Best Iced Chai Latte Recipe

Make this iced chai latte from scratch as a perfect summer drink to cool you down. It’s infused with lots of different Indian spices, balanced out with oat / almond milk and cooled down with ice. If you want some extra sweetness, add some vanilla or caramel syrup.

This is perfect for those days where you need a cold caffeine hit, but don’t want to indulge in coffee or a hot chai. It is super easy and simple to put together

What is an iced chai latte?

Right so, we have a few different takes on chai lattes.

Number one: This method is simply is creating your chai from scratch, allowing it to cool down (but not for too long, as allowing it to sit for a long time will result in watered down flavours), and adding your ice, milk and syrup. Check out this blog post here, where I make an iced chai, using a completely different method.

Number two (ready-made masala chai tea bags): Alternatively, I have seen some methods where people use masala chai tea bags, place them in water, allow the tea to seep for a couple of hours and then add milk and ice. This method goes against the grain of my Indian blood, so I tend to steer clear of these types of recipes, but I respect how simple it is to put together.

Number three (concentrate): These are where you’ll find the drinks from the Starbucks’ coffee shops and alike, who will use chai concentrate with frothed milk. I used to be addicted to these drinks, especially as I try to keep my coffee intake to a minimum. The chai or matcha lattes are a great alternative if you find yourself in the four corners of a coffee shop, trying to avoid coffee.

My heart shatters into small tiny pieces when chai is referred to as ‘chai tea’.

‘Chai’ simply means tea, but ‘chai’ is often referred to as a masala chai drink in the west.

In India, my aunties will simply ask me in Bengali ‘cha kabo’, i.e. do you want chai, not do you want masala chai, even though the tea served in question, will be a masala chai!

That’s a round-about way of saying that most of the milky tea served in India, is masala chai, but because it’s as common as a cuppa here in Britain, it’s just referred to as ‘chai’ and the distinction between ‘masala chai’ and ‘chai’ is not made.

Although, I guess when people ask for a ‘chai tea’ here in the UK or America, they’re asking for number three, so perhaps it has become a whole separate drink in of itself!

If you want something hot instead, head over to my karak chai recipe and if you want some snacks to pair with your chais, then hop over to my aubergine fry or my palak paneer pakoras.

Iced chai latte ingredients

1. Two cups of water: or more if you are making for the whole family or a group of friends. Chai has this magical ability to bring people together.
2. Two black tea bags or loose-leaf tea: I am using Assam Tea here, which I highly recommend if you can get access to it, but otherwise, black tea bags or loose leaf tea will also work fine!
3. Oat milk / almond milk or dairy milk: Oat milk is deliciously creamy and will work really well in this recipe but to be honest, so will any other milk that you have in the fridge!
4. Two cloves of cardamom: This adds an almost sweet element to your chai and I would argue is one of the crucial tenants of any chai!
5. Half of a bark of cinnamon: This is going to work really well with the cloves and black below to add a heat element. Cinnamon also works excellent with cardamom to add a sweetness!
6. Two cloves: Again, an essential ingredient here to your chai and will work very well with the black pepper.
7. One bayleaf: Optional, but great if you have it to hand.
8. Two whole black pepper corns: For the heat element to make this a true chai! You can adjust this and if you want your chai to be a little bit hotter, add more!
9. A thumb of ginger: You can add more if you want this to have a stronger ginger note, but otherwise, it is an excellent addition and not to be missed.
10. Ice: Use as many or as little Ice as you would like but my recommendation is around three to four ice cubes.