Do you remember the first time you had a chai latte? We do. It was a cold day, we were in England, and we had drunk way too many heavily caffeinated coffees to have another. So, we had a chai latte and it was nothing short of a revelation. Warming spices, frothed milk and that depth of flavour that only great tea really has. Ever since then, we’ve been trying to perfect our own at home, and we think we’ve finally managed it. So, in the interests of transparency and friendship, here’s our chai latte recipe.
Heaps of spices (enough for four)
- 3 bags of black tea (Assam or chai)
- 0.5 litres of whole milk
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- 8 cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 1 whole star anise
- 1-inch piece of ginger
- 1 or 2 tbsp of brown sugar
Getting your chai on
1. First up, toast your spices to release the flavour. Do this by heating them in a frying pan on a lowish heat for a few minutes until you can really smell all the different flavours. It’s a good idea to move the spices around while you’re doing this and absolutely make sure you don’t burn them because you’ll have to start again if you do.
2. Then, put the spices, ginger (sliced), and teabags into either a cafetière or a teapot with about half a litre of freshly boiled water. Leave for ten minutes or so until all the flavours have come together.
3. Now, heat your milk gently in a pan, stirring in the brown sugar as you go. Let it get warm enough that it is steaming slightly and then use a whisk or a milk frother to generate some foam. Don’t let it burn.
4. When the milk is warm, strain your tea into four mugs and then pour the milk in. If you can, keep the milk foam back and then pour on afterwards. Add a little cinnamon sprinkle and you’re good to go.
Don’t burn it!
Sounds good, no? The key thing is to make sure you don’t burn any of the things that go on the stove. Burnt spices are horrible and you’ll need to start again if they get charred, and burnt milk: well, that’s gross too and really best avoided.
There are also plenty of great chai lattes to be had in Singapore, including Mellower Coffee or Joe & Dough.
