| |

Starbucks Iced Chai Latte

Perhaps this recipe should be called BETTER than Starbucks Iced Chai Latte because it is! I’ll show you how to make your own chai concentrate and create the best homemade chai latte ever.

Overhead view of a starbucks iced chai latte

Making an iced chai latte at home is so easy, budget-friendly and just as delicious as one from Starbucks, if not more so because you can make adjustments to suit your preferences.

While I used to be completely obsessed with Starbucks Iced Chai Lattes, I now find them a little too sweet. I make my own chai concentrate and add the sugar to create a latte that has strong chai flavor, complimented by just the right amount of sweetness. All you will need is: your favorite chai tea bags, brown sugar and milk of choice.

Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase any of the items linked in this post, I should earn a small commission. This creates no additional cost to you and helps support the work that goes into running The Fig Jar. Thank you! -Becky 

I’m a huge tea lover and chai was my first love. I’ve mentioned how it was the only thing that got me through my 8 am anthropology class in college and I still love a good chai latte today. But now, I mostly make my chai lattes at home. Let’s make one!

Ingredients

Iced Chai Latte

ingredients for iced chai latte

A chai latte typically includes equal parts of the following:

  • Chai concentrate: I’m going to show you how to make your own. It’s super easy and all you need are chai tea bags and brown sugar
  • Milk of choice: I think regular ol’ 2% milk makes the creamiest latte, but oat milk is a great substitute. You can really use any type of milk you like though.

Make it a hot chai latte

You can make a hot chai latte just as easily as an iced one. Simply warm the concentrate and warm/froth the milk. That’s really the only difference!

2% milk being added to a chai latte

How to make chai concentrate

As I mentioned above, all you will need to make chai concentrate at home are: chai tea bags, brown sugar and water. You can of course make chai concentrate completely from scratch by brewing black tea with chai spices (cinnamon, black pepper, start anise, ginger, cardamom, etc.), but I prefer to just use my favorite bagged chai tea.

Brew extra strong chai tea

The first step in making chai concentrate is to brew tea. Add 2 cups of boiling water to 4 single-serve chai tea bags. Let this steep for 5 minutes. You don’t want to steep the tea for too long as it can become bitter.

chai tea bags steeping in pot

Add sugar and simmer

Then add the tea–or you can add it directly–to a pot and turn heat to medium-high. Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Bring to a simmer and allow it to continue to simmer for 3 minutes.

Cool and store

homemade chai concentrate in a jar with a secure lid

Remove from heat and add to a jar with a secure lid. You might want to give it a quick shake before preparing your chai latte if you’ll be storing the chai to use at a later time.

Enjoy within 5 days.

What is in the chai latte at Starbucks?

The chai latte from Starbucks is made with chai concentrate, 2% milk and ice (if you order an iced drink). The chai concentrate is made with black tea, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, vanilla and cane sugar. And that’s in addition to a few additives like “natural flavors” and citric acid.

You can buy Tazo Chai Concentrate at many grocery stores, Target and amazon. They even make decaf (affiliate link). While the Tazo Chai concentrate is similar, I still think it tastes slightly different than the chai they serve at Starbucks. And I also find the boxed chai concentrate is very sweet. It contains 22 grams of sugar in a 3/4 cup serving.

Chai questions you might have

Does iced chai latte have coffee?

No, a chai latte does not have coffee in it. Chai is made with black tea and a unique blend of spices. A popular variation on a chai latte is called a “Dirty Chai” and is a chai latte with a shot of espresso added. I have a recipe for that here. If you are concerned about caffeine, Tazo makes a decaf concentrate (affiliate link) or you can find a bagged decaf chai tea that you like.

What does iced chai latte taste like?

chai concentrate poured into glass with ice

Chai includes lots of warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and black pepper and it can also be a little bit spicy. This is why it pairs so well with milk and sugar. It brings those warming/spicy flavors into perfect balance!

Can you make chai concentrate from scratch?

Yes! If you want to make chai concentrate completely from scratch, meaning you will use whole spices and brew with black tea, check out this post from Sweet Steep.

Tried this recipe?

copycat starbucks iced chai latte in a clear glass

If you try this recipe, please leave a star rating below and let me know how it went. I’d love to hear from you!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

You can also connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.

More tea recipes

Print

Copycat Starbucks Iced Chai Latte

Overhead view of a starbucks iced chai latte

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 4 reviews

I prefer this iced chai latte over a coffee-shop one any day. It has the perfect amount of sweetness, with bold chai flavor. Money saving, time saving and delicious.

  • Author: Becky Schmieg
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Drinks
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Units Scale

Chai concentrate

  • 4 single-serve chai tea bags (I prefer Trader Joe's or Tazo)
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar

Chai latte

  • 1/2 cup chai concentrate
  • 1/2 cup milk of choice
  • ice

Instructions

  1. Steep chai tea bags in boiling water for 5 minutes in a pot.
  2. Remove tea bags and place pot on the stove over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to a simmer and then simmer an additional 3 minutes.
  3. Store the chai concentrate in a glass jar with a secure lid in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Make a chai latte

  1. For a 1 cup serving, combine 1/2 cup chai concentrate and 1/2 cup milk and add to a glass with ice. Enjoy immediately.

Notes

Milk: you can use 2% milk, oat milk or almond milk. Really any plant-based milk that you enjoy should work!

To make a hot latte: warm the chai concentrate in a mug. Also warm the milk and froth. Poured warmed/frothed milk over the warmed chai concentrate and enjoy. 

 

 

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us @thefigjar. We can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Similar Posts

14 Comments

  1. Ohhhh my goodness! This is delicious!!!
    I never leave comments, but this one was totally worth it!
    I added an extra tea bag for more spice. It’s the perfect combo of spice with a little sweet.
    Thank you!!!

  2. It was really good, but in my opinion, it needs a little more sugar, but i dont know how that would alter the recipe, if it will make it thicker and more like a syrup than a concentrate, havent tried adding more concentrate than milk but im on that.

    1. Hello there! Glad you liked it. It should really only affect the consistency if you added significantly more sugar.

    1. Hi Amber! I think maple syrup would taste good too! You probably don’t want to do a 1:1 substitution though, I think it might be a little too sweet. Maybe start with about half the amount, taste and add to your preference. Enjoy!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star