Omgeeeee.
I was talking with some friends the other day about my chai lattes not being as good as the ones at Starbucks. My friend, who is a teacher and works part-time at a coffee shop, explained to me the errors of my ways. Apparently, I should have been using chai concentrate, not just chai tea bags. She mentioned that I could get the concentrate at Target, but I already have about 500 chai tea bags soooo that wasn't an option I was willing to explore.
So off to google I went. I came across this recipe from Tasty Yummies.
Luckily, I had most of the ingredients so I was able to make it right away. Full disclosure, I did adapt it a bit. Below are the amounts and ingredients I used, but go check out Tasty Yummies for the full instructions:
4½ cups water
½ cup granulated sugar
9 chai tea bags (or black tea)
2 cinnamon sticks
2-3 squeezes of ginger paste (about 1/2 TBSP of ginger)
10 whole cloves
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (added at the very end)
Instructions
Add the water and sugar (mix well) to a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil over a medium-high heat.
Remove tags from tea bags and tie together
Once the sugar water is boiling, reduce to a simmer and toss in the tea bags and spices. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and strain the concentrate through a sieve. Add in the vanilla extract (you can also add in honey if you need more sweetness).
Let the concentrate cool before pouring it into an airtight jar or container. Allow it to fully cool before placing it into the fridge. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week (although if it lasts that long I'll be impressed).
Once I let the concentrate cool, I added it to some warm Vanilla Almond Milk (1:1 ratio) and frothed it with my new frother. I didn't need to add any sweetener, but you could easily add some honey to make it extra delicious.
YOU GUYS. This is so. freaking. good. Go make it for yourself and report back.
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