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Whip up this homemade chai concentrate to keep in the fridge so you can enjoy a delicious chai latte whenever the craving strikes! Skip the trip to Starbucks with this easy copycat recipe that's ready in minutes!
Made with black tea, classic chai spices like cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon, and just a bit of sweetness, this chai concentrate recipe is so delicious you’ll always have a bottle on hand in the fridge!
Ingredients for homemade chai concentrate
How to make chai concentrate at home
This is just a brief overview, find detail instructions in the recipe card below!
Chai Concentrate Without Whole Spices
This recipe is very quick and easy to make! It’s not time intensive and is meant for people who enjoy the various Chai drinks Starbucks offers on their menu.
Because of this, I use a homemade chai spice blend that’s made of ground spices instead of whole. While the flavor of whole, toasted spices is unbeatable, the ease of using ground, pre-made spice blends is really what we’re focusing on here!
Ingredient Substitutions
One of the best reasons for making chai concentrate yourself is that you can control the flavor profile.
- Ginger Juice – want a spicier concentrate? Add ¼ cup of ginger juice to the water when steeping the tea. So spicy!
- Brown Sugar – to add even more depth of flavor, swap out the white granulated sugar for warmer, richer brown sugar. (And see more sweetener substitutions below!)
- Vanilla Extract – add 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract to make a delicious vanilla chai concentrate that would make a stunning dirty chai latte.
- Decaf – as someone who is sensitive to caffeine, I love making my own tea and coffee recipes at home so I can control how much caffeine they contain. Look for decaf chai tea bags to make this delicious recipe caffeine free.
Storing the concentrate
Leftovers can be stored in a large glass jar with a lid for up to ten days. Settling is natural, because of the ground spices, so be sure to mix the concentrate well before using.
Naturally Sweetened Chai Latte Concentrate
If you'd prefer your chai latte concentrate be sweetened with something else besides granulated sugar you can use any one of the following sweeteners in place of the sugar:
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup agave
Of course, if you'd like your tea concentrate less sweet, opt for doing ⅓ cup or ¼ cup of whichever sweetener you choose!
Watch the recipe video!
Homemade Chai Concentrate (Starbucks Copycat)
Equipment
- Sauce Pot
- Large glass measuring cup
- Large glass jar with a lid, for storage
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- ½ cup granulated sugar (or less, to taste)
- 16 chai teabags
- 1 tsp. chai spice blend
Instructions
- Place water in a sauce pot and set over heat to boil. While the water is heating, tie the teabags together and place in a large glass measuring cup and add 1 tsp. of chai spice blend, set aside.
- When water boils, stir in ½ cup sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour the sweetened water over the teabags and spices.
- Allow tea to steep for 30 minutes before draining bags and discarding.
- Allow concentrate to cool to room temperature before covering and storing in refrigerator until ready to use.
Video
Notes
- Concentrate can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
- Refer to post for notes on sugar substitutions and spice additions.
- For a less-sweet concentrate, use only ¼ to ⅓ cup sweetener.
- Makes 3 ½ cups concentrate.
Kelly says
Hi,
Wondering if you ever used loose leaf tea to make this before.
I have a tea haha here in town and they have a delicious Caramel Chai and thought I could use that for the concentrate just wasn’t sure how much loose leaf equals the 16 tea bags.
Thank you in advance.
Kelly 🙂
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Kelly!
I think if you use around 1.5 ounces of loose leaf tea it should be about right. That's what the net weight is on the box of tea I used!
Hope this helps and let me know how it turns out!
Amanda
Emily says
My husband adores the SB chai tea concentrate from the store, but spending five buckeroonies a week was adding up. I decided to cut the recipe in half and made this for him two weeks ago, informed him of how to mix this by tablespoons instead of half a cup 😅 and he loves it! Now, eight bucks worth of tea bags on sale will last us at least two months, and the process is quick and easy.
I made another batch this morning while waiting for my breakfast to cook in the air frier. Yes, we’re an “easy” household!! I’m disabled and have limited capacity to do most kitchen activities, so to find this easy and simple recipe was such a treat.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Emily,
So, so, SO happy that you found this recipe and both you and your husband enjoy it!
