How to make an Iced Chai Latte at home! This deliciously refreshing tea latte is made with black tea, pleasant spices and milk. (And why don’t we call it Iced Chai Tea Latte!)
We all love cozy tea lattes, and here’s a favorite refreshing, refreshing twist: the Iced Chai Latte! The house version of this coffee shop special is slightly spicy and irresistibly creamy. In fact, this one tastes way better than the popular Starbucks version. This one is sweetened with maple syrup and made with our custom chai spice blend. Prepare a large batch of concentrate and drink it all week!
What is an Iced Chai Latte?
A chai latte is a western invention: it takes traditional masala chai, a spiced milk tea from India, and combines it with frothed frothed milk from a latte. The frozen version just adds ice and skips the frothy topping. This drink was popularized by Starbucks in the 1990s. Many coffee variants of a chai latte no longer have much to do with traditional Indian inspiration: they are often too sweet and too spicy. Instead, this ice cream chai latte recipe is lightly spiced and subtly sweet. It combines our chai spices with milk and ice for a refreshing and just-sweet-enough latte!
Why not say “Iced Chai Tea Latte”?
Starbucks might call this drink a “Tea Latte Iced Tea,” but here’s why not add the word “tea”. Word chai means “tea” in Hindi, so saying chai tea is like saying “tea tea”.
The correct name for the Indian tea blend is Chai masala. Word masala refers to a spice mixture used in cooking. Much like the word curry, a Westernized reduction of a complex blend of Indian spices, the American concept of chai diminishes a rich Indian cultural tradition. A more appropriate term here is Iced Chai Latte.
How to make a frozen chai latte
Now that we have the right terminology, let’s talk about this drink. Masala chai spices can contain many different ingredients depending on the chef. To make this frozen chai latte, this homemade chai spice mix uses common chai spices. There are many other spices used regionally in Indian concoctions, often whole or ground by the chef. Here are the basic steps for an Iced Chai Latte:
- Make the tea concentrate (30 minutes): Steep tea bags, chai spices and maple syrup for 30 minutes.
- stump: Filter the concentrate into a glass. It makes 4 servings so you can keep it in the fridge until ready to drink!
- Add ice and milk: To serve, pour the concentrate into a glass with ice. Pour in milk and serve!
Vegan variant
The great thing about this Iced Chai Latte is that it can easily be made vegan! Just use your favorite plant-based milk for the milk component. Since you don’t have to froth it like you would a hot latte, you can simply substitute it with the milk of your choice. We usually avoid coconut milk for lattes as the coconut flavor is quite strong. Here are some of our favourites:
- oat milk. It has an excellent creamy texture and a neutral taste! One of our favorites for lattes. See also our Vegan Chai Latte.
- Almond milk: Another good choice, but it’s less creamy and has a finer texture.
- I am milk: This works too, but has a slight soy aftertaste.
alternative sweeteners
This frozen chai latte is designed to be just sweet enough! It’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup, our natural sweetener of choice. But if you prefer others, here are some options:
- maple syrup (Favourite). This natural vegan sweetener adds nuance without the maple flavor. (It’s also great for cocktails.)
- Simple syrup. Plain syrup has a more intense sweet and direct taste.
- Honey. Another great natural sweetener, it adds a slightly more golden sweet taste.
- agave syrup. This vegan sweetener is easy to find these days and works well too.
And that’s it! Let us know how you like this drink in the comments below!
More tea drinks!
Do you like to drink tea? Here are some other tea recipes we love:
- Chai Latte How to make a chai latte at home… easy! This drink is creamy and flavorful with the perfect fluffy foam topping.
- London Fog A cozy tea latte made with Earl Gray tea and lavender.
- Matcha Latte or Iced Matcha Latte These classic green drinks are creamy and delicious.
- Perfect Tea Latte Prepare a pure milk tea without spices: even easier.
- Dirty Chai Latte Even better, add a shot of espresso to your chai latte (a favorite!).
- Cold Brew Tea The easiest iced tea! This recipe only takes a minute and has a wonderfully smooth flavor.
- Green Iced Tea A refreshing drink that is easy to serve.
- Classic Sweet Tea This recipe is easy to make and offers the best refreshing taste, just sweet enough.
This ice cream chai latte recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten free. For vegans, plant-based and dairy-free, use non-dairy milk.
The description
How to make an Iced Chai Latte at home! This deliciously refreshing tea latte is made with black tea, pleasant spices and milk.
- 4 cups the water
- 1½ tablespoons Chai spice mix
- 4 black tea bag (or 4 teaspoons loose black tea in a tea strainer)
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup (or honey, agave syrup, or plain syrup)
- 1 cup Milk of choice for serving (use dairy-free for vegans)
- Prepare the concentrate: Place water, chai spices, tea, and maple syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the mixture begins to boil, remove it from the heat and let it sit until it reaches room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Filter and store the concentrate: Remove tea bags and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a covered container. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week: be sure to shake before serving! (Makes 4 servings.)
- Surcharge: Pour ice into a glass to serve. Mix ¾ cup chai concentrate and ¼ cup milk.
- Category: drink
- Method: Cook
- Kitchen: American
- Diet: vegan
Keywords: Ice Chai Latte, Ice Chai Tea Latte
