Have you guys heard of golden milk or turmeric tea? It was the hottest food trend last year, picking up where chai left off years ago. It’s an earthy, slightly savory spiced milk drink full of vibrantly colored turmeric. I’ve made it and loved it, but when I had Golden Chai at a local coffee shop I fell deeply, madly in love. Golden chai is the love child of golden milk and chai tea. It has all the exotic warm spices of chai paired with the earthy tones and slightly savory edge of golden milk. I knew I had to modify my chai concentrate recipe to make some Golden Chai at home ASAP (because I don’t want to pay $4 for each drink, lol).
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Fully Adjustable Flavor
This recipe is super flexible and will most likely need to be tweaked depending on the potency of your ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, type of tea, and how sweet you like things, so play around with it. And YES you can absolutely use non-dairy milk. :)
I reduced the sweetness from my original chai concentrate recipe by half because I like my golden milk to have only a hint of sweetness. I also used honey instead of sugar this time around because honey has a really distinct flavor that I thought would go really well here. Of course, you can use whatever sweetener is your favorite or that your budget allows.
The Golden Chai mix (without milk added) will stay good in your fridge for 3-4 days, so drink up!
Golden Chai
Servings 4 16 oz. eachIngredients
- 3-4 2-3″ cinnamon sticks ($1.50)
- 1-2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced ($0.11)
- 10 whole cloves ($0.39)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 4 cups water ($0.00)
- 4 bags black tea ($0.51)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract ($0.14)
- 1 Tbsp ground turmeric* ($0.30)
- 1/4 cup honey ($0.48)
- 4 cups milk ($1.24)
Instructions
- Place the cinnamon sticks, sliced ginger, cloves, cracked pepper, and water in a medium sauce pot. Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for five minutes.
- Turn off the heat, add the black tea bags, replace the lid and let the tea steep for 4-5 minutes. Pour the tea into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer or colander.
- Whisk the vanilla, honey, and turmeric into the tea. Taste and adjust the sweetness or other spices, if desired. This Golden Chai tea mix can be refrigerated and saved in the refrigerator for a few days.
- To make each drink, heat 8oz. of milk (stove top, microwave, or steamer) and combine with 8oz. of the hot golden chai tea mix. Make sure to stir the Golden Chai tea mix just before combining with the milk. Serve while hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Golden Chai – Step by Step Photos
Place 1-2 inches fresh ginger (peeled and sliced) into a medium sauce pot along with 3-4 cinnamon sticks, a generous dose of freshly cracked pepper, and about 10 whole cloves. Add 4 cups water, place a lid on the pot, and bring it up to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
After simmering for 5 minutes, turn the heat off, and add 4 black tea bags. Let the tea steep for 4-5 minutes.
Strain the tea into a bowl using a wire mesh sieve or a colander.
Whisk 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 Tbsp ground turmeric, and 1/4 cup honey into the tea. This is your Golden Chai tea mix, which you can serve now with milk, or refrigerate for later. The mix will be good in the refrigerator for a few days. The turmeric won’t dissolve, so the mix must be stirred each time before combining with milk.
To make your Golden Chai, heat 8oz. milk for each drink you want to make (do this on the stove top, microwave, or with a steamer), then combine the hot milk with the hot Golden Chai tea mix. I garnished with an extra sprinkle of turmeric. :)
I hope you realize that turmeric and chai are more than just the “hottest food trend” and have been used and consumed in India for thousands of years. Nice recipe, but I hope you can at least acknowledge the cultural background. Don’t chalk the spices up to just being “exotic;” they’re literally from India.
She’s from Tennessee USA, of course another country, India, is exotic. It’s literally the definition of the word ‘exotic’. Middle America is exotic to someone in India.
Pretty much. It’s trending – here, because a couple of years ago, hardly anyone one in this part of the world knew what golden chai was and now it’s all over.
It makes me wonder what’s trending in other places that I grew up with my whole life. Like if a whole bunch of people discovered ranch dressing and then suddenly it was everywhere for a summer
Exotic (adj) – originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country.
Brent and all, ‘exotic’ is pejorative. Consider: https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/07/07/exotic-food-xenophobia-racism/
OMG!! THIS TEA IS THE BEST TEA I’VE EVER HAD!! I love this tea with all my heart! I will definitely be making this again! It’s warm and cozy for winter time and the taste is very, very savory! I was able to taste all the spices I put in.
For each serving, I really, really recommend putting in each cup: 1/2 cup of your Golden Chai Tea and 1 cup of frothed milk. It is SO good! And the frothy milk makes the tea even more creamy and delicious!
Thank you so, so much Beth! This tea is so savory and cozy and makes your winter days feel so special!
I am super duper excited to make this! My parents have started teaching me how to cook more food, so I haven’t had much experience (I might ask a lot of questions). So, can I use ground cinnamon instead of the cinnamon sticks for my Golden Chai Tea?
You can, but that will leave a lot more sediment in the bottom of your tea. Ground cinnamon doesn’t dissolve into liquids, unfortunately.
I’m so excited to make this Golden Chai! Can I use 4 cups of milk instead of 4 cups of water?
I haven’t tried steeping the spices directly in milk. I’m not sure how that would alter the outcome. :)
So good! I made a batch of this to keep in the fridge to make up a nice hot drink as an afternoon pick-me-up as I work from home this winter. I’ve never had golden milk or golden chai, and I wasn’t sure if I’d like the turmeric but the ever so slight savoury edge is wonderful. I added a little bit of extra honey to sweeten it to my liking, but other than that it was perfectly balanced and really easy to make. Will try your regular chai concentrate next :)
Super good. I don’t drink black tea so instead of doing the first two steps I made some bengal spice celestial seasonings tea. At the end I did feel like it needed a bit of sugar and salt. But so yummy! Tasted like “nectar of the gods” by Atticus coffee shop.
OMG YES! I’ve made some golden chai recipes out of just powdered spices, and they just didn’t impart the same flavor as this does. I like to only add 1T of honey to the original mix, and add more later depending on how sweet I feel! Another hack I tried was putting the ginger and cloves in my infuser ball (bigger than a normal tea ball), mostly because I don’t have a mesh strainer, but it also was nice and easy to remove (and then go fishing for the cinnamon sticks!)
This also works well as an iced latte on a hot day! Bonus: use a straw and you can stir up the bottom sediment before each sip!
Delicious, L.O.V.E. this mixture! Thank you for your posts … I look forward to each and every one
This recipe is wonderful! I love the earthy, spicy, sweetness it has. I made it with vanilla tea and used almond milk instead of regular milk. Thank you for publishing!
I have a general question about “golden milk” and other hot beverages that are made with dried/powdered spices like turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper (which helps the body absorb the turmeric) — do people totally strain out the spices from the final liquid, or do they drink/eat the remaining spice sediment that falls to the bottom of the saucepan (and the mug), simply as a part of consuming the golden milk?
I make golden milk with all jarred spices, not fresh, and even when I just make 2 servings that we drink right away, there is a tablespoon or two of sediment from the spices at the bottom of the saucepan, and I don’t know if we are meant to pour that into our mugs as well and ingest part or all of it (for the health-giving properties of those spices), or if they are considered to have served their purpose by imparting the liquid with their flavor, and they are meant to be left in the saucepan and thrown away. This seems like such a silly question to have to ask, but I have never had golden milk in a restaurant (where I live is not very cosmopolitan and is about 20 years behind the times in most things), and I have actually looked at approximately 50 recipes online for golden milk/turmeric tea, I have even typed into a search engine keywords about straining it or not, but I have not been able to find any explicit information about what people do with the leftover clump of spice powder! I have, of course, seen instructions where people are to pour the beverage through a colander to strain out large pieces of any fresh spices that they may have put in the mixture (chunks of fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks, and the like), but nothing about what people do with the bottled-powdered-spices sediment.
It’s not a silly question. :) I usually just let the spices settle to the bottom of my mug and I drink down as much as I can without getting a mouthful of grounds. You can certainly strain it through cheesecloth if you prefer, or even swallow the ground spices if the texture doesn’t bother you. Once the milk is infused it has taken on some of the benefits of the spices, but eating them will give you even more. It’s totally up to you. :)
I love this recipe! I’m about to mix up my second batch. I’m curious how you keep the turmeric from sinking to the bottom of the mugs though? Even when I mixed beforehand most of the turmeric is left at the bottom of the mug. I’m guessing using fresh turmeric would solve that problem?
Even if you use fresh turmeric (grated) the pieces will fall to the bottom because turmeric doesn’t dissolve into liquids. Even when it does settle out, the turmeric has infused into the liquid so you still get that flavor and color (like when you steep tea). :)
I have everything to make this, except for the cinnamon sticks! How much ground cinnamon would I need to substitute? Thanks!
I’m wondering the same thing!
I made this! It took me a little time to squirrel away each ingredient because I wanted to follow it to a T. Afterwards, I decided to buy a handheld milk frother just for this recipe!
I don’t think steeping it longer would hurt (both the spices and then the tea bags). The color of the finished drink was beautiful, I’m planning on making ginger apricot scones with browned butter drizzle and I think this would just be divine with it.
Love The Post!! Thats where I first tried a golden milk latte.
I’m out of cinnamon sticks, could I stir in cinnamon powder with the turmeric powder instead?
That will create quite a bit of sediment and it’s hard to say how much it might affect the flavor.
Just made this with fresh turmeric instead of dried. Used a roughly equal amount of peeled, sliced fresh turmeric to ginger. Served with soy milk. A++++
Awesome recipe! Excited to give this a try next weekend instead of coffee.
Question: How can you make the milk foamy like it is in the photo? Or like they do at coffee shops? I just added hot milk but it’s not quite the same. I also added less turmeric because it’s kind of a strong flavor. I used half a tablespoon instead of a whole tablespoon.
I recently bought a small espresso machine that has a steam wand, so I used that, but there are several other types of inexpensive milk frothers, like this hand held battery powered one.
i bought this:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E69O7HW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and it works so well even with almond milk! :)
If you prefer to avoid another kitchen gadget, you can add some milk to a small jar, shake for 30-60 seconds, then remove the lid and microwave for 30 seconds. The heat will stabilize the foam.
