Dirty Chai Latte is sweet and spicy from the Chai but has a deep, roasted flavor from the coffee. Together with the frothy top, it's simply delicious! I show you how to make it in 3 ways: with traditional Masala Chai made from scratch scratch, using Chai Concentrate (along with a homemade recipe) and using Chai tea bags