How to make Starbucks Iced Chai Tea Latte

Skip queuing at the drive-thru and make your own Starbucks Iced Chai Tea Latte at home! Not only is it kinder to your wallet and waistline, it tastes just like the coffee shop version with no extra ingredients, AND you’ll have it on hand to drink tomorrow and the next day as well. Need more caffeine? Make it dirty by adding a shot of espresso (or two!). It’s the best way to cool down on a warm day!

The Best Iced Masala Chai Recipe

When I visit a coffee shop in the summer, I always skip the coffee drinks and go for an iced chai latte but, for me, it has too much sugar! We know sugar isn’t very good for us, and I like to minimize it as much as possible. So, I decided to create an iced chai tea latte recipe using my own homemade chai concentrate. It is SO tasty, all of my taste-testers loved and savoured it. My chai concentrate is a really easy recipe, however, you can always buy Tazo classic chai latte concentrate for more convenience. It does have extra sugar in it, but if you’re not worried about that, press on!

This copycat Starbucks Chai Recipe is really adaptable! Skip the milk and fill it with water for a spicy iced tea, warm it up for a cosy drink, and if you really need to wake up, make it dirty by adding one or two shots of espresso. That’ll get you going in the morning.

Once I’ve made my chai concentrate, I drink this iced drink for days on end, it’s so good. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, and the concentrate lasted in the fridge for over a month when I went out of town. It needed a little shake when I got home, but it was still really delicious. Score!

Why you will love this recipe

• Easy: Making your own Starbucks chai tea lattes is so simple! You can use either packaged Tazo chai concentrate or follow the recipe for my homemade version. Then all you have to do is add ice to a glass, then a little bit of the concentrate, and top it up with any kind of milk. It’s so easy and tastes amazing.
• Quick: Once I have the concentrate chilled, this drink takes about 2 minutes to make. Making your own concentrate only takes about 30 minutes as well, then then you have iced chai for days!
• Tasty: This iced tea tastes SO delicious! It’s a blend of black tea with warm spices like cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, ginger and vanilla, and a sweetener of your choice. Poured over ice with milk, it is refreshing!
• Decaf or caffeinated: When you make your own chai tea concentrate, choose whether to use regular black tea leaves or decaffeinated so that you can sip it all day or share it with the kids! You can also make a dirty chai latte by adding a shot of espresso! That’ll wake you up!

What you’ll need to make this Starbucks copycat recipe

• Chai tea concentrate: My homemade chai tea concentrate recipe is absolutely amazing and perfect for making chai lattes. The chai spices it contains are star anise, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, cloves, black peppercorns, fresh ginger, black tea bags, and a sweetener of your choice. I added brown sugar erythritol to keep the sugar content low, along with a touch of honey, however, maple syrup, simple syrup, or vanilla syrup would all taste delicious. You can also use store-bought chai tea concentrate like Tazo (which is what Starbucks uses).
• Milk: Any kind of milk will work in this recipe! My favourites are Oatly Barista oat milk (so creamy!) or unsweetened almond milk if I want to keep my carbs low. Other options include vanilla soy milk, coconut milk, whole milk, skim milk, hazelnut milk, hemp milk…the list goes on! Whatever cold milk you have in your fridge is the best option.
• Ice: Enough For me, I only managed to fit 3-4 ice cubes per glass and I think that was about right. If you’re using a taller glass, you may need 5-6 ice cubes to fill it up.

How do you make an iced chai tea latte?

Homemade Starbucks chai concentrate:

1. Begin by making your own chai concentrate. I do this by dry roasting the whole spices for 5 minutes, until fragrant.
2. In a medium-sized pot, add tea bags, sliced fresh ginger, and 500ml of water (a little over 2 cups of water) and bring to a simmer.
3. Add the dry roasted spices and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the volume reduces to about half.
4. In the last 5 minutes, mix in the sweetener of your choice.
5. Remove the pan from heat and scoop out the whole spices, ginger, and tea bags with a slotted spoon.
6. Allow the chai to cool down completely to room temperature before storing it in an airtight container (like a bottle) in the fridge. It will last for a month.

Starbucks iced chai latte:

1. In an 8oz glass, add 3-4 ice cubes.
2. Fill the glass 1/4 of the way full with chai concentrate (I use 3-4 tbsp).

3. Top up with the milk of your choice.

4. Stir and enjoy!

What is a Dirty Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks?

A dirty chai tea latte is a chai latte with a shot of espresso. It is sure to wake you up! Here’s how to make it:

1. In an 8oz glass, add 3-4 ice cubes.
2. Fill the glass 1/4 of the way with chai concentrate.
3. Add a shot of espresso.
4. Add extra ice if needed and top it up with the milk of your choice.
5. Stir and enjoy!

Recipe Notes & Tips

• Make it a chai iced tea by topping your glass up with cold water instead of milk.
• Enjoy warm chai lattes? Make this a hot tea by adding hot water or warm milk.
• Want to make the chai concentrate without dealing with all of the spices? Just add 6 of your favorite chai tea bags to a pot with 2.5 cups of hot water and allow it to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Take it off of the heat, remove the tea bags, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and sweeten it to taste.
• Make it dirty by adding one or two shots of espresso.
• Fill ice cube trays with milk or chai concentrate so that the ice doesn’t dilute the iced latte and make it watery. You could even mix the concentrate with milk and freeze that!
• Store the chai concentrate in a bottle or airtight container in the fridge for up to a month. I’ve left it for about 6 weeks and it was still amazing.

What iced chai tea does Starbucks use?

Starbucks uses Tazo Chai Tea Latte concentrate in all of its chai drinks in the USA, and Teavana in the UK. You can easily buy Tazo online (if you’re in the USA) or make my homemade recipe. It’s really easy and you can skip extra ingredients.

What are the ingredients in a Starbucks chai tea latte?

Starbucks uses Tazo Chai concentrate which contains star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns, ginger juice, black tea, cane sugar, honey, vanilla, citric acid, and natural flavours. On top of that, they add ice and heavy cream or a milk of your choice.

Is iced chai latte good for you?

That depends! If you make it yourself and skip the sugar, then it is great for you! The spices used in homemade chai concentrate have so many health benefits and they make you feel great. On the other hand, if you buy an iced chai tea latte from Starbucks, it’s probably not that good for you. Starbucks chai drinks are loaded with extra sugar so the drink tastes super sweet (and addictive!), but could easily be replaced with a healthier sweetener like brown erythritol (swerve), coconut sugar, stevia, or honey. They can also top it with whipped cream making it more of a dessert than a drink.

How many pumps of syrup are in a grande?

Starbucks add 4 pumps of syrup as standard to a grande sized drink, and top it with whole milk and whipped cream.

More Tea Recipes to try

• Copycat Tazo Chai Latte Concentrate
• Sumac Tea
• Butterfly Pea Milk Tea

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