Our matcha chai latte recipe blends the earthiness of a cosy green tea with the fragrance of chai spices.
Since we started making our chai spice mix, we've recreated many of our favourite Indian spice-based drinks at home. From masala chai, dirty chai, homemade vanilla chai latte to a versatile syrup and now this matcha chai latte recipe.
The famous Starbucks matcha chai latte inspired us and is what we based the taste of our recipe on. Not only does it taste delicious, but it also adds a healthy boost. All of this is due to the spice blend and green tea, which contains antioxidants. Moreover, our homemade matcha chai recipe is less expensive than a coffee shop's, and you don't need any special kitchen tools.
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What Is A Matcha Chai Latte?
A matcha chai latte is a flavourful combination of matcha and chai blended into a milk latte. Matcha is a well-known Japanese ceremonial tea made from powdered green tea. Chai is an Indian spice blend often used to make spiced milk tea.
While the mixture of matcha latte with Indian spices is not standard, we highly recommend you try our recipe. The flavours of Japanese green tea and South Asian spices complement one another even though the flavours are relatively distinct.
What Does Matcha Chai Latte Taste Like?
Green tea chai latte starts with a hint of sweetness and spice, followed by the smooth taste of Japanese green tea. The spices give the green tea a sweet and slight kick. Meanwhile, the green tea introduces a mellow earthiness to counter the strength of the spices, resulting in a well-balanced drink.
Matcha Chai Latte Ingredients
The ingredients for our recipe are matcha powder, chai syrup, soy milk, and hot water. Also, prepare ice if you want to make our iced matcha latte recipe.
Matcha
For our matcha chai latte recipe, we like to use culinary-grade matcha powder. As the green tea component will be blended with sweet and spicy Indian spices, there's no need to use refined ceremonial-grade powder. Culinary-grade powders are cheaper, and they pack enough earthy flavours to balance the taste of the spices.
However, there is an exception. If you reduce the amount of sugar to make our recipe, then use ceremonial-grade powder. The ceremonial grade type is produced from mostly the youngest and softest green tea leaves. Hence, our recipe made from this powder grade tastes naturally sweeter. As a plus, you'll also get a drink that has a more vibrant green colour.
So, if you decide to make your matcha chai latte low in sugar, use ceremonial grade matcha powder.
Chai Syrup
To make chai syrup, you first need to create your own spice blend. Then, boil the fresh spices together with water and sweeteners to make it into your own spiced syrup.
For the most potent flavour, we highly recommend grinding cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and fennel into your spice mix. These flavours are combined to make a homemade chai spice combination that will give your drink both sweet and spicy overtones.
The great thing about homemade blends is that you can easily adjust them to your preferences by adding more or less of your favourite spices. For example, you can also include cloves, star anise and black pepper to add more complex layers to your spice mix. Plus, there are no harmful preservatives.
Check out our chai spice mix recipe to make the best blend at home.
If you don't have the ingredients to make your own Indian spice blend, you can also use a pre-made chai syrup instead. Another alternative is to use chai tea bags to make the spiced syrup.
However, using chai tea bags will infuse the flavour of black tea into the syrup. Therefore, you'll have a strongly caffeinated and bitter matcha chai latte.
Sweetener
For our matcha chai latte recipe, we don't add a sweetener, as our homemade chai syrup uses white sugar. In fact, most store-bought versions are already presweetened.
However, if you prefer a more toffee-like flavour in your homemade chai syrup, you can use dark brown sugar or maple syrup. Use the same quantity of water and sugar to make the syrup. Reduce the amount of water by half for a thicker syrup.
If you enjoy its natural fragrance, you can also add honey to your latte. However, we recommend only adding honey at the very end before you serve your drink. If you add honey to our recipe when you're boiling the spices, the flavour and aroma won't be as strong.
Milk
Our matcha chai latte recipe will use soy milk because of its natural nutty and creamy flavour. Besides, it is low-calorie, froths moderately well, and conveniently vegan.
However, whole milk is a great option if you're not an almond milk fan or want to make a super creamy and foamy latte. When whipped or frothed, the mixture of proteins within whole milk produces a firmer foam. Meanwhile, almond milk lacks these proteins, resulting in less foam.
