Making my own Starbucks iced chai

August 14, 2016 1:06 PM

I love the taste of Starbucks' iced chai, especially in the summer, but I definitely don't love the price. I'm looking for suggestions on how to make my own - preferably some kind of concentrate that I can make on the weekend, take to work and leave in the fridge, then each morning add some concentrate to milk and ice. Google has turned up a lot of suggestions but I figured I'd start with you lovely folks to see if anyone has a recipe they like. Thanks!
posted by skycrashesdown to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

I make a lot of home-brewed iced tea over the summer.

For unsweetened teas I typically just make a pot of hot tea in the morning for breakfast, then pour the remainder into a pitcher to put in the fridge so I can have a cool glass later.

If I'm making a lot, like for a party, I will brew an extra strong batch (2x the tea bags at least) in half the usual water to make a concentrate, then mix in a sweetener like honey or sugar, to taste, while it's hot so it dissolves. Then I can add water/ice right away or later on ... or in your case, milk and ice.

Sweetened condensed milk is another option to mix with the unsweetened tea concentrate, which you can pour over ice.
posted by lizbunny at 1:28 PM on August 14, 2016

Are you looking for something cheaper than just buying the concentrate they use?
posted by Night_owl at 1:30 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You could buy the Starbucks concentrate-- they have it at Target and other big grocery stores. Or you could make it yourself.
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:38 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Tazo and Stash both have completely reasonable "chai spice" teas that you can make in your refrigerator (double up on tea bags) and add sugar and then have ready to pour over ice. My preference is for more of a Masala Chai (more of a Yogi tea thing but that stuff is way too sweet for me) where you make it all together. It's more complicated, but the peppery taste is the thing that really gets me. One recipe here though I know it may not be what you are looking for exactly.
posted by jessamyn at 1:42 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure if it's still on the market, but as of a few years ago you could buy the same concentrate they use in shelf-stable boxes in supermarkets. It's made by Tazo, just like all their other teas. Look in the tea section of your supermarket. It comes in a 32 ounce tetra pak IIRC and is very inexpensive.

Chai itself is made slightly differently from standard hot tea. You make a sort of simple syrup with tea*, sugar, and spices** on the stove and then add lots of milk and continue heating until the milk is close to frothing. (In the Starbucks case, the chai concentrate is added to steamed milk.) It's not like a tea bag that you dunk into hot water and then add a bit of milk and sugar. So it's not really all that cost effective to make unless you have a great source of very fresh bulk spices. Just buying the concentrate might be cheaper in the end.

*Black, ideally loose leaf but bags of English Breakfast could also work.

**Ginger and cardamom are the traditional chai spices. I believe Tazo's blend for Starbucks has a bunch of weird nontraditional ingredients like cinnamon, clove, black pepper, nutmeg, garam masala, etc. so this is another way that you might prefer the Tazo concentrate to making it yourself at home.
posted by Sara C. at 1:46 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you have the determination by whole seeds and grind yourself. The recipe I was taught long ago by a wacky hippy back from india boiled all the herbs for a long time and at the end the black tea was tossed in briefly prior to straining. A quality tea will probably be loose leaf so have a good strainer.
posted by sammyo at 1:53 PM on August 14, 2016

Tazo concentrate is about $5 or so. You can find it near you with their locator site
posted by ELind at 1:56 PM on August 14, 2016

You don't need to grind any spices to make chai. In fact, it's preferable to use whole spices. Just make sure you're getting something fresh, not whatever's been sitting in one of those awful McCormick jars in the supermarket.
posted by Sara C. at 1:58 PM on August 14, 2016

Best answer: As noted, Tazo concentrate is literally what Sbux uses. To replicate the texture of a steamed drink at home, there is a glass jar- shaking trick that I've heard good things about. (Easily googleable, I'm on my phone and lazy.)

Oregon chai is another brand, a little sweeter I think. I've also had powdered chai mixes which I actually found superior to both, though I don't remember a brand name.
posted by catatethebird at 2:10 PM on August 14, 2016

I have made this slow cooker chai and can attest to its greatness. In addition to using whole spices (whole cloves, split green cardamom pods, fresh peeled ginger), while it's slow cooking it doubles as potpourri for your house. Since it's a slow cooker recipe, you could set it up overnight, or in the morning before you head to work. Once done you can store it all in a big sealed container in the fridge, then pour into a glass or to-go container on demand. Voila!
posted by nightrecordings at 2:24 PM on August 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Tazo has been anywhere between $2.50 and $4 at my Target recently. My chai-addicted boyfriend tells me it's exactly the same. He does a half-milk, half-chai ratio.
posted by mynameisluka at 2:38 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: TJ's Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix is a good concentrate for home use, you can get it on Amazon if you don't live near a Trader Joes.
posted by vacuumsealed at 3:26 PM on August 14, 2016

Best answer: My husband works at Starbucks and he says:

1) Get the Tazo concentrate
2) For every four ounces your cup holds, put in an ounce of concentrate. Possibly adjust to taste. The instructions say half concentrate, half milk - but this is what they do at his store.
3) Add milk on top until you've filled about 80% of the cup
4) Add ice
posted by Coatlicue at 3:35 PM on August 14, 2016 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: I'd previously discounted the concentrates you can buy but I realize now I was doing the math wrong on how many servings I'd get out of each one. I'll buy a box of the Tazo one and the Oregon chai and give those both a shot. Especially if I can get them cheap at Target! Thanks!
posted by skycrashesdown at 5:06 PM on August 14, 2016

This is exactly what you're looking for
posted by rubster at 5:18 PM on August 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

Just to note, the concentrate they are using at Starbucks is not the same stuff that you can buy, at least not at our store. Their version is more concentrated than the retail Tazo cartons unfortunately. I like my chai extra strong and while I've found the retail stuff ok for hot beverages, I've never been able to get it to taste quite right when iced. I actually prefer the Trader Joe's mix mentioned above if I'm making a hot chai, but I've never tried it cold. My mom, on the other hand, is a huge fan of the Oregon Chai.
posted by nothing as something as one at 6:15 PM on August 14, 2016 [2 favorites]