices and bring it to a boil.
- Once a rolling boil is reached, cover and remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Remove the tea bags and stir in the milk and honey.
- Pour into mugs and serve.