Alternatively, oat milk is good as it froths nicely and tastes somewhat neutral. However, we don't recommend coconut milk as it's too creamy, and the coconut flavour will be overpowering.
Matcha Chai Latte Starbucks Recipe (Healthy Copycat Version)
Ingredients
For the matcha chai latte base:
- 1 ½ tsps matcha powder
- 3 tablespoon warm water
- 1-2 tbsps chai syrup
- 1 cup soy milk
- ice (optional)
For the chai syrup:
- 1 cup water
- 1½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon ginger chopped
- 6 cardamoms pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 whole cloves
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
Equipment
Cooking Instructions
- Dry toast the spices over the medium-low heat in a large pot. Lightly pound the spices with a mortar and pestle. Then, put the coarse spice blend in a pot with the sugar and water. Let the mixture boil and reduce for 10 minutes. After letting the syrup steep and cool, remove the spices by straining or sieving.
- Add the matcha powder and warm water to a bowl. Whisk them together using a bamboo whisk until the mixture is consistent and slightly foamy at the top. Set aside.
- Heat the milk for 1-2 minutes between 55 and 65 degrees Celsius (130 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit). Use an electric milk frother to whisk the milk for 1-2 minutes to make it more foamy.
- Pour in chai syrup, followed by the green tea, and finally, the frothed milk. Enjoy your matcha chai latte.
Recipe Notes
- Our chai syrup can make roughly 18 drinks.
- Increase the amount of green tea powder if you want a stronger matcha flavour.
- If you want to add honey to our recipe, we recommend adding honey at the very end before you serve it.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimate.
Matcha Chai Latte Cooking Tips
How to whisk matcha in a chai latte
Matcha should ideally be dissolved in water that is about 70 to 80 degrees Celsius (158-176 degrees Fahrenheit) for it to easily dissolve and produce a soft mellow flavour. If the water is too hot, it may result in a green tea with a bitter aftertaste.
Once you've warmed up the water, add the green tea powder and water into a whisking bowl. You can use an electric milk frother to whisk the tea. But for the best results, we recommend using a bamboo chasen or matcha whisk. To whisk using a chasen, place the chasen tip into the powder-water mixture and then whisk it in a 'W’-shaped zigzag motion for a few minutes.
The green tea is ready when you see no more clumps of powder and the tea foaming slightly at the top.
Don't overheat the milk
To prepare the hot version of our recipe, heat up the milk for a few minutes, but do not boil it. The ideal temperature range is between 55 and 65 degrees Celsius (or 130 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit).
Once warm, use an electric milk frother to whisk the milk to create more foam. The foaminess of the milk will help suspend the matcha and chai syrup slightly longer when poured over. This creates a mini spectacle for you to enjoy before enjoying your beverage. While we recommend this step, it is optional.
If you're preparing an iced matcha chai latte, skip this step.
How To Assemble Matcha Chai Latte
For the hot beverage, first pour the milk into a cup. Then, pour in the spiced syrup, followed by the green tea.
For the iced version, we recommend using a tall glass. Pour milk and then ice up to ¾ of the tall glass. Then, add the spiced syrup before finally pouring the green tea.
In order to jazz up our recipe, you can try out some latte art or add other flavours. On top of the foam, sprinkle some green tea powder or brown cinnamon powder for aesthetics.
Using Matcha Chai Latte Powder
If you want a super convenient drink straight out with just hot water, use matcha chai latte powder. Please note that the premix powders are usually quite sweet. So, if you're concerned about sugar intake, making it from scratch is better. You can also adjust our recipe to your liking.
Matcha Chai Latte Calories
A grande (medium) sized Starbucks matcha chai latte contains 240 calories in a cup. Meanwhile, our recipe's matcha chai latte calories are only about 100 calories. So, still dashing off to Starbucks? Try making our recipe first.
This unique beverage that mixes green tea and fresh spices can be described as distinctive, soothing, and energising. If you love the taste of these two flavours separately, you must experience it blended in a latte.
If you liked our recipe, check out our other chai recipes. Follow us @honestfoodtalks on Instagram to keep updated on more delicious drink recipes.
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