Homemade Chai Concentrate (Starbucks Copycat) - Midwest Nice

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Whip up this homemade chai concentrate to keep in the fridge so you can enjoy a delicious chai latte whenever the craving strikes! Skip the trip to Starbucks with this easy copycat recipe that's ready in minutes!

Made with black tea, classic chai spices like cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon, and just a bit of sweetness, this chai concentrate recipe is so delicious you’ll always have a bottle on hand in the fridge!

Ingredients for homemade chai concentrate

How to make chai concentrate at home

This is just a brief overview, find detail instructions in the recipe card below!

Chai Concentrate Without Whole Spices

This recipe is very quick and easy to make! It’s not time intensive and is meant for people who enjoy the various Chai drinks Starbucks offers on their menu.

Because of this, I use a homemade chai spice blend that’s made of ground spices instead of whole. While the flavor of whole, toasted spices is unbeatable, the ease of using ground, pre-made spice blends is really what we’re focusing on here!

Ingredient Substitutions

One of the best reasons for making chai concentrate yourself is that you can control the flavor profile.

• Ginger Juice – want a spicier concentrate? Add ¼ cup of ginger juice to the water when steeping the tea. So spicy!

• Brown Sugar – to add even more depth of flavor, swap out the white granulated sugar for warmer, richer brown sugar. (And see more sweetener substitutions below!)

• Vanilla Extract – add 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract to make a delicious vanilla chai concentrate that would make a stunning dirty chai latte.

• Decaf – as someone who is sensitive to caffeine, I love making my own tea and coffee recipes at home so I can control how much caffeine they contain. Look for decaf chai tea bags to make this delicious recipe caffeine free.

Storing the concentrate

Leftovers can be stored in a large glass jar with a lid for up to ten days. Settling is natural, because of the ground spices, so be sure to mix the concentrate well before using.

Naturally Sweetened Chai Latte Concentrate

If you'd prefer your chai latte concentrate be sweetened with something else besides granulated sugar you can use any one of the following sweeteners in place of the sugar:

• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup agave

Of course, if you'd like your tea concentrate less sweet, opt for doing ⅓ cup or ¼ cup of whichever sweetener you choose!

Watch the recipe video!

Print Recipe 4.67 from 12 votes

Homemade Chai Concentrate (Starbucks Copycat)

Made with black tea, classic chai spices like cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon, and just a bit of sweetness this chai concentrate recipe is so delicious you’ll never want to spend $5 on one Starbucks drink again! Cook Time35 minutes minsTotal Time35 minutes mins Course: DrinksCuisine: AmericanKeyword: Chai Spice, Chai Tea Concentrate, Homemade Chai Concentrate, Starbucks Copycat, Starbucks Dupe Servings: 7 servings Calories: 57kcal Author: Amanda Gajdosik Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• Sauce Pot
• Large glass measuring cup
• Large glass jar with a lid, for storage

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• ½ cup granulated sugar (or less, to taste)
• 16 chai teabags
• 1 tsp. chai spice blend

Instructions

• Place water in a sauce pot and set over heat to boil. While the water is heating, tie the teabags together and place in a large glass measuring cup and add 1 tsp. of chai spice blend, set aside.
• When water boils, stir in ½ cup sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour the sweetened water over the teabags and spices.
• Allow tea to steep for 30 minutes before draining bags and discarding.
• Allow concentrate to cool to room temperature before covering and storing in refrigerator until ready to use.

Video

Notes

• Concentrate can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
• Refer to post for notes on sugar substitutions and spice additions.
• For a less-sweet concentrate, use only ¼ to ⅓ cup sweetener.
• Makes 3 ½ cups concentrate.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 57kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 0.04g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.05g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 5mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 0.1mg