Save Your Money & Try This Starbucks Inspired Chai Tea Latte Recipe at Home

Chai Tea Latte

yield: 1 SERVINGS

prep time: 10 MINUTES

total time: 10 MINUTES

Ingredients

  • 2 chai tea bags
  • 8 oz. boiling water
  • 4 oz. milk (use any desired type of milk)
  • dash of ground cinnamon and nutmeg for top
  • *optional - favorite sweetener (I used a tiny bit of honey)

Directions

1

Steep two tea bags with boiling water for about 5-10 minutes.

2

While steeping, warm milk in the microwave (about 30-45 seconds) or on the stove (3-5 minutes over medium heat), and froth until fluffy. Pour on top of the tea, and mix in any desired sweetener.

3

Top with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Enjoy!

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Try this Starbucks chai tea latte recipe at home! It’s a comforting and cozy drink to warm up with. 

diy chai tea latte in a coffee mug

It’s time to DIY your own Starbucks chai latte! 🙌☕️😍

Love the popular spiced chai tea lattes from coffee shops like Starbucks? Chai tea is a black tea infused with wonderful spiced flavors like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper. I personally love this option as it’s a delicious alternative to coffee drinks.

starbucks latte vs homemade

The addition of steamed milk makes it over-the-top delicious and a perfect beverage to cozy up with during cooler months. The best part? You can save money and make your own awesome chai latte at home!

This easy DIY version will cost around $0.80 to make using a couple of tea bags and 4 oz. of milk, compared to a grande size chai latte at Starbucks priced at $4.25.

ingredients for chai latte

Use a chai blend tea for a time-saving shortcut!

I’ve read about methods where you buy each spice individually and steep it with black tea. That seemed a little time intensive, so I would suggest just buying a chai spice tea blend.

In fact, I asked a Starbucks barista how she would make a chai latte at home, and she suggested this Tazo brand chai tea as a nice substitute for a Starbucks latte! She advised me to use two tea bags to make it a stronger brew and to add frothed warm milk to the top to make it a latte. Then, just sweeten as desired. This process is super EASY! Plus, you can change it up and use any type of desired milk.

Is it “chai latte” or “chai tea latte”? This question sparked a debate in comments previously over which is the proper wording. For clarification, we’ve used both phrasings throughout the post, but Starbucks refers to their drink as a chai tea latte since it doesn’t contain coffee. 🙂

woman using a handheld frother

Make Starbucks chai tea lattes like a boss!

Turns out I LOVE lattes a lot, so I recently invested in this little battery-operated milk frother. It works awesome, and I feel like I’ll be making coffee drinks more often at home and saving money! Woohoo!

If you don’t have a frother, no worries – just do the best you can with a whisk, or even try using an immersion blender if you have one. For a fancier option, I also enjoy using the heated milk frother that came bundled with my Nespresso machine!

tazo chai tea

steeping tazo chai tea

using a frother for milk

frothed milk on top of chai tea

adding honey to chai tea


Print

Chai Tea Latte

yield: 1 SERVINGS

prep time: 10 MINUTES

total time: 10 MINUTES

A chai tea latte is a popular black tea drink infused with spices like cinnamon and cloves, and making it at home is so easy!

Ingredients

  • 2 chai tea bags
  • 8 oz. boiling water
  • 4 oz. milk (use any desired type of milk)
  • dash of ground cinnamon and nutmeg for top
  • *optional - favorite sweetener (I used a tiny bit of honey)

Directions

1

Steep two tea bags with boiling water for about 5-10 minutes.

2

While steeping, warm milk in the microwave (about 30-45 seconds) or on the stove (3-5 minutes over medium heat), and froth until fluffy. Pour on top of the tea, and mix in any desired sweetener.

3

Top with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Enjoy!

Brought to you by Hip2Save.

adding nutmeg to latte

Hip Tips for this Starbucks-Inspired Chai Tea Latte recipe:

  • Looking to stay extra caffeinated? Add a shot of espresso for a “dirty” chai!
  • Add whichever milk or sweetener suits your diet restrictions. A dash of vanilla extract would also be super yummy yet not too sweet.

diy starbucks chai tea latte

I actually love this version better than ‘bucks!

The chai latte from the Starbucks cafe is actually pretty sweet, while this homemade Starbucks chai tea latte recipe is super delicious and just slightly sweetened, or you can not even sweeten it at all if preferred! I think the fact you can control the sugar and use whatever sugar substitute you’d like at home is a great benefit of making a homemade chai latte. You can taste the cloves and spices a bit more using this method too, and I LOVE it!


Here’s another product idea to make delicious chai lattes at home! 

tazo concentrate for chai latte

Tazo also makes a chai latte concentrate!

I actually had no idea this existed until readers let me know in the comments. I tried making a latte using this concentrate instead of brewing tea and it is very good. It maybe even tastes closer to a Starbucks version because it’s sweeter. I do see they have a skinny chai version as well.

