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You are here: Home » Food Preparation » Recipes » Drinks & Smoothies » Homemade Chai Tea

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Homemade Chai Tea

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Homemade Chai Tea | Here's a homemade chai tea recipe that uses the best of all the other recipes I've found -- lots of whole spices (besides the usual cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom) and quality black tea! In this recipe, you'll also learn how to decaffeinate your own black tea leaves to make this a kid-friendly drink! | TraditionalCookingSchool.com

I love enjoying healthy holiday beverages. Sooner or later, I had to jump on the chai tea bandwagon… 😉

This is the perfect cozy treat to share with friends and family this time of year. And if you’re concerned about children drinking caffeine, I share an easy tip for how to decaffeinate the tea leaves — so everyone can partake!

5 from 1 vote
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Homemade Chai Tea

This is the perfect cozy treat to share with friends and family this time of year. And if you're concerned about children drinking caffeine, I share an easy tip for how to decaffeinate the tea leaves -- so everyone can partake!
Course Beverage
Servings 6 1-cup servings
Author Wardee Harmon

Ingredients

  • 2 rounded tablespoons black tea such as Assam, Ceylon, or English Breakfast*
  • 2 cups pure water
  • 4 cups raw whole milk
  • 6 cardamom pods
  • 6 peppercorns I used 3 white and 3 black
  • 12 whole cloves
  • 1 teaspoon anise seeds OR fennel seeds
  • 1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon bark OR 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1- inch vanilla bean piece, sliced open
  • 1/2- 3/4 inch chunk ginger peeled and cut into smaller pieces
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup raw honey
  • ground nutmeg sprinkle of for each cup (optional)

Instructions

  1. Add water to saucepan and bring to simmer over medium-low heat.
  2. Meanwhile, combine cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, anise seeds, and cinnamon bark in mortar and pestle.
  3. Crush until peppercorns are cracked and cardamom pods are opened to reveal the seeds.
  4. Add tea leaves, crushed spices, ginger, and vanilla bean to saucepan. (It doesn't have to be simmering when you add these.)
  5. Maintain a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or longer, to your desired strength.
  6. Strain.
  7. Add milk and honey to tea and stir well. Bring to desired drinking temperature, then take off the heat.
  8. Pour tea into each tea cup, then sprinkle with nutmeg (if desired).
  9. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*If desired, decaffeinate black tea leaves by steeping in water just off the boil for 3 minutes.
Then discard water and set aside tea leaves. They're now 40% to 70% less caffeinated -- but still flavorful!

Do you make your own chai tea?

We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

Posted in: Drinks & Smoothies Drinks & Smoothies (Gluten-Free) Food Preparation Recipes

About Wardee Harmon

Wardee lives in the Boise area of Idaho with her dear family. She's the lead teacher and founder of the Eat God's Way online cooking program as well as the author of Fermenting, Sourdough A to Z, and other traditional cooking books. Eat God's Way helps families get healthier and happier using cooking methods and ingredients from Bible Times like sourdough, culturing, and ancient grains.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Megan says

    November 18, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    I absolutely LOVE Chai Tea! Thanks for the great recipe! It sounds delish, can’t wait to try!

    Megan

    Reply
  2. Wardee says

    November 18, 2009 at 7:25 pm

    Megan, I think you’ll really like this. I’m enjoying a cup right now. Yumm…. 🙂 P.S. I had no idea you had a blog! I just subscribed.

    Reply
  3. Sustainable Eats says

    November 18, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    Yum Wardee! I have all those spices – just not black tea. I’m thinking of ordering some stuff from Mt. Rose to make Christmas gifts so I’ll add on some black tea. I just can’t buy bags of tea this year, it seems so commercial to me now. 🙂 and I didn’t get the chammomile & raspberry leaves harvested in time either…next year I’ll be on top of my entire harvest. I suppose I should sit back and be appreciative of all I did get done. It was a busy year!
    .-= Sustainable Eats´s last blog post… Dark Days Challenge =-.

    Reply
  4. Rebecca says

    November 19, 2009 at 5:57 am

    I made chai tea last year when I was pregnant, and used rooibos instead of black tea because of the tannins in black tea. It was just as good!
    .-= Rebecca´s last blog post… Lacto-Fermented Veggies, Sourdough, Mayonnaise (Tuesday Twister – 11/17/2009) =-.

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      November 19, 2009 at 5:59 am

      Rebecca – That’s a great point to make! Thanks for sharing that alternative!

      Reply
  5. Wardee says

    November 30, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    I’ve changed how I make this, to make cleanup easier. 🙂 I now boil the tea leaves and spices with just the water for a good 10 minutes. Then I strain out the solids and combine the tea water with the milk and honey, which I bring to desired heat and then serve.

    Reply
  6. Michelle says

    December 11, 2009 at 10:56 am

    Oops, should have read this first. LOL just boiled over my first batch with milk. I was thinking I should have waited on the milk so I didn’t have to heat the raw milk too high. Love it, thank you

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      December 11, 2009 at 2:32 pm

      Michelle – I think coconut milk would be a nice substitution for someone who is dairy free – though if it is whole coconut milk, thin it down to drinkable consistency.

      Reply
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