Thank you for your kind review,
Amanda
Jody says
Hi there,
I can't wait to try this! How would this concentrate freeze. I would like to freeze it in ice cube trays to make Frappuccinos.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Jody!
Yes, you can totally freeze this. It freezes very well. I actually froze an entire jar for a few months and then thawed it to use as the normal concentrate and it worked like a dream. I'm interested to know how it works in frapuccinos - let me know!
Happy frapp-y,
Amanda
Matias says
If I want to use whole toasted spices, how much should I use of each? Thanks!
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Matias,
I don't have a recipe using the whole spices so I couldn't accurately tell you the amounts. This version of mine is much more of a "short cut" than a traditional masala chai. I highly recommend checking out Shweta's version of Masala Chai though as hers is as authentic as it gets! https://masalaandchai.com/masala-chai/
Enjoy!
Amanda
Laura C. says
This is WONDERFUL! My husband loves chai but can't have caffeine. We've bought the decaf box versions, but there is so much sugar, so this was perfect to make a decaf chai mix. I added vanilla like you suggested, and did a 1/3 cup of sugar and it was perfect. I'm going to make a pumpkin chai coffee in the morning with it and I can't wait.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Laura!
So glad you enjoyed it with your modifications! Happy sipping!
Amanda
Carrie says
This CANNOT be a copycat of Starbucks Chai Concentrate. Four cups of water to 1/2 cup of sugar? Have you BEEN to Starbucks for a Chai Tea Latte? It would need a way larger sugar to liquid ratio. I haven't even tried it. There is no way there is that little sugar to be the same as the concentrate at Starbucks.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Carrie,
First, yes, I have been to Starbucks. Many times, actually. And have friends who used to be baristas there. Thanks so much for asking! Second, this is a recipe for a chai concentrate, not a chai latte. This is just a base ingredient we are making to create a latte at home. If you're making a chai latte at home (and not a chai tea latte, which is redundant, fyi), you can add flavored sugar syrups such as vanilla or pumpkin to add more sweetness. Or, because you're making this concentrate at home, you can adjust the level of sweetness in the original recipe to your desired amount. Also, it's a concentrate for a sweetened tea and not a sugar syrup or a drink syrup, so a ratio that's any higher could certainly be too sweet for other readers. Finally, rating a recipe one star without even trying it certainly isn't sweet!
Thanks,
Amanda
Alison Navarro says
How do you use this? The recipe is a concentrate, so how do you make the actual drink?
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Alison! I have a post for my chai latte recipe linked right at the top of the post (you can find it here too: https://midwestniceblog.com/easy-chai-latte/) and you can also look under my Tea recipe category and see how I use it in a dirty chai latte, pumpkin chai, vanilla chai, etc! There's tons of recipes posted for you to enjoy but I'll be sure to update the post to more explicitly state where to find the other recipes!
Alison Navarro says
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try it!!
Lily says
The Tazo Skinny Chai latte concentrate is now $5.49 a carton and it doesn’t come in decaffeinated form. This is a great substitute. I’m on my second bottle of concentrate. This time I’m trying with only 1/4 cup of sugar.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Robin says
Thanks! Making $11.40/hr and working only part of the year left a big deficit in my budget.
I was buying concentrate occasionally and missing my Chsi lattes. This will make me feel like I’m living the good life again!
Amanda Gajdosik says
Oh Robin I'm so thrilled you can use this chai concentrate recipe to bring a little pep back to your steps and enjoy a special moment in your day. You absolutely deserve it! Thanks so much for reviewing 🙂
Diana says
This recipe has been a game changer! I’ve been trying to cut back on caffeine, so I bought caffeine free chai tea bags, and I’ve made this every week for the last month. Thank you for sharing this gem!
Amanda Gajdosik says
Love to hear that, Diana! As someone else who doesn't drink much caffeine (I use the decaf bags too!), I find making a chai latte at home so useful! 🙂
Lindsey says
The best recipe for chai concentrate I’ve tried! Perfect for storing in my fridge and pulling out to make a nice chai latte and putting me in a cozy Fall mood. Thank you for sharing with us!
Amanda Gajdosik says
Thanks for making the recipe, Lindsey! So, SO happy you enjoyed 🙂