With the concentrates, you use equal parts concentrate and milk. I love this version too as it’s super cozy and flavorful!


Try making this DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte next!


About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.com, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.


Join The Discussion

Comments 65

  1. Holly Williams

    Love this, Thanks Lina!!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Ah thanks Holly! Enjoy 😉

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Awesome! Thanks for sharing 👍

  2. 50ShadesofLipstick

    As someone who speaks the language, just wanted to point out that “chai tea” is redundant…as chai literally means “tea”. This kind of spiced tea however is called “masala chai” (“masala” means spice blend). Hope that helps! 🙂

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh interesting, thanks for sharing!

    • Angela V.

      I didn’t know that, thanks for sharing! And thanks for the recipe Lina! I can’t wait to try it!

      • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

        Oh sure – enjoy Angela!

    • Roxierogue

      I was just about to say that too lol! It drives me crazy hearing “tea tea” literally everywhere. ie “I’ll have a tea tea latte please!” sounds so funny if you think about it. “Chai” IS tea. It’s a Hindi word. So it’s never chai tea- Just chai or chai latte, etc.. Just trying to help spread the word too 😊
      That milk frother is a great idea, could be used for so many fun drinks- such a great idea too (As is making your own chai lattes at home!)

      • Beth

        Must be rough to been driven crazy based on how people choose to speak. What happened to unity and diversity. On my way now to Starbucks for a delicious Chai Tea 🙂

    • Elora

      And I feel the need to point out to yet another person that words take on different meanings in different places. Chai might simply mean tea where others are from, but here in the states, it is used to describe a specific flavor of tea. It means the spices. There are several types of tea, but only chai tea has those specific spices. It wouldn’t make any sense to just call it chai for tea since every tea isn’t chai. So when someone says chai tea here, they mean spiced tea. So it isn’t redundant to say “chai tea” here.

      • Alexandria

        Consider this: if you went abroad and they have a food there that everyone calls a ‘burger sandwich”, would you just merrily go along with calling it that? No, you’d say “a burger IS a sandwich, so it’s redundant and it would suffice to just call it a burger. You’d say, “Burgers originally came from the states and it means a specific kind of sandwich, so calling it a burger sandwich doesn’t make sense.” Everything is about point of view.

        • Gigi

          Exactly and from my point of view, I wouldn’t say that. Not everyone in the U.S. considers a burger a sandwich. And I certainly wouldn’t tell someone while visiting their country that their way of speaking “doesn’t make sense.”

    • Jojo

      Just be careful, every time I have ordered a chai latte from Starbucks it’s coffee! I just say chai tea when I order there so I get the right thing.

    • hir win

      I was here to say the same thing :D. But thank you for the recipe!

    • Shannon

      I just came to read the comments cause I knew someone was going to say it’s tea tea haha! For anyone who watched the show “Big Sky” on hulu there’s a clip called chai-off in the extras section with the 3 Indian actors from last season making their version of chai. It’s so heart warming! 😀

  3. Amy

    I love to prepare my own lattes (iced, vanilla, pumpkin, chai tea) at home! I probably visit a Starbucks about once a year. I like that I can make them just the way I like them by using the ingredients that are right/healthy for me. And it’s cheap! I don’t have an espresso maker, but I don’t feel I need one.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing 👍

  4. Matthew Ward

    Tazo tea is quite expensive. If you happen to live in a city, find where all the Indians shop and by your Chai tea bags there. It’s a more genuine flavor and about half the price. If you live in Atlanta, head to The Global Mall.

    • Jan

      Thank you Matthew! I live in Atlanta and will head over to The Global Mall soon.

  5. Matthew Ward

    Actually, I just checked on Amazon and the Wagh Bakri brand I buy is $0.09 cents tea bag vs $1 per tea bag for Tazo. That’s quite a difference!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yes I’d just use your favorite brand.

  6. Ru

    Thanks for sharing this. For my sweet er I used real honey. Taste great

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      YUM! I’m so glad you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by!

  7. Denise Parmelee

    I love this ! Thank you for the idea it’s very yummy!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh good I’m so glad Denise!

  8. Christina

    I have been a Starbucks customer for years, but since trying your DIY, I am saving tons of money! I agree having control over the sugar makes a huge difference too. I also don’t have to pay extra for making it creamier with coconut milk! Thanks so much for sharing this!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh yay I’m so happy you love it too!

    • Kelly

      Christina, what brand of coconut milk do you use, please?

  9. Stephanie

    Mystic chai purchased through amazon or Sam’s club(when you can find it) is a premise powder and it is THE Best! I use hot water to mix it and then pour it over a larger cup of ice and either a splash of milk or just fill up the rest of the cup!

    • Stephanie

      Premixed*

  10. patricialavenz-goff

    I love sweet drinks. Perfect. Thank you.

