Mmmmm…There’s nothing better than a chai tea latte on a cold day. But did you know that you can make your own chai concentrate to have on hand next time you’re craving the warming spices of masala chai?

Making chai concentrate from tea bags is a smart way to still enjoy a hot chai latte or iced chai latte any time you want, even if you’re usually rushed in the mornings. By making your own concentrate, you’ll have a ready supply to use the next time you feel like a steaming mug of chai latte. 

Below you’ll find a step-by-step guide for how to make chai concentrate from tea bags and how you can use chai tea concentrate in drinks. Read on to learn more about what chai tea concentrate is, and how to make it for yourself so you don’t have to run off to your local coffee shop to get your fix. 

What is Chai Tea?

Chai tea is a blend of black tea and spices. Many people call it “chai tea”, but since “chai” is actually the Hindi word for “tea”, they’re actually saying “tea tea”.

What most people mean when they say chai tea, is masala chai, the blend of black tea and spices that have become so popular with the advent of the chai tea latte and iced chai tea latte.

The ingredients in masala chai vary a bit, but usually include the following whole spices:

• Cinnamon sticks
• Green Cardamom seeds
• Cloves
• Ginger
• Star anise
• Black peppercorns

If you check the ingredients, you’ll find that most chai tea varieties will include a handful of the above spices.

What Is Chai Tea Concentrate Made of? 

Chai concentrate is black tea with masala spices that’s been brewed until very strong.

To make things easy for us, our homemade chai tea concentrate will be made from tea bags, but you could easily change it up and use loose leaf chai tea instead.

While the easiest way to make chai concentrate is from commercial tea bags, mixing up your own blend of loose leaf chai tea allows you to play with the proportions of the ingredients used. 

You can also mix chai spiced loose leaf tea together with other types of herbal tea to make a blended tea concentrate.

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How to Make Chai Concentrate from Tea Bags

Chai concentrate can be made by steeping several bags of chai tea together until you get a strong, concentrated brew. You can then refrigerate it and use it whenever you need it.

Chai concentrate is reconstituted by adding either water or milk when you mix up iced chai drinks or the ever-popular chai tea latte.

Chai Concentrate Ingredients

You’ll only need four ingredients to make a batch of this chai tea concentrate:

• 12 chai tea bags of your choice (I use Tazo Chai Tea, but I also like Trader Joe’s Chai tea bags)
• 4 cups of cold water (distilled or filtered water is best)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sweetener (sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, simple syrup, brown sugar syrup, or honey) You may need more or less depending on your personal preference.

Instructions

Making chai concentrate from tea bags is similar to the process of making a regular pot of chai tea. To make the concentrate, perform the following: 

1. Add water to a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil.
2. Add the tea bags, cover, and remove from heat.
3. Steep the tea for at least fifteen minutes. The longer you steep the tea, the stronger the concentrate will become.
4. Remove tea bags.
5. Add the sweetener while the tea is still hot so it mixes in well. Stir to dissolve.
6. Add vanilla extract.
7. Allow the concentrate to cool to room temperature.
8. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days. 

Chai concentrate is great to have on hand if you find yourself rushing in the mornings since it shaves a lot of time off preparing your breakfast coffee. 

You can use this same general steeping method for making other types of tea concentrates, too. 

How to Use Chai Concentrate

Since chai concentrate is a strong form of chai tea, it should be diluted with either milk or water before serving. Chai tea lattes are popular because the creaminess of the milk is a great compliment to the spiciness of the chai.

If you’re a purist and didn’t add sweetener to your concentrate, you can always add it when mixing up your favorite chai drink.

Chai Tea Latte

To make the perfect cup of chai latte, mix equal parts milk and chai concentrate. You can even froth the milk if you like to make it extra cozy. I use a small handheld frother, but you could also use an immersion blender to do the job. I like making my own homemade chai latte because I can use whatever milk I want.

I find that whole milk, and 2% dairy milk work equally well. My favorite plant-based milk to use is oat milk because it has a creamy, rich consistency. You could also use any milk of your choice:

• Oat milk
• Almond milk
• Whole milk
• Coconut milk
• Soy milk

Iced Chai Tea Latte

Making a cool, creamy, and delicious iced tea latte is just as easy. Simply add equal parts chai concentrate and milk to a tall glass with ice cubes. Delicious!

Chai Hot Tea 

Chai concentrate can also be used to make a regular cup of chai tea. 

To make a regular chai hot tea, add one part chai concentrate to one part boiling water.

Chai Iced Tea

Making a chai iced tea is as simple as adding equal parts chai concentrate and cold water. Pour over ice for a refreshing, spicy iced tea.

What Chai Tea Bags Does Starbucks Use?

If you’re interested in Starbucks copycat recipes, you’ll want to know that Starbucks makes its iconic chai beverages from a Tazo chai concentrate, and the tea that they use is Tazo brand chai tea bags. 

If your goal in making chai concentrate from tea bags is to make chai lattes that taste just like Starbucks, using Tazo brand chai tea bags will help. If you really want to cut corners, and money is no object, you can just purchase Tazo chai tea concentrate and avoid all the work 😉

Is Chai Concentrate from Tea Bags Healthy? 

Even though the highly sweetened chai tea drinks you get at specialty coffee shops might be loaded down with sugar and fat, the black tea and chai ingredients in these drinks have noted health benefits. These are a few of the medicinal properties of chai ingredients: 

• Protects cognitive function: Drinking black tea as part of chai can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. It also increases alertness and memory retention.
• Immune boost: Chai tea contains several ingredients that are thought to boost the human immune system, such as black tea and ginger.
• Reduced blood pressure: Cardamom, cinnamon, and black tea all contain botanicals that can reduce blood pressure and the risk of related heart disease.
• Blood sugar control: Cinnamon, cloves, and other spices present in chai tea concentrate can regulate your blood sugar, helping to prevent diabetes. 

If you want to make your chai tea and lattes more healthy, you can reduce the amount of sweetener you add and switch to reduced-fat milk or nut-based milk to make your chai drink. 

Other than these add-ins, chai tea mix is very healthy and contains enough medicinal benefits to offset any caloric downsides to drinking it. 

How much caffeine is in Chai tea?

Drinks made from chai concentrate have slightly less caffeine per ounce than black tea because of the added spices that are brewed along with the tea leaves.

A 16 oz mug of plain chai tea (concentrate diluted) has about 90 mg of caffeine.

A 16 oz chai latte or iced chai latte made with concentrate has about 90 mg of caffeine.

Making Chai Concentrate from Tea Bags Is A Time Saving Hack for Tea Lovers

Making chai concentrate from tea bags is a practical choice if you drink a lot of chai. These special drinks can put a serious pinch on your wallet if you order them from a coffee shop. 

Try making a big batch of homemade chai concentrate recipe on Sunday night and you’ll be drinking quick and easy chai lattes all week long.