Chai Concentrate: How to Make It, How to Use It
To make easy, quick and delicious chai lattes, you will first need to make a chai concentrate (please see recipe below). Concentrates are great because they store well in the refrigerator (2-3 weeks) and can be used to make chai lattes, iced chai, syrups and more. You can make chai concentrate with any chai - we recommend Original Chai Blend for a nicely spiced and bold chai concentrate or Rose Petal Chai for an aromatic and subtly floral chai concentrate - but any chai blend will work!
Chai Concentrate Recipe:
- Place 4.5 cups of water in a pot and add 2/3 cup of Original Chai Blend (or any chai blend that suits your fancy) and 2/3 cup sugar.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Turn off and allow mixture to cool fully while still steeping (this will make concentrate nice and strong).
- When cooled, strain through metal sieve into large Mason jar, cover and store in refrigerator. Concentrate will last refrigerated for 2-3 weeks.
- This batch yields 4 cups of concentrate which makes 10-15 cups of chai.
The above recipe is a large batch. You can make a smaller batch by cutting all measurements down by half (i.e. 2 1/4 cup water, 1/3 cup any Chai Blend, 1/3 cup sugar which will give you 2 cups final chai concentrate, or about 6 chai lattes or glasses of iced chai).
How To Use Chai Concentrate:
1. Using Chai Concentrate to make a Chai Latte:
- Pour 3-4oz chai concentrate and 6-8oz milk or alt milk into stainless steel foaming pitcher.
- With a steam wand/espresso maker heat and foam mixture as you would milk for a latte.
- Pour foamed mixture into cup.
- Top with cinnamon or vanilla sprinkles (optional)
2. Using Chai Concentrate to make an Iced Chai:
- Fill a tall glass with lots of ice.
- Add 3-4oz chai concentrate.
- Top with milk or alt milk.
Tip: you can use any chai blend to make chai concentrate - as long as it is a blend that includes both a black tea and chai spices. If using our Original Chai Blend, make sure you use equal parts tea and spices. For our Golden Turmeric Chai, Candied Ginger Chai and Rose Petal Chai, the tea and spices are already pre blended.