Both tea and coffee are some of the world’s oldest and most popular beverage drinks. Chai tea is a sort of tea that existed in India centuries ago. Even though people have loved to drink coffee in recent years, Chai is still as famous as coffee because it offers a very unique flavor and taste. Many coffee shops in the world are trying to make their own Chai recipe, especially Starbucks already has some creative Chai latte on their menu.
Starbucks iced Chai tea latte is typically made with exceptional Chai, spices, and other superb ingredients. That is why this Starbucks Chai latte always produces a milky, spicy, delicate, and distinct aroma. Therefore, drinking Chai latte is not boring because you can customize it to make it more delicious. If you have not had any idea to customize yet, you can consider our guides to modify the iced Chai tea latte in this article.
Caffeine in Chai Latte
Despite the fact that Chai has caffeine, it varies depending on the type. Teavana Oprah Chai is one kind of tea that carries only 25 mg of caffeine, while Tazo Chai has 47 mg. Furthermore, Oregon, Pacific, and Big Train Chai share the same amount of caffeine content (65 mg). In contrast, Lipton Chai carries caffeine as low as 30 mg. Chai latte can be a great substitute for other latte drinks because it has lower caffeine than normal Iced Latte.
Each Chai variety has its own complex and unique taste and fragrance, so you can try to consume as many variations as possible. For daily caffeine intake, a healthy adult is recommended to consume a maximum of 400 mg of caffeine each day. Surprisingly, as Chai latte consists of low caffeine, you can drink it 5 or 6 cups daily. If you choose Iced Latte, you can only drink at a maximum of 3 cups per day.
Primary Chai Background
Founded in India, Chai is a translation of Tea. You can use this word interchangeably or even both. For example, Chai, Tea, or Chai Tea can be used in any variations. Moreover, Chai tea is a black tea (Assam or Ceylon tea) that has spices in the mixture. Thus, when the milk and sweetener are added to Chai, we call it Chai Tea Latte.
Chai has been modernized in various ways depending on regions, cultures, and importantly individual preferences. Furthermore, although Chai is made in many variations, this tea still acquires 3 fundamental ingredients in the making.
Chai Concentrates
Chai tea is known for its spicy taste. The spices come from a combination of cinnamon sticks, cardamom, fresh ginger, white peppercorn, cloves, and also star anise. This diverse mixture of herbs brings the famous spices to tea; therefore, it is traditionally named Masala Chai.
Milk
As mentioned earlier, it depends on personal preferences to choose the milk. For instance, if you are on a diet, you can consider using low-fat milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or almond milk. These milk types are considered low in calories. On top of that, the traditional milk that was used to make Chai is goat milk. Since this type of milk is difficult to find, you can use the milk in the store nearby.
Sweeteners
As a sweetener has both natural and refined sweeteners, you still can use it. On the other hand, it would be great to use natural sweetener because it offers many health benefits. The natural sweetener often consists of honey, coconut sugar, brown sugar, stevia, maple syrup, and so on. Meanwhile, the refined sugar can be white sugar, condensed, etc…
Our 5 Ways to Modify Iced Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks
1- Type of Milk
When consuming a latte, it is important to have good milk in the mixture. Generally, a Starbucks barista will put fat milk in your Chai tea latte cup. However, if you are on a diet, you can ask the barista to use other milk types. You can substitute the whole milk with oat milk, coconut milk, or soy milk that costs 70 cents. These types of milk carry lower calories and are healthier to consume than whole milk.
2- Additional Sweet Cream Cold Foam
Mostly, you will find a sweet cream cold foam as a topping in every Starbucks cold drink. This creamy iced foam with vanilla flavor that costs only 1$ is popularly ordered on the iced Chai tea latte. Moreover, due to the fact that the foam consists of sweet additives, you can switch it to pumpkin spice or cinnamon as a topping on your Chai tea latte instead.
