My 5 Minute Chai Tea Latte ‘Hack’

From daily coffee shop runs to DIY home lattes, 2020 sure brought in changes to the day to day routine.

There is no better time to celebrate my morning fuel choice than right now in the new year! The classic chai tea latte is preferred morning caffeine choice. There are those out there that prefer to use a chai tea bag or make their own chai spices from scratch — kudos and power to those aficionados because I have tried multiple times to get the taste I enjoy and have not been successful.

I have switched over to using a refrigerated tea concentrate for my mix and have tried everything from Oregon Chai to all the organic brands and back again. The favorite that I have used since working from home is the Tazo Classic Chai Tea to get that strong spice flavor that I prefer. I have recently discovered the Oregon Chai powder mix at a friend’s place and I think that it will be a great travel tag-along for future adventures.

For those that have asked for this recipe, I hope that you try it and enjoy it as much as I do. It takes me less than 5 minutes to make and its the same ingredients regardless of whether you want a hot latte or over-iced.

Ingredients:

Whole Milk (or any milk you prefer)
Tazo Classic Chai Tea Concentrate
Cinnamon Powder
Frother (not required!)
Your Favorite Mug + a mug for the milk

What to Do:

My shortcut for heating things up is in using the microwave – so don’t judge me if I don’t do it on the stove. Like I said, this is a hack! Most days I am jumping on video calls faster than I can make a chai tea latte but this is fast enough.

Fill your milk mug with milk about 1/3 of the way and pop it in the microwave for one minute. When time is up, (Warning! contents may be hot!) take this milk out of the microwave and froth it until you milk starts to foam. We have a frothing wand built into our Ninja Coffee Bar – so it is convenient. If you don’t have a frother, that’s ok! You still want the hot milk. Set this mug aside.

Fill your favorite mug (make sure its microwaveable) about 2/3 of the way with the Tazo Classic Chai Tea. Put your mug in the microwave for one minute. When done, remove it and set it next to your froth’d milk.

Slowly pour the froth’d milk into the hot tea mug, letting the froth roll in last. Due to density, the froth typically comes last anyways, because you know, science… lol If there is some froth still in the milk mug and you want it, use a spoon to scoop it out and into your tea mug.

Lastly, sprinkle some cinnamon powder on top of that marvelous tea mug! And Voila!!! You have an at home, DIY chai tea latte for your day that tastes like it came from your favorite coffee shop!

****BONUS Tip – If you would like an extra jolt of caffeine, you can make it a dirty chai latte by also adding a shot of espresso!