How to Make Chai Concentrate from Tea Bags

Easily make your own chai concentrate from tea bags, without any additional spices or fancy ingredients, for a convenient and inexpensive way to enjoy chai lattes at home whenever you want.

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I LOVE having chai concentrate in the fridge - whether it’s homemade or store-bought. 

It’s such a quick way to make an iced chai latte, a pumpkin spice chai latte, a matcha chai latte, or a vanilla chai latte without ever leaving home.

You can even use it to make this Iced Chai Latte with Pumpkin Cold Foam Recipe.

And, it’s cheaper than buying one from a coffee shop. 

This homemade chai concentrate recipe makes about 3 cups of concentrate.

Which means you’ll have enough for iced chai lattes ALL week. 

And, the best part? It’s cheaper to make a week’s worth of homemade chai concentrate than buy a chai latte at Starbucks. 

Starbucks Chai Concentrate

If you want to make a Starbucks Chai Tea Latte, I recommend checking out How to Make Starbucks Chai Tea Latte Iced. 

In that post, I talk about the chai concentrate that Starbucks uses.

The absolute closest store-bought chai concentrate to the one at Starbucks is Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate. 

SO, if you want to make a homemade chai tea concentrate that tastes close to the Starbucks Chai Concentrate, I recommend using Tazo Classic Chai Black Tea Bags to make it. 

I have tried this recipe with other spiced black tea bags… Tazo Chai Tea Bags definitely make the BEST chai concentrate. 

A box of them can be purchased at Target or some local grocery stores. 

Amazon has this box of Tazo Organic Chai for a Warm Spiced Chai Black Tea (20 Tea Bags). 

The classic version, which is not organic, seems to only be available in larger quantities on Amazon, like this pack of 6 boxes of Tazo Chai Tea Bags. 

Chai Black Tea Bags

This homemade chai concentrate recipe can be made with other brands of chai tea bags, especially if you’re not looking to make Starbucks copycat chai lattes at home. 

To keep this recipe incredibly simple, look for CHAI black tea bags. 

Chai tea bags are usually a blend of black teas and warm, rich spices.

By using chai tea bags instead of regular black tea bags, we don’t have to add our own whole spices. Which can be pretty expensive. 

Chai black tea bags already have them included. 

According to Tazo.com, the ingredients in Tazo Classic Chai tea bags are “black teas, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, star anise.”

If you want extra flavor, you can definitely add more of your own whole spices. Like cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, fresh ginger, or peppercorns. 

If it’s your first time making this homemade chai concentrate recipe, I recommend following the instructions in the recipe card below and not adding any additional spices. 

After you know how it tastes, you can play around with it a little bit. 

How to Make Chai Concentrate from Tea Bags

This simple recipe only includes three ingredients and one is optional. 

1. Chai Tea Bags
2. Filtered Water (unfiltered water can affect the taste)
3. Sweetener (optional)

The first step is preparing the tea bags by removing any tags and tying the strings together. This makes it easier to scoop the bags out later.

Next, place the tea bags and cups of water in a medium pot. 

Cook on high heat until the water boils. 

Then, reduce the heat to a simmer for 15 minutes. 

After 15 minutes, remove from heat and discard tea bags. 

If using sweetener, add now and mix until fully dissolved. 

Allow the chai concentrate to cool to room temperature. 

Then store it in an airtight container, like a mason jar or milk bottle. 

If you feel this makes a large batch of the concentrate and would like less, simply reduce each of the ingredients by half. Everything else stays the same.

Should I add sugar?

This depends on your personal preference. The best part of making our own chai concentrate is that we can control what goes in it.

Most chai concentrates do include sugar. 

A ¾ cup of Tazo Chai Concentrate has 26 grams of sugar. 

The skinny version has 13 grams of sugar per ¾ cup.

When I was creating this chai tea concentrate recipe, I wanted it to have less sugar than store-bought concentrates. 

I first tried it without any sugar and it had too much of a bitter taste for me. 

Next time, I added ¼ cup of granulated sugar to the entire batch. This created a good balance of sweet and spicy. 

A ½ cup of this homemade chai concentrate has 8.3 grams of sugar. 

It is not as sweet as the one used in the Starbucks chai tea latte. 

If you would like it sweeter, you could always add sugar when making your homemade chai tea latte. This way you can sweeten it to taste. 

You can also replace the granulated sugar with a sweetener of your choice. Possible options are brown sugar, honey, or stevia. If you try it with maple syrup, I would love to hear how it tastes. 

How to Use Chai Concentrate from Tea Bags

The quickest and easiest way to use chai concentrate is to make an iced chai tea latte!

Simply pour the chai concentrate and the milk of your choice over some ice cubes in a glass. Stir then enjoy! That’s it!

To make a pumpkin spice chai latte, mix the concentrate and milk with this pumpkin sauce for coffee. It's the perfect fall drink!

A homemade chai tea latte in a minute. And for way less money than buying one at a coffee shop. 

Making chai concentrate from tea bags is a great way to save money and still treat myself to one of my favorite things. I hope after your first sip, you’ll feel the same. 

Another way to use chai concentrate is to heat it up with milk to make a hot chai latte. 

It can also be put in a blender with ice cubes and milk to make a chai tea frappuccino. 

The ratio of concentrate to milk is 1:1 for a strong chai latte. 

If that’s too much flavor, adding a little more milk tastes great too. 

Love vanilla-flavored drinks? Check out this easy Iced Vanilla Chai Latte Recipe.

Printable Tags - Perfect for Gifting Chai Concentrate

I made two different tags for this chai concentrate recipe. Originally, it was just to make my own concentrate look pretty, but I want to share them with you too.

If you have a chai lover in your life, this chai concentrate would make a great inexpensive, handmade gift that is sure to warm their hearts. 

Just put it in a mason jar or glass bottle then add the tag with some twine for a super cute, easy gift. 

I like to put the homemade concentrate into milk bottles like these 12 oz Clear Glass Milk Bottles with Gold Metal Airtight Lids. 

An easy way to cut out one of the chai concentrate tags is to use a 2-inch hole punch. You may need to trim some of the white paper around the design to get the paper punch to match the circle perfectly. 

How long does homemade chai concentrate last?

For the best chai tea latte, use it within a week. 

I have used it about two weeks after I made it and I was fine. It just didn’t taste as fresh or flavorful. 

Store the chai concentrate in an airtight container in the fridge. 

To make an Iced Chai Latte with this recipe, check out How to Make Starbucks Chai Tea Latte Iced. 

You can also make a Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte by adding this homemade pumpkin sauce to your chai latte.

Or use the concentrate in this Iced Chai Latte with Pumpkin Cold Foam Recipe.

If you made this recipe, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below. I also love to see your photos of my recipes. Tag or mention @lovemischka on Pinterest, FB, Insta, or TikTok.