Easily and quickly make your own Starbucks Iced Chai Tea Latte at home (for a fraction of the price) with this simple, 3-ingredient recipe. It tastes exactly the same and is ready in a minute!
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I fell in love with Starbucks’ Chai Tea Latte many, many years ago.
I used to buy so many that my favorite barista taught me how to make them at home.
The secret to getting your homemade iced chai latte to taste EXACTLY like the one at Starbucks?
Using Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate.
Fortunately, nowadays, this chai concentrate is available in local grocery stores, Target, and Amazon.
And the best part? It’s usually available for under $4.
For the price of ONE grande iced chai tea latte at Starbucks, you can make at least 4 chai lattes at home that taste the same! 🤯
Once I realized how unbelievably easy, fast, and inexpensive it is to make my own Starbucks chai tea lattes, I couldn’t fathom buying one in the store again… unless I want a hot chai latte and I’m too lazy to heat and froth the milk. 😳
For more coffee shop drinks to make at home, check out:
- Iced Matcha Latte Recipe
- Matcha Coffee Recipe
- Iced Green Tea Lemonade
- Iced Guava White Tea Lemonade
What is a Chai Tea Latte?
Besides a perfect drink? 😉
An iced chai tea latte is a comforting blend of black tea that is infused with warm, whole spices and creamy, cold milk for the perfect balance of spicy and sweet.
Common chai spices include cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, black peppercorns, and star anise.
It tastes cozy and complex, but it’s a surprisingly easy drink to make at home.
Like Vanilla? Check out this Vanilla Chai Latte Recipe.
Homemade Version of Starbucks Iced Chai Latte
To make your own Starbucks Iced Chai Latte, you only need THREE ingredients.
1. Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate
This is the EXACT chai concentrate that Starbucks used to use. My favorite barista even showed me the packaged Tazo Chai Concentrate years ago.
I read that Starbucks now uses its own chai concentrate, which still tastes the same, but is highly concentrated. Meaning a small amount packs strong chai flavor.
The current Starbucks chai concentrate packs more flavor per ounce than Tazo Chai Concentrate, which is okay.
We just need to use a little more concentrate to get the same flavorful drink.
If you’re unable to purchase this Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate, you can easily make your own homemade chai tea concentrate from chai tea bags that tastes close to it.
You can also use this tea latte recipe with other store-bought chai concentrates. It just won’t taste exactly like a Starbucks Iced Chai Latte.
Check out How to Make Chai Concentrate from Tea Bags.
2. Milk
The second ingredient is milk. Starbucks uses 2% milk in its standard latte recipe.
Just like at Starbucks locations, you can easily change the kind of milk in this recipe.
You can use nonfat milk, whole milk, almond milk, oat milk, etc. You could even use coconut milk if you want to.
I don’t recommend using coconut milk in this iced chai latte, especially if you want a copycat Starbucks drink.
But, your home is your own little coffee shop. Try this chai recipe with your favorite milk or milk alternative!
You could even add one or two shots of espresso to make this a dirty chai latte.
3. Ice Cubes
The third ingredient is ice. And it can easily be omitted. I mostly drink this cold chai latte recipe without ice.
It saves a little time to not pop it out of the ice cube trays. It’s a few seconds sooner that I get to enjoy that cozy latte taste and get some much needed caffeine.
On an extra warm day, adding ice to this ICED chai latte is unbelievably refreshing.
If you fill your own ice cube trays, I recommend filling them with filtered water before freezing.
I live in a city and our tap water can taste weird and chemically. That can change the taste of the whole chai tea latte, especially when the ice starts to melt.
How to Make Starbucks Chai Tea Latte Iced
This recipe makes a 16oz iced latte, which is the size of a grande Starbucks chai latte.
You can easily adjust it to make any size you want though.
When using Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate, just add equal amounts of concentrate and the milk of your choice.
Most store-bought chai concentrates are the same - a 1:1 ratio of concentrate and milk.
Full ingredients and instructions are available in the recipe card below, but here is a quick rundown.
- Add ice to your glass or cup. I prefer to do this first because I always tend to splatter the liquid everywhere when I add the ice cubes later.
- Pour chai concentrate over the ice.
- Add milk and stir.
And that’s it.
A coffee shop quality drink at home in a minute for a fraction of the price. 🤯
Should I add sugar?
Most chai concentrates already include sugar.
If you’re using the Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate, you definitely do not need to add sugar to your drink for it to taste like Starbucks’.
A 3/4 cup of the Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate already contains 24 grams of sugar.
There is a Tazo Skinny Chai Latte Concentrate that contains less sugar.
A 3/4 cup of the Tazo Skinny Chai Latte Concentrate has 13 grams of sugar. It also only has 60 calories (the classic has 110 calories).
I personally prefer using the Tazo Classic Chai Latte Concentrate because it tastes exactly like the Starbucks iced chai tea latte.
The skinny version is less sweet and less potent. It’s not as flavorful and full as the classic.
How much caffeine is in a chai tea latte?
The amount of caffeine depends on which concentrate you use and how much you use of it.
If following this recipe and using Tazo Classic Chai Concentrate, the iced chai tea latte will have 61+mg of caffeine, according to Tazo.com.
Tazo also has a Decaf Chai Latte Concentrate. I have never tried it. If you do, please let me know how it tastes.
Can I make it ahead of time?
I’m not a morning person, so I definitely understanding wanting to have a caffeinated beverage ready to go.
Iced Chai Lattes taste the best right after mixing the ingredients together.
BUT, you can make it ahead of time if you plan on drinking it later that day or the next morning.
To do so, do not add ice until right before drinking. The ice will melt in the refrigerator and water down the chai latte.
Store the latte in an airtight container in the fridge. I like to use mason jar glasses because they’re easy to shake, take off the lid, and drink.
I have also stored this latte in a container like this Rubbermaid one.
If you do make this Starbucks copycat chai tea latte ahead of time and store it in the fridge, I definitely recommend shaking (if using a mason jar glass with a lid) or mixing it before drinking.
The concentrate tends to settle at the bottom of the glass while in the refrigerator. I’ve made the mistake of just sticking a straw in and sipping. It packed a punch. 😂
Even if you only drink freshly made chai lattes, the Tazo chai concentrate should be refrigerated after opening. Other brands and homemade concentrates should be too.
You may also like:
- Starbucks' Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade
- Iced Green Tea Lemonade
- Vanilla Matcha Latte
Top your latte with Pumpkin Cold Foam!! Check out this Iced Chai Latte with Pumpkin Cold Foam Recipe.
Starbucks Iced Chai Tea Latte Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Ice Cubes
- 3/4 cup Tazo Chai Concentrate
- 3/4 cup Milk (of your choice)
Instructions
- Add ice to a 16 oz glass (or bigger).
- Pour chai concentrate over the ice in the glass.
- Add the milk of your choice.
- Stir and enjoy!
Video
If you made this recipe, I'd love to hear about it in the comments below. I also LOVE seeing photos of the recipes you make! Just tag or mention @lovemischka on Pinterest, FB, Insta, or Tiktok.
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