  11. Suzanne H

    I buy Trader Joe’s Spiced Chai. It comes in an orange box with a monkey and an elephant on it. It’s $2.99 for 20 bags (YMMV). I’ve tried several brands and it is my favorite; a strong but smooth blend.

    • coby

      I was about to say this..I also love the premixed spicy chai from Trader Joe’s..love also that its quick and easy since there is no waiting for tea to steep and it tastes great. They also have a matcha latte premix which I dont like as much but people who are looking for Matcha latte might want to try.

  12. Aimlessly Amy

    This is great! I’d also love a copycat of their Iced matcha Latte with vanilla. That’s my weakness.

  13. shop4mybabies

    thanks for the recipe this is my 20 year olds go to drink to get her through a day on campus

  14. Aslena free

    I got a 1.00 box tevive Vanilla chai @ 1.00 tree and whoop whoop I have milk and cinnamon on deck ! Lol getting my latte game on now ! It’s going be a great morning because I saw this post 🙂

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh yum – enjoy!

  15. Deb B

    Thank you, I been using one bag, and a cinnamon creamer. I will try it with the two bags.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Sure- enjoy!

  16. Kelly

    Hi Lina….would you [pretty] please create a recipe for a Pumpkin CHAI Spiced Latte??? 💕

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Thanks for the suggestion! Adding some pumpkin creamer or syrup may be tasty to this!

  17. Patricia Lavenz

    I love sweet drinks. Can’t wait to try this one. Thank you for sharing. Never had starbucks before so can’t compare it though.

  18. devonmcdonnell

    I remember when this first came out and they actually used Tao chai tea bags on their chia tea latte. Was soooo much better than the syrup drinks today.

  19. Timothy

    I mastered creating my favorite coffee shop order years ago and thought I’d add in one of my favorite tips! After you brew your tea or coffee, combine any of your favorite syrups with the milk before you heat it up and froth it; then after heating and frothing, scoop the froth off the top- THEN mix the remaining with your coffee/tea and top with the deliciously sweet froth! Yum!

    • Stacy F (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      YUM! That sounds like a great tip!

  20. Jessi M

    LINA! Love ya that you always have simple, posts that we can actually make at home! Thanks love a chai tea latte…also add an espresso shot for a 🤫 “dirty” version!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh nice! Love that idea and thanks so much Jessi!

  21. ella

    FYI for those that care about this sort of thing- Tazo brand tea bags do contain plastics that could leach into your tea. I was doing a little research so I could compost my teabags in my garden when I discovered many brands use plastics. I have since switched to STASH teabags which do not have plastics (and they have lots of great flavors- even a double spice chai which is fabulous!)

  22. Annie

    Made it! Very nice. Thank you

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yay! That’s so great Annie!

  23. Brandy

    I add a dash of pure vanilla extract. It’s divine!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      OHHH YUM! Thanks for sharing Brandy!

  24. Stacy Mellios

    This is what I drink when I’m not feeling well. Just bought one from SB, and at work -I just made one! Thank you so much!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh good. Glad you enjoy!

  25. Aimee

    My college daughter had one of these from Starbucks this week and fell in love. I sent her this post as she loves making coffee at home and saving money! She is excited to try it.

  26. ShopHopper

    A like TAZO chai but the price is quite a lot. The Stash chai is not as well rounded as TAZO so I make my own CHAI CONCENTRATE. I brew 10-15 black tea bags in 5 pints boiling water infused with fragrant chai spices. Just add milk and a sweetener like brown sugar, honey or maple syrup and you’ve got your daily dose of chai caffeine ready for the week. I boil it together for 10 minutes then let it cool down , then sieve the mix into a jug that is refrigerated. Spices I add are crushed cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, anise, black peppercorns and a little ginger. Easy and delicious.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh I love this idea. Thanks so much for taking the time to share. I know it will be inspiring to others chai fans!

  27. Julie B

    Costco also has a 4 lb. bag of chai powder and it’s already sweetened. I use it for hot chai and — power of suggestion — just went and made iced chai lattes. For the price it’s really good! I second the idea above to add a little dash of vanilla.
    My husband says thank you!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh that sounds fantastic. Thanks for sharing Julie. I will look for that at Costco!

      • Julie B

        Brand is Chamba Chai fyi.

  28. KimiB

    If you like a sweeter style chai the big train chai mix from Amazon is awesome! It’s what they use in most of our local coffee shops around here. You can get a huge bag for around $20. ☺️

    • Claudette (Hip Sidekick)

      Thanks a ton for sharing, KimiB!!! I found Big Train Spiced Chai Tea Latte Instant Powdered Mix here.🥰

  29. Gigi

    I have a friend who loves these but is trying to save money. I might put all of these ingredients together with a starbucks reusable cup and the ikea frother someone mentioned in the comments in a Christmas basket for her. Thanks for the recipe and the idea!

    • Claudette (Hip Sidekick)

      You’re so welcome, Gigi!!! Hope you’re friend loves the gift!💕

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