Perfect Chai Latte

How to make a chai latte at home… easy! This drink is creamy and flavorful with the perfect fluffy foam topping.

Are you a sucker for a good chai latte? Because imagine: you can easily make one at home! No need to run to your favorite coffee shop or load up sugar and artificial flavors from a grocery box. You can make a pair better Chai Latte from the comfort of your own home. There’s something particularly beautiful about this drink: the allure of warm spices, the pinch of bitterness of tea, the rich, fluffy milk froth that grows a mustache with every sip. Yes, The This is how a chai latte should be. Here’s how to make it at home!

How to make a chai latte

A chai latte takes the traditional masala chai, a spiced milk tea from India, and combines it with frothed steamed milk from a café latte. The mashup appears to be an American invention popularized by Starbucks in the 1990s. It’s safe to say that many coffee versions of a chai latte bear little resemblance to traditional Indian inspiration: they’re often too sweet and too spicy.

The following recipe for a chai latte is lightly spiced and subtly sweet. It takes our masala chai recipe for a milk tea with chai spices, then adds frothed milk for a frothy finish. It’s just sweet and light enough instead of being too rich. Read on to learn everything you need to know about making a chai latte…made easy.

The chai spices you need

Word chai means “tea” in Hindi, so technically chai tea is the same as “tea-tea”. The most correct term for 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 can oversimplify and appropriate a rich Indian cultural tradition.

Masala chai spices can contain many different ingredients depending on the chef, just like curry powder. Our homemade chai spice blend uses common chai spices, but note that many more are used regionally in Indian blends. What you need for the chai spices:

• Cinammon
• Ginger
• cardamom
• Black pepper
• nutmeg
• cloves
• fennel seeds

First prepare the tea

Traditionally, chai spices are cooked whole to make masala chai. Because whole spices can be expensive and harder to find in America, this chai spice mix uses ground spices. Using ground spices is easier and also allows you to use the rest of the mix to flavor bread, cookies, and muffins. Remember that traditional Indian masala chai uses whole spices.

Once you have the chai spices, all you need is the tea! For a chai tea latte, you need black tea. Use 1 bag of black tea or 1 teaspoon of loose tea. Any type of black tea will work! The better the tea, the better the chai latte. Bring to a simmer with chai spices and water. So you’re ready for the most important part…

How to froth milk for a chai latte

The most important part of a chai latte: frothing the milk! Here you need a little technique. If this is your first time frothing milk, we strongly recommend reading the milk frothing guide before you begin. Here are some tips for the perfect froth on a chai latte:

• The best milk for a chai latte? Use 2% milk (our favorite) or whole milk if you want a richer latte. Do not use skimmed milk as it does not foam sufficiently. Do you want vegan or dairy free? Go to Vegan Chai Latte.
• Heat milk to 150 degrees (scalding). The temperature is important for the perfect froth. Use a candy thermometer if you have one. Or you can look at it: 150 degrees feels hot, a few small bubbles form on the outside, but it’s not simmering yet.
• Use a French press or hand frother. You don’t need an espresso machine to make foam! We used our french press and it worked great. You can also use a hand frother, which works even better! If you don’t have fancy equipment, you can vigorously whip milk. For the French Press, pump 100 times or 1 minute: This should produce a nice creamy, frothy lather!

Note: These tips only work for cow’s milk. Check out our article on vegan chai lattes to learn how to froth plant-based milk.

The sweetener in this chai latte: maple syrup

This chai latte recipe is just sweet enough on purpose: it’s not a savory Starbucks recipe loaded with sugar. That means it’s also sweet enough to tell your taste buds it’s a chai latte! Here are some pointers on which sweetener to use in a chai latte:

• Our favourite? Pure maple syrup. It has just the right amount of caramel (it doesn’t taste like maple, I promise).
• Other natural options: honey or agave syrup. These natural sweeteners each have their own nuance and sweet sweetness.
• Or use simple syrup. If you have a batch on hand for cocktails, this works for lattes too.

Serve your chai latte

And that’s it! Pour the milk and froth into your spiced tea and voila: your very own homemade chai latte! We like to throw a little sprinkling of chai spice on top to give it a classy look.

Want lattes made to order all week long? You can also brew a large batch of spiced tea and store it in the fridge. If you fancy a latte, heat ¾ cup of tea and then froth ½ cup of milk.

Variant 1: Dirty Chai Latte!

Our favorite version of the chai latte? Dirty basement! The story goes that the dirty chai latte was accidentally invented in England in the 1990s when a barista added espresso to a chai latte she was making for an American. He loved it and the rest is history. Do you want to do that? Just add 4 ounces of espresso to the tea in this recipe or go to the Dirty Chai Latte recipe.

Variant 2: Iced Chaï Latte!

Wait, we have another favorite twist on this tea latte: the deliciously refreshing Iced Chai Latte! This tasty version of the classic couldn’t be simpler: because it completely dispenses with milk foam. Yes, a frozen chai latte is as simple as making a flavorful chai concentrate, then adding ice and milk when ready to serve. It’s perfect for drinking throughout the week.

More Latte? Try the perfect milk tea, Matcha Latte Where Iced Matcha Latte, or an espresso-based Iced Latte!

This chai latte recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten free. For vegans, see Vegan Chai Latte.

More enjoyable drinks

There are so many delicious and enjoyable drinks for the cold season! Here are some nicer drinks we like: