Milk tea is everywhere these days. Both hot and iced – just ask my teenage daughter who has become a connoisseur since a local bubble tea shop opened up in our neighborhood.

Milk tea is super easy to make at home and with all of the combinations of flavors, teas, and milks, the possibilities for milk tea recipes are nearly endless.

If you’re used to drinking your tea plain, it’s fun to mix things up with different kinds of milk, and different flavors so give it a try.

White mug of cinnamon vanilla milk tea with blue knitted scarf, cinnamon sticks and cookies.

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How To Make Cinnamon Vanilla Milk Tea

This milk tea recipe makes the perfect cozy cup of cinnamon vanilla milk tea and makes your kitchen smell just like a bakery.

It’s not too sweet, but a creamy treat with just a hint of cinnamon and vanilla. The perfect combination of caffeine and comfort.

Choose a Black Tea

Milk tea is usually made with a base of black tea and this recipe is no exception. Black tea has a stronger flavor that can stand up to the addition of milk.

Black tea contains caffeine (about 50 mg per cup), but not as much as a cup of coffee (about 100-150 mg).

The stronger you brew your tea, the more caffeine you’ll get.

If you’re cutting back on caffeine, you could make this with green tea which has about 35 mg of caffeine.

I like the kick of caffeine so I make this with strong black tea. I like to brew loose Assam tea, but it’s equally good with a tea bag of Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea.

Milk Tea Basics

The basics of making any type of milk tea are the same, it’s just the tea, milk and flavoring choices that mix things up. If you want to read more about the simple steps to make any kind of milk tea, click on that link up there.

MORE TO SIP ON: Try a London Fog Tea Latte

Brew Your Tea

I usually brew loose leaf Assam tea in my trusty single serve glass teapot, but you can easily use a teabag if you’re short on time.

Whichever method you use, make sure to use boiling water. Boil your water and pour it over your tea.

If you’re using loose leaf tea, it takes a bit longer, so let it steep for 4-5 minutes. If you’re using a tea bag, let it steep for about 2 minutes.

When done, strain your tea and pour into a cup leaving room for the milk.

Sweeten your Tea

If you like your milk tea on the sweet side, add a teaspoon or so of your favorite sweetener: sugar, honey, agave nectar, etc. Stir to dissolve.

Get Your Milk Ready for your Cinnamon Vanilla Milk Tea

While your tea is steeping, prepare your milk. I usually use 1% milk because it’s what I have on hand, but if you want to use half-and-half for a more decadent treat that works well too. You can even froth creamer if that’s what you have on hand.

Add about 1/2 cup of milk to a small sauce pan or a pyrex measuring cup if you plan to microwave your milk.

Add about 1/4 t vanilla extract and a dash of cinnamon to your milk before heating.

When hot, I like to step things up by using a hand frother to make my milk extra fancy. These are available in any kitchen supply department. I have this simple, inexpensive one that works just great.

Handheld Milk Frother

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

Using a milk frother can take your milk tea to another decadent level. Just warm your milk, immerse the frother and let it do it's magic.

Be careful to shut it off before you remove it from the milk, or you'll end up with a mess on your hands. To clean it, just put it in a cup of water and turn it on for a few seconds.

This tiny powerhouse also works wonders to break up the lumps in matcha.

Create your Frothy Delicious Milk Tea

Pour your flavored, frothed milk into your mug with your brewed tea. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

So in just a few minutes, you’ve can create a deliciously frothy, cinnamon milk tea. Sit back and enjoy!

Frothy Cinnamon Vanilla Milk Tea

Name: Frothy Cinnamon Vanilla Milk Tea
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 1 cup boiling water; 2 teaspoons loose black tea or one tea bag; 1 teaspoon honey, white sugar or brown sugar; 1/2 cup milk of your choice; 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; Dash of cinnamon plus more for sprinkling

Yield: 1 Serving

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

This slightly sweet and festive vanilla milk tea is a creamy treat that is even more decadent when you froth the milk.

Ingredients

1 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons loose black tea or one tea bag
1 teaspoon honey, white sugar or brown sugar
1/2 cup milk of your choice
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon plus more for sprinkling

Instructions

Add loose tea to a teapot with strainer, or add teabag to mug.
Pour boiling water over tea and steep for 4-5 minutes if using loose tea, or 2 minutes for a tea bag.
While tea steeps, add vanilla and cinnamon to the milk and heat on the stove or in the microwave.
If using loose tea, strain and pour into a mug. If using tea bag, remove from mug.
Add sweetener to brewed tea and stir until dissolved.
Froth the warm spiced milk with a milk frother.
Add milk mixture to sweetened tea and sprinkle with a dash more cinnamon.

Notes

If you like your milk tea cold: eliminate the heating and frothing steps for the milk. Let the sweetened tea cool, pour over ice and add the flavored milk. Just as yummy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 84

Nutrition facts assume the use of 2% milk and honey.

Like your Tea Iced instead?

If you love milk tea, but you like it cold, you can easily adjust the recipe to serve over ice.

Brew and sweeten the tea in the same way, but cool before using. Pour the cooled sweetened tea over ice.

Add the vanilla and cinnamon to the cold milk. Pour the milk mixture over the ice and tea and enjoy!

Other Copycat Starbucks Recipes

If you love a good Starbucks copycat recipe, I have tried a ton. Here are my all time Starbucks drinks you can make even better than the Starbucks’ version, and save so much money !