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This vanilla chai latte is spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger and has a frothy foam topping. It tastes coffee-shop good!
Hello and welcome to my homemade vanilla chai latte, the drink equivalent of putting on a fuzzy sweater and curling up by a roaring fireplace! This tea is flavored with the beautiful spices of masala chai: cinnamon, cardamom and ginger.
Add to it the frothed milk foam from a cafe latte, and you’ll feel like you’re drinking a fancy tea latte from your local coffee shop. Here are all my tips on how to make it!
Featured Reader Review
“I just made this using Harney & Sons decaf hot cinnamon spice tea. Amazing! I only used ½ tsp. vanilla.” -Lisa
Why This Vanilla Chai Latte Is Worth Making
A chai latte is a Western invention: it takes traditional masala chai, the milky spiced tea from India, and combines it with frothy steamed milk of a latte. The mashup was popularized by Starbucks in the 1990’s. Many coffeehouse versions of a chai latte have little left of the traditional Indian inspiration: they’re often too sweet and overly spiced.
The recipe below for a vanilla chai latte is gently spiced and subtly sweet, with a beautiful vanilla essence. It combines our masala chai recipe for milky tea with chai spices, then adds steamed milk for a frothy top. It’s just sweet enough and light instead of overly rich.
Why “Chai Tea Latte” Isn’t Quite Right
A quick terminology note: the term “vanilla chai tea latte” is a bit redundant. The word chai translates to “tea” in Hindi, so saying chai tea is like saying “tea tea.”
The more correct term for the Indian tea blend is masala chai. The word masala refers to a blend of spices used in cooking. But just like curry, a Westernized reduction of a complex blend of Indian spices, the American concept of chai reduces it into a single sweet and spicy flavor. The drink below is a spin on the American version of masala chai, popularized as a latte by Starbucks in the 1990s.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need to make this vanilla chai latte at home:
- Chai spices: Masala chai spices can include many different ingredients based on the cook, just like curry powder. My Homemade Chai Spice mix uses common chai spices, but note there are many more used regionally in Indian blends. Often traditional masala chai will use whole spices, or require the cook to grind whole spices in a mortar and pestle. This blend uses ground spices for simplicity, and it also allows you to use this mix in baking recipes.
- Black tea: I use an Assam or English breakfast tea. You can also use decaf black tea or rooibos to make it caffeine free.
- Fresh 2% or whole milk: Whole milk foams the best, but you can use either.
- Vanilla extract: This brings the big vanilla flavor.
- Maple syrup: This is my favorite sweetener for drinks; it adds sweetness without tasting like maple.
How To Froth Milk For A Vanilla Chai Latte
The most important part of a vanilla chai latte is frothing the milk! You’ll need a little technique to get the perfect foam, and some equipment. If it’s your first time frothing, we highly recommend reading How to Froth Milk before you start.
- The best milk for a tea latte? Our favorite is 2% milk. Use whole milk if you like a richer latte, but avoid skim.*
- Heat the milk to 150 degrees (scalding). The temperature is important for the perfect frothy foam. Use a food thermometer for best results. Or wait until the milk is hot to the touch with some small bubbles starting to form on the outside, but it’s not yet simmering.
- Use a French press or hand frother. We used our French press to froth the milk and it worked great. You can also use a hand frother (which works even better!), or simply vigorously whisk the milk. For the French press, pump 100 times or 1 minute: this should result in beautiful, creamy and frothy foam!
*Want a vegan vanilla chai latte? These tips work only for dairy milk. Go to our Vegan Chai Latte post for how to froth non-dairy milk.
Options For The Sweetener
This vanilla chai latte is crafted to be just sweet enough! If you’re used to super sugary drinks from Starbucks, you can add a little more sweetener in advance. Here’s what we like to use to sweeten it just right:
- Maple syrup (favorite). Maple syrup is our favorite natural sweetener for drinks: it adds nuance without maple flavor. (We also use it for cocktails.)
- Simple syrup. Simple syrup has more of an intensely sweet, straightforward flavor.
- Honey or agave syrup. These natural sweeteners also add gentle sweetness.
A Note On Caffeine
A bag of black tea has about 40 to 60 mg of caffeine, versus a vanilla latte which has about 150 mg caffeine for a double-shot of espresso. So, it’s less than half the caffeine.
For caffeine-free, you can use decaf black tea or rooibos tea, as Lisa did above. The opposite is adding a shot of espresso for a Dirty Chai Latte (Alex’s favorite).
Variations To Try
Once you’ve mastered the original, here are some fun variations (I like the iced best):
- Unspiced: Make a classic Chai Latte without vanilla, or a Vanilla Latte without chai spices.
- Iced (my favorite): Brew the tea, chill, and pour over ice with milk: see my Iced Chai Latte for exact ratios.
- Vegan. Oat milk is great for vegan lattes; see Vegan Chai Latte and Oat Milk Latte.
- Dirty: Add espresso for a Dirty Chai Latte.
More Tea Lattes
This recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based and dairy-free, go to Vegan Chai Latte.
Vanilla Chai Latte
This vanilla chai latte is spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger and has a frothy foam topping. It tastes coffee-shop good!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 large or 2 small 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Homemade Chai Spices
- 1 cup water
- 1 bag black tea (or 1 teaspoon loose leaf black tea in a tea strainer)
- ½ cup fresh 2% milk (or whole milk)*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or honey, agave, or simple syrup)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium high heat, whisk together chai spices, water and tea bag and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove it from the heat and allow it to rest for 1 minute. Then strain through a fine mesh strainer** into one or two mugs (one for a large latte and two for small).
- Rinse the saucepan. Add the milk, vanilla, and maple syrup. Heat the milk to 150 degrees Fahrenheit (measure using a thermometer): this is hot with some small bubbles forming around the outside, but not simmering. The exact temperature is helpful for getting the perfect foam (if you don’t have a thermometer you can approximate).
- Use hand frother, whisk, or French press to foam the milk. (The French press is a favorite method: Add the scalding milk to the French press and pump vigorously until frothy, about 100 times for 2% milk or approximately 1 minute; use 50 times for whole milk.) Rest the foam for about 30 seconds, which allows it to set. Go to How to Froth Milk if it’s your first time frothing.
- Pour the milk and foam evenly between the mugs (or into 1 mug). Sprinkle with additional chai spices and serve.
Notes
*Fresh milk is best for getting a nice frothy foam. You may find that a container of milk that has been open for several days will no longer froth.
**You can skip straining if desired: the spices will settle to the bottom of the drink.
my sisetr is mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank youi fo r tellingi us about frithing milk in french press, very helpfukll
I just made this using Harney & Sons decaf hot cinnamon spice tea. Amazing! I only used 1/2 tsp. vanilla.