What Is A Chai Latte?

Chai is a robust black tea infusion carefully blended with honey/sugar, milk, and spices. Unlike loose-leaf black teas, you don’t steep chai. Instead, you simmer the milk and tea infusion at medium-to-high heat for a few minutes, producing a strong, creamy drink with a dense texture. 

Chai latte is a milky, fragrant, and gently-spiced drink made by mixing steamed milk and black tea that’s been infused with different spices. It’s topped with foam and finished with cinnamon powder and star anise. Variations, such as hot chai cocktails and dirty chai, also exist. 

Chai latte combines tea’s natural healing and soothing powers with milk’s delicious creaminess, creating a sweet and spicy drink. Chai has hot and iced variations, so you can enjoy it regardless of the weather. Let’s look at what a chai latte exactly is, what it’s made from, and where it originally came from so you know exactly what you’re ordering the next time you’re at a coffee or tea shop. 

What is a Chai Latte?

Delicious chai latte

A chai latte is a fragrant, milky, and gently-spiced hot drink popular in cafes everywhere. And while it’s commonly served in coffee shops and even named after the latte, it doesn’t contain any coffee whatsoever. 

When you ask for a chai latte, you typically ask for a masala chai.

Although chai is now popular globally, it originated in India several centuries ago, making it one of the world’s oldest tea-based drinks. But interestingly, “chai” translates to tea, so a chai latte means a “tea latte.”

What is a Chai Latte Made From?

A chai latte is a mixture of steamed milk and black tea infused with several different spices and then topped with foam. 

The spices differ with each cafe—some shops formulate signature chai blends and keep all the ingredients a secret, while others use a sweetened chai syrup or powder, allowing them to make the drink on demand quickly.

In most shops and cafes, baristas use an “elixir” to make chai lattes. This is simply an extraction of all the different spices used in black tea, slightly different from the traditional way of preparing chai.    

They heat the elixir, add the customer’s milk of choice, and then foam it like a regular latte. After adding the foam and milk, they top it off with cinnamon powder and finish the drink with star anise. 

While the proportions of warm milk to foam in a chai latte are precisely the same, it isn’t a “true” latte because it doesn’t have any espresso. 

Types of Chai Tea

Chai is only a category of tea and not a specific brew process or leaf. The traditional chai tea is brewed with hot milk and black tea, but several other drink variations include different spices and toppings.

Some of the most flavorsome types of chai tea include:

Bombay Chai

Bombay chai is a wonderful blend of rich and warm spices. Made with a unique combination of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and classic Assam black tea, it’s the perfect chai for almost everyone. 

Ginger Chai 

Ginger chai is usually made with black tea, ginger, and an accent spice, like green cardamom. The drink also includes milk and is sweetened with honey or sugar. 

Lemongrass Chai

In lemongrass chai, boiled lemongrass is steeped in black tea leaves to bring out its citrusy, minty flavor.

Honey or sugar is usually added to sweeten it, while milk is added to achieve a creamier texture. You can add lemon juice to this chai for a stronger tangy flavor. 

Masala Chai

The main spices used in masala chai include cloves, cinnamon, ginger, green cardamom, and black peppercorns. All these spices are brewed with black tea and then mixed with honey or sugar and milk for a truly revitalizing treat. 

Sulaimani Chai

According to some people, Arab traders originally brought this tea to India. The black tea is brewed with black pepper, lemon, cardamom, and rock salt and topped off with a mint leaf. You can add a bit of saffron if you want a more enhanced flavor.

Cardamom Chai

The simplest things in life are usually the best, and the cardamom chai is no different! It’s simply a mixture of ground cardamom, black tea, milk, and sweetener, making it a truly delicious treat. 

Butter Tea

Butter tea is popular in the Himalayas and is a mixture of black tea, salt, and yak butter. It’s not sweetened; some don’t like its off-putting flavor, while others love its unique, savory taste. 

Where Does Chai Come from?

Chai has been grown in India, particularly in the Assam region, for many centuries.

The word chai itself originates from the Indian word for any and all tea, and it is believed that masala chai emerged in the Indian subcontinent around 5000 to 9000 years ago. 

Some stories say it originated in a Siam royal court as a drink associated with Ayuverda, an ancient Indian alternative medicine practice. Historically, Ayurvedic therapies used minerals, metals, and herbal compounds to treat illnesses and pain. 

A Brief History of Chai

Early variations of masala chai only contained black tea mixed with different spices and herbs. However, due to the British colonial influence in India, milk was added in the 1800s. 

Since China already held the monopoly on tea, the British established numerous plantations to have a source of tea they would have complete control over. 

Local consumption of chai or tea remained low until the British ran promotional campaigns, encouraging Indian companies to give their employees “tea breaks.” However, spices and milk were included to stretch out the beverage due to the high cost of low-quality tea leaves.

Today, Indians consume more than 800,000 tonnes of tea every year. It’s estimated they consume 30 cups of chai for each cup of coffee and that, on average, one person drinks two cups of chai daily. 

On the other hand, the history of the chai tea latte itself is a bit vague. It’s believed it first emerged in the 1990s in Western coffee shops, but there isn’t any reliable data on exactly when it originated. 

The drink saw an increase in popularity in the last 10 to 15 years. Today, it can be found in almost all major coffee shop chains, including Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Hortons, Costa Coffee, and Starbucks. 

Variations on a Chai Latte

Homemade Chai Tea Latte with anise and cinnamon stick in glass mugs with pumpkin pie

The modern chai latte offers a unique taste appealing to many people. However, no definitive demographic or group prefers this drink, and it’s perfect for those who’ve reached their caffeine limit but are still in the mood for a hot drink. 

A Chai latte is a sweet, spicy, and milky alternative to typical cappuccinos and lattes. However, since each coffee shop has a different recipe for its chai latte, set variations of the drink are not so common. 

Most modifications to the chai blend include changing the volume or type of spices used. For instance, you can have a hot chai cocktail by just adding amaretto. On the other hand, if you pour all the ingredients over ice, you’ll enjoy a milkshake or frappe-like drink.

Dirty Chai

Beyond these simple variations, there’s one “version” of the chai latte that’s much more popular. Known as “dirty chai,” this beverage is made by adding a strong shot of espresso to the chai latte.

It’s commonly believed that this drink was created accidentally in London during the 1990s.

If you love the idea of a dirty chai, it’s best to opt for a coffee with smooth hazelnut and chocolate flavors and subtle hints of red fruit. The sweetness of the coffee beans will perfectly complement the chai, making a new drink that will taste like a dream. 

Leave a Comment