Food
Three easy ways to make your favorite fall drink.
Put out the cornucopia and sound your Sweater Weather Spotify playlist: fall is nearly here. Even if there isn’t a nip in the air just yet, you can get into the fall mindset by recreating the Starbucks chai latte at home.
Per its product page, a Starbucks Chai latte has three main ingredients: milk, water, chai tea concentrate. Of course, that chai tea concentrate is where all the flavor lives. Starbucks’ blend includes spices like cardamom, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, anise, and vanilla. A grande chai latte at Starbucks uses four pumps of their chai concentrate hence why the drink is so sweet and the spices are so... well, concentrated.
The real secret to the perfect at-home latte, chai or otherwise, is pretty simple: a milk frother. IKEA sells milk frothers for just $2.99 so if you’re wondering how much happiness costs, it’s under three bucks. A milk frother will help combine your ingredients into a smooth, silky mixture while also creating bubbles and the latte’s pièce de résistance, foam. Don’t want to make a trip to IKEA? You can also throw your chai latte mixture into a blender for a few pulses. Not only will it make sure your spices are evenly distributed, it’ll aerate the mixture giving it a lighter, frothier texture.
Now, onto the real task at hand: the chai latte. Here are three ways to recreate Starbucks’ chai latte, ranging from entirely homemade to store-bought options.
1
All Homemade Everything
The real way to DIY a chai latte is by DIY-ing your own chai concentrate. Food blog Gimme Some Oven has a recipe that combines cardamom, black peppercorns, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, star anise, and vanilla — all of which Starbucks notes are components of their chai concentrate. This is the way to go if you want to make a big batch of concentrate to use throughout the season. See the full recipe at Gimme Some Oven.
2
Easy Chai Copycat
For level two of the at-home chai latte, we’re going to skip the spice-combining step altogether. Just get a box of Tazo chai tea bags, the same brand that Starbucks uses. Steep your tea as per usual. Then, add the frothy milk of your choice and some sweetener if that’s your style.
3
Even Easier Chai Copycat
Don’t even want to worry about steeping tea? Fear not for you too can recreate a Starbucks chai latte at home. All you need is the Tazo Chai Latte Concentrate and a glass of milk — hot or iced depending on what you’re in the mood for. From there, just stir and enjoy.
There are plenty of Starbucks drinks you can recreate at home from their classic cold brew to Peppermint Mochas to, yes, even the Pumpkin Spice Latte. If nothing else, at least you'll avoid the long lines. Happy caffeinating.
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