I was really really excited when I saw this post over on Judicial Peach the other day. Homemade chai is something that I’ve been wanting to make for quite some time. Never did I expect it to be so easy and so delicious. The final drink tasted every bit as good as what you’ll spend $4 on at a coffee shop and it is completely customizable (want less sugar? soy milk? orgainic?)
I did make one huge mistake in thinking that I had some cardamom in my cabinet. Turns out I didn’t and the grocery store near me did not have cardamom pods either so I had to make it without. Now, cardamom is kind of the signature spice in chai but I have to say, the drink was still freaking delicious without it. The recipe and prices below do not include the missing cardamom.
Chai Concentrate
The cost of making this concentrate can be quite variable. The spices tend to be a little on the expensive side so you have to shop smart. I found a little bag of cinnamon sticks (photo below) in the hispanic foods section for only $1.50. You’ll pay three times that much if you buy it in a jar from the spice section. Cloves are pretty pricey too but luckily you don’t need many.
Tea can also vary quite a bit in price. Chai usually is made with black tea but I happened to have some Stash Black and Green Earl Grey so I used that. The floral aroma from the bergamot in the earl grey added a really nice touch. I bought the box of organic Stash tea at Target for $2.29 (18 bags). Tea can be 10x that expensive so shop around.
Chai Concentrate
Servings 4 1 cup concentrate + 1 cup milkIngredients
Instructions
- Place four cups of water in a medium pot. Add the cinnamon sticks, tea bags, whole cloves and ginger (peel and slice the fresh ginger).
- Bring the pot up to a boil, place a lid on top, reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes to make sure it is brewed strong.
- Remove the pot from the heat and carefully strain out the tea bags and spices (Place a colander over a bowl and pour it in). Using whole spices not only adds more flavor but makes straining them out much much easier.
- While the spiced tea is still hot, stir in the sugar and vanilla. Store the chai concentrate in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.
- To make a drink, combine one part chai concentrate with one part milk. Heat and serve!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
This is the tea I used, it is very very delicious for a “bag” tea (I usually prefer loose leaf). Using a flavored tea may muddy up the chai flavor so go for plain black tea if you’re unsure. Luckily, the earl grey blended really well with the spices.
These are the cinnamon sticks I found for a really low price. If your local grocer doesn’t have them for a decent price, try checking ethnic markets.
My itty-bitty jar of cloves. I didn’t have time to shop around for this one but luckily, the recipe doesn’t call for a lot.
If you’ve never seen a whole clove, this is what they look like!
Peel and slice one inch of fresh ginger.
Throw it all in a pot with 4 cups of water (sugar and vanilla is added later).
Bring the pot up to a boil, place a lid on top, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Strain out the spices and tea bags.
While it’s still hot, stir in the sugar and vanilla.
To make a drink, combine one part chai concentrate with one part milk (I did 8 oz. of each). Heat and serve!
Add a little whipped cream if you feel like something extra special.
Last week I went an amazing coffeehouse and I had a “frozen” chai (it had more of a slushy), do you think that making some milk icecubes and putting that in a blender with the chai concentrate?
…..sorry for the stupid typo, I meant to put “would work” at the end.
I think you’d have better luck if you froze the chai concentrate into ice cubes and then blended that with the milk. I feel like if you ice cubes to the chai concentrate and milk it might be too watered down.
My daughter and I just dashed out of the house r go and get all the ingredients to make your tea. It’s amazing, we love it! Thanks for the helpful advice about the cinnamon sticks. You saved us a few dollars.
It’s fabulous, thank you sooooooooooooo much. I have tried many online recipes and this is the best.
I like it strong so I doubled up the spices and I added half a tablespoon of black peppercorns, 2 star anise and a little orange peel. Making it now…
Sounds delish! I only have ground cardamom (and don’t really want to invest in the whole). Anyone know how much cardamom powder I could add instead of the pods?
I learned this SAME EXACT method (creeped out) of making chai from a man who lived in India for 19 years. He is a big fan of experimentation, and often adds different things to his chai mixture every time he makes it. Things I’ve seen him put in is honey, brown sugar, mace, nutmeg, and loose/bagged tea. He insists on mixing it with the only “good” milk there is…whole milk. so it’s usually a once-in-a-while treat around our household. a huge pitcher of chai is made when we have guests.
Delish! My grocery store offers a bulk spice section and it’s MUCH cheaper than the spice aisle, especially since you can buy just what you need instead of having extras that sit around forever. For comparison, my 4 cinnamon sticks cost $0.30! I also added black peppercorns and whole nutmeg for a little extra kick = ]
You can store it in the refrigerator for about a week :)
Hi! Sounds delicious. How would I store it?
So excited that you have downloadable PDFs now. GREAT addition! Thanks so much.
Can’t wait to try this!!!
My family loves Chai and I can’t wait to make it from scratch!
This looks great I have never seen anything like it before thanks for sharing.
Drink Fridges
This is definitely the best chai tea I have EVER had. Hands down.
The chai also makes for a wonderful chilled beverage. Just skip the microwave, add your milk some ice and you’re good to go! :D
I just discovered your blog a few days ago and have been scouring it ever since. I can’t wait to try some of the recipes you have here. I just wanted to mention that I make my own chai concentrate as well and I like honey as the sweetener(of course honey is more expensive), but the secret is… BLACK PEPPERCORNS! Seriously it’s so good with black pepper with the rest of the spices. It gives it a little bite and spice.