Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate

Whenever I go to a café I always choose one of two drinks – coffee latte or chai tea latte. I love the sweet and spiced flavor of a good cup of chai latte. A few years back I tried to make a pot of homemade chai, but it didn’t turn out great; too weak and not enough flavor. But now I found a great recipe for chai concentrate online, here and decided to give it a go again. And I’m so happy that I did. Because it turned out just right, full of chai spiced flavor. I made myself a glass of chai latte using the concentrate, and I am sitting here a very happy gal.

Ingredients;

5 dl water

8 bags black tea – I used Celestial black tea with exotic spices

2 cinnamon sticks

1 vanilla bean, split in half

1/2 dl cane sugar

1 – 3-inch section of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into pieces

10 whole cloves

8 cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

2 whole star anise pods

1/2 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 tablespoon honey

1 small square section of cheesecloth

kitchen twine

Method;

Removing any tags on the teabags. Prepare the spices, vanilla bean and orange zest by laying them in your cheesecloth. Tie the cheesecloth pouch shut with a small piece of kitchen twine. If you leave the cinnamon sticks out, just tie them together with kitchen twine.

-If you don’t wish to use cheesecloth, you will just add all of your spices directly to the pan when the time comes and strain them out after.

Add the water and sugar to a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil over a medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and put in the tea bags, cheesecloth pouch, pieces of ginger and cinnamon sticks. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat strain the concentrate through a sieve or just remove the tea bags, cheesecloth pouch, ginger and cinnamon sticks. At this point if you want a bit more sweetness you can add a tablespoon of honey, stir to dissolve.

Allow the mixture to cool before pouring it into an airtight jar or container.

Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Homemade chai latte;

To serve, mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk of your choice. Heat for a warm beverage or serve over ice for a cold drink.

I poured 1 part concentrate in a tall glass and warmed it in the microwave for a minute. Meanwhile I heated a part of milk in a pot on the stove. I have a small electric whisk, which I used to froth the milk a bit. And then I just poured the milk in the glass with chai. And there you go, a wonderful homemade Chai Latte.