3- Flavored Syrup
If the iced Chai tea latte does not taste your preference, you can only add a flavored syrup costing 50 cents. You can have various syrup additives to choose from, including no-sugar vanilla, flavored vanilla, brown sugar syrup, cinnamon dolce, and caramel sauce.
4- Sprinkle a topping
Whether you want to add a touch of pumpkin spice or cinnamon powder to sprinkle the topping, the Starbucks barista will do it free for you. However, the dust of seasonal toppings will be worth 50 cents if you want it on the Chai latte.
5- Dirty Chai Latte
A normal Chai tea latte comes with masala Chai (or masala tea) that does not have coffee in the mixture. With the absence of coffee, the Chai tea latte will not have a bitter and nutty taste. Thus, as a coffee lover, you need to have an additional espresso shot to make the Dirty Chai tea latte more fragrant and complex in flavor. By adding another espresso shot, it will cost you an extra 90 cents.
Bonus:
You can ask the barista to combine the Chai tea latte with 1 or 2 Matcha power scoops. You can try this creative additive with just 90 cents. Therefore, your Chai tea latte will give a taste of spice, flowery, bitter, and herby for the first sip.
Our 3 Best Homemade Starbucks Chai Latte Modifications
We also find customized Chai Latte recipes that you can make it on your own at home. Without hesitation, you can easily try to make the following homemade Starbucks Chai Latte alternatives.
Dirty Chai Latte
Instead of buying Starbucks drinks every day, you can easily make a Dirty Chai latte as appetizing as the Starbucks one on your own. All you need are several ingredients, an espresso maker, and a few kitchen utensils.
Recipes:
- The first thing to know is you need to make the Dirty Chai latte to the size of a grand Starbucks cup (470 ml)
- You can buy and store a Chai black tea concentrate at home. Normally, Starbucks use Tazo Chai concentrate, yet you can use other Chai concentrates for your convenience
- Starbucks prefers fat milk in the making of Chai latte, but you can try healthy and low-fat milk like soy milk, coconut milk, or almond milk. Then, for iced Dirty Chai latte, you should steam the milk first prior to putting it in the mixture
- Then brew one shot of espresso and pour it in a cup of Chai tea latte to make the Dirty Chai latte
- In addition, you can use an extra cinnamon powder for more spices flavor
Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte
This pumpkin spice Chai tea latte can be one of the best Starbucks Chai Latte substitutes. Making Chai at home is effortless, like making tea, so you save much time and money. Also, it is ideal for drinking this type of latte in the autumn with your family. The following recipe will tell you how to make the pumpkin spice Chai latte tasty like Starbucks.
Recipes:
- You cannot make a pumpkin spice Chai tea latte without a pumpkin spice sauce, so you must make it one first. Thus, you have to have organic pumpkin puree, condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice, a touch of salt, and sugar to make the sauce
- Do not forget to have Chai concentrate stored in the kitchen as well
- After that, you take out fresh milk to steam it
- Sit a pumpkin spice sauce at the bottom of a cup
- Now you start putting 2 bags of Tazo Chai tea in the boiling water (8 ounces of water)
- Pour the finished Chai into a cup
- Finish it off with a touch of pumpkin pie spice
Chai Matcha Latte
People who like a bright and bitter flavor can try this Chai Matcha latte at home. This drink usually comes with a few components in the mixture, such as Chai tea leaves, matcha powder, cinnamon, and milk. Since there is no sugar added, the Chai Matcha latte is perfect for diet. Like making Chai latte, the recipe will be the same except for the matcha powder.
Recipe:
- Prepare 2 bags of Chai tea, matcha powder, whole or low-fat milk (depending on your preference), a couple of cinnamon sticks, sweeteners (brown sugar, white sugar, honey)
- In every Chai tea preparation, you need to boil water. After it is boiling, you can put 2 bags of Chai tea
- Once you turn the heat off, you can put 1 teaspoon or 1 scoop of Matcha powder
- Then you can pour a cup of milk along with the sweetener
- Whisk it until the tea turns green
- Next, add a topping with a slight touch of cinnamon spice