Homemade Chai Concentrate + Iced Chai Lattes

September 4, 2011 By Leanne Vogel March 30, 2017

It’s my Mom’s birthday today. Well, actually it was Friday, but we chose to push the celebration to today. I made my Dad a chocolate quinoa cake with vanilla buttercream icing for his birthday in June…

so the pressure was on to come up with something:

That didn’t involve a “baked good” because Mom doesn’t really like that kinda stuff
Homemade
Low in sugar
Something my Dad wouldn’t like so he wouldn’t eat it all :P

Sugar reduced Homemade Iced Chai Lattes (5)

I was wracking my brain trying to come up with an idea, so I called my Mom to poke and prod at what she’d been enjoying lately. It wasn’t long until she started talking about her Starbucks Chai Latte obsession and the guilt that went along with it.

“Guilt, why?” I asked. “Because there’s just so much sugar and ridiculous calories.” She said. “Wouldn’t it be great if Starbucks had a lower sugar option and served it with unsweetened almond milk?” “Yes. Oh, that would be nice. Maybe they’d do it special just for me because it’s my birthday?”

ding ding ding! I ended our conversation abruptly and headed to the kitchen.

Healthy Chai Concentrate + Iced Chai Lattes

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2.75

Make your own iced chai lattes with this sugar-reduced, healthy version of chai syrup that you can make at home.

Ingredients

3 cups water
4 black tea bags - I used orange pekoe
1 vanilla bean, split in half
½ cup coconut sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
½ inch section of fresh ginger [or 2 pieces of dehydrated ginger]
2 whole cloves
2 cardamom pods [or ¼ teaspoon powdered cardamom]
¼ teaspoon aniseed
8 x 6 section of cheesecloth, folded over [doubled]
twine

Instructions

Directions

Option 1: Liquid concentrate - to be enjoyed within 7 days

Lay cheesecloth flat and begin placing ingredients on top. Begin with tea bags, then vanilla bean, ginger, cloves, cardamom, and aniseed. If you're using cardamom powder, sandwich in between 2 teabags to prevent it from dispersing into the mix. Bundle everything into cheesecloth and pinch together. Tie with twine and tie 2 cinnamon sticks with the twine.
Place water and coconut sugar in a medium sized saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and put the cheesecloth bag in. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool before pouring it in an air tight container [mason jars works well] and placing in the fridge to cool.
To enjoy as an iced latte: combine 1 part concentrate with 3 parts non-dairy milk. Serve on ice.

Option 2: Concentrate packet - if you're giving this away as a gift, and you're not sure when the receiver is going to drink the concentrate, you can combine all of the dry ingredients in cheesecloth and give them instructions on how to make the concentrate when they're ready [below]

Lay cheesecloth flat and begin placing ingredients on top. Begin with tea bags, then vanilla bean, ginger [use dehydrated, or candied ginger to prevent the bag from spoiling], cloves, cardamom, and aniseed. If you're using cardamom powder, sandwich in between 2 teabags to prevent it from dispersing into the mix. Bundle everything into cheesecloth and pinch together. Tie with twine and tie 2 cinnamon sticks with the twine.

Provide the following instructions to the recipient:

To make your chai concentrate, place 3 cups of water and ½ cup coconut sugar in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and place the cheesecloth bag in. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool before pouring it in an air tight container [mason jars works well] and placing in the fridge to cool. To enjoy as a iced chai latte, combine 1 part concentrate to 3 parts non-dairy milk. Serve on ice.

Sugar reduced Homemade Iced Chai Lattes (1)

I ended up making 3 batches for my Mom. 1 liquid form for instant gratification, and 2 cheesecloth packets that she can use to make additional batches later. Oh… and 1 batch for me. ;)