The very first time I had a Chai Tea Latte I became an instant fan of the delicious blend of spices. I would only get it at coffee shops never even thought to make it at home or to look for it in stores. I love tea – hot or iced. I’m partial to green teas and the mint family of teas. My favorite local coffee shop closed its doors a few months ago and their Chai Tea was amazing; as were many other of their tea and coffee drinks. I hadn’t had a Chai Tea since then until I decided to make my own mix. Oh my gosh – let me tell you, this was so close to the coffee shop’s version that I wondered why I didn’t do this before.
So what is Chai? Chai is a centuries old drink that calms the mind and it is a spicy, pungent drink made from some of the world’s most medicinally active herbs. There are thousands of Chai recipes with many coming from India; but the basic components of Chai include black tea, cinnamon, ginger, clove, cardamom and black pepper. While each of these ingredients has its own powerful health benefits, their combined effect creates a potent tea that may help support digestion, prevent cancer, lower blood sugar and promote cardiovascular health.
This Chai Tea Mix has all of those wonderful spices and when stirred into warmed milk will give you the taste of that coffee shop Chai Latte without the coffee shop price. If you like to give homemade gifts at the holidays, this Chai Tea Mix is a perfect treat for the tea lover on your list. Fill a few small mason jars with the spicy mixture and attach a pretty ribbon with the specially made gift tag included in this post. It is just as delicious with hot water but creamier with the milk. I love it either way and when served with Biscotti to dunk into the tea, it’s a perfect afternoon treat.
I’ve created a printable cute gift tag with the directions on how to use the Chai Tea Mix. Simply scroll past the recipe and click on the gift tag image and it will open another window with the tags. Be sure to keep some of the mix for yourself, too – it’s amazing.
Homemade Chai Tea Mix
Ingredients
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp ground cardamom optional
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea or decaffeinated instant tea
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
- 1 cup powdered nondairy creamer
- 1 cup French vanilla-flavored powdered nondairy creamer
Instructions
- For best results: blending the ingredients in a food processor or blender will result in a fine powder. The fine powder will dissolve easily without any grainy texture.
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture becomes a fine powder.
- Pour mix into small mason jars and attach gift tags for gift-giving.
- To Serve:
- HOT Chai Tea Latte: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons of mix into a mug of hot milk or boiling water.
- CHILLED Chai Iced Tea Latte: Make as you would for a hot serving and then chill and serve over ice.
Notes
I’ve created a free printable gift tag page for you. Click on the image below and it will open in a new window. Give it a moment to load. You can then save the PDF to your computer. There are six tags to a page. Please remember the labels are for personal use only.
Tips for printing: print on 2.5 inch round labels to adhere to tops of jar lids. OR: print on card stock, cut out, and punch a hole at the top. Use ribbon, jute string, or yarn to attach to jars.
Need to save this for later? Pin this image!
Enjoy!
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My mother would love this!
What a great holiday gift!
Thanks
Michelle
What a lovely gift, I would love to receive you homemade Chai Tea Mix with such a special tag. I will be making this recipe and printing your tags. Thanks so much for sharing with us today at Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend!
Miz Helen
This is a fantastic idea for a homemade holiday gift. I love the labels too. I’m definitely making this – for myself and for gifts. Thank you!!
Thanks Lisa! I love this mix, and it makes enough to share and for yourself too!
Hi. I hope this reaches you. I made this tea, but I couldn’t get the tea to dissolve. I used Lipton Iced Tea Unsweetened. Please if you can tell me what to do to get it to dissolve when I make it. Thank you
Hi Paula, I’m sorry you’re having trouble getting the tea to dissolve. I use hot milk or hot water when making this tea without any issue. If you’re anting to make it as a chilled drink, I suggest making it with the hot milk or water and then chilling the drink.
Thank you for this! I would love to try it!
Is there a reason for all the different kinds of milk powder? I get the vanilla flavor of course.
Can I just use creamer and add some vanilla sugar? I don’t think we have all the different kinds here…
Thanks for your answer!
I used both creamers as a flavor preference for me, but I think using the regular creamer and substituting the regular sugar in the recipe for the vanilla sugar would work well. I would not add both regular and vanilla sugars – that would be way too sweet, in my opinion.
Besides myself, my daughter and a couple of co-workers love Chai tea! This sounds like a perfect gift and I thank you for sharing it! Is the instant unsweetened tea a powder form? If yes, where can this be found?
Thank you,
Lyn
Hi Lyn, Yes, the instant unsweetened tea is in a powder form. It’s in the aisle with the tea bags, coffee, and instant drinks mixes at my grocery store. This is the one I use and it can be found at most grocery stores (or a similar brand) Nestle Unsweetened Ice Tea Mix
Can you tell me how many servings this makes?
I would estimate it has 36 servings if using the measured 2 tbsp.
How many jars does this fill?
Julie, It would depend on the size of jars you would be using. I used smaller mason jars (jelly jar size) and then one size larger. The entire recipe makes about 36 servings if using the measured 2 tbsp.
This is So delicious! I received it as a Christmas gift and had to track down the recipe.
I’m so glad you like it! It’s a staple drink in my house!
Really good!!! better then store bought and I put a lot less sugar and it’s still wonderful!
Thank you now I’m ready for winter and my husband wants this instead of coffee in the morning.
So glad you enjoyed it
Can unsweetened ice tea be used I can’t find any unsweetened tea 🙁
Yes, it’s the same thing as long as it’s in powdered form
Crazy question – can I leave the creamer out and just use heavy cream when I reconstitute it?
I’m not sure how that would turn out but worth a try!
All I have is sweetened instant tea will that work with this recipe
I have not made this with sweetened instant tea, that being said you may need to cut back on the sugar if you use it. Sorrry for the late reply, I’ve been sick.