First of all, I LOVE that blue background coupled with the golden milk.
Second, your towel styling skills are on point. I swear, I can’t style a damn towel in my photography if my life depended on it.
Third, I keep hearing about golden milk but have yet to try it. I love turmeric so this recipe is on my “to make list”
Great job!
Hahaha, thank you! Towels are so tricky because if they’re too thick they don’t work or if you don’t have them bunched or rumpled juuuuust right your dish sitting on top will be lopsided. :P
This was delicious! The turmeric gave it a nice earthiness. Next time around I’ll probably throw in a few cardamom pods.
Yum! Love it. A local coffee shop serves this in my area, but I never thought to make it myself! Tastes almost exactly the same and I already had the ingredients on hand.
I was so excited for this! But I just made it and….it was awful. 😩 I followed the instructions to a T….what could I have done wrong? I didn’t over-steep the tea, but it had an incredibly unpleasant bitter aftertaste that I just can’t get out of my mouth. I feel it must’ve been something I did because everyone else is raving about this. Help?! 😭 My only thought is that my turmeric has gone bad. But I don’t know because I rarely use turmeric.
Hmmm, maybe you’re not used to such a strong turmeric flavor? It may just be that in that concentration it doesn’t taste good to you? You can also try adding more sweetener as that can help dampen bitter flavors. I wonder if it could also be the cinnamon sticks. I’m sure they is probably variation from brand to brand. :( Sorry it didn’t turn out for you! I wish I had a more clear answer.
Thanks for the great idea for using turmeric! I have heard about the health benefits of turmeric, supposed to be a powerful anti-inflammatory, so I am excited to find a way to incorporate it into my daily diet. I love Dirty Chai, so I used about 1/4 cup chai tea mix, 1/4 cup hot milk whisked, 1 tsp turmeric and filled to the brim with dark roast pour over coffee. Delish! I will make this my daily afternoon pick-me-up.
Delicious. Also a great cold drink served over ice on a hot August day. Thank you for sharing.
Hi. This recipe looks great. I have never had the turmeric drink and look forward to combining it with Chai concentrate, which I have experimented with. I thought I would share a little info based on my efforts. First off, Barbara Tropp and several other experts in Chinese cooking say that removing the peel from ginger is unnecessary. So I just rinse off fresh ginger before using it, which is really convenient. The only fresh ginger available for sale in the local Krogers has been organic for over a year. If you have access to organic fresh ginger, you have another justification for not removing the peel. I prefer my chai made with green tea, so that is what I use. You can even sub water for the tea and still have a delicious drink. Cardamom and fresh ginger are 2 flavors I am crazy about, so I would never omit the cardamom as you have. Cardamom is also a major flavor in traditional chai, but it is all a matter of personal taste. One issue with cardamom is that it is extremely expensive. This can be helped by purchasing it from a bulk spice bin, where you measure out the desired amount yourself. I believe that pods are cheaper than ground cardamom, but I have always used ground because I am more familiar with measuring to taste that way. Also, cardamom dissolves just fine in the concentrate. Another good reason for buying Cardamom in bulk is that, if the store maintains their spice products well, the cardamom will be much fresher. It is essential for ground cardamom to be extremely fragrant. If the spice is too old, the only smel! It will retain will be peppery, rather than fragrant with a peppery element. If the spice only retains a peppery smell, or no particular smell at all, it is too old for use. Supermarket spices are often too old. Another great source for fresh spice is Penzey’s, store or mail order. Hope this is helpful for someone!
I’ve made golden milk, and your Chai concentrate before – can’t believe I never thought to combine them for a quick heat-n-serve drink. Looks perfect since it’s starting to get a bit chilly in the evenings here in the Midwest. Is there an herbal tea you’d recommend substituting for the black tea, for drinking later in the day?
Hmmmm, someone in another comment said that they sometimes just steep the spices in water without the tea, so maybe that would work? I wonder how yerba mate would taste, since it kind of tastes like coffee and people often mix chai with coffee. Not sure how it would taste with the turmeric, though.
Tulsi tea is a nice combination with chai and has lots of healing properties.
Such a great way to get more turmeric and healthy spices in your diet! I was so inspired – I love chai – that I ran to the store to pick up some cloves and cinnamon sticks to make this.
It’s great! I reduced the honey significantly, since I find so many chais overly sweet, using only one tablespoon. Worked beautifully with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
The recipe itself doesn’t include milk in the list, and I think that might be helpful for planning. Also, turmeric stains quite a bit, so this might need an added caveat.
Otherwise, I really enjoy your recipes and appreciate your sharing this! I will be enjoying this all week!
Oops! I forgot to type the milk into the ingredients list. :P It’s in the price calculations but I forgot to include it in the ingredients. Thanks for catching that!
Have you tried to freeze the concentrate so I could make a larger batch.?
I haven’t, but that’s a good idea. I bet you could freeze it in an ice cube tray!
Hey, just an FYI: Chai Tea means “tea tea”! Chai itself means tea in most indian languages (It’s like if I said Coke Soda or Cappuccino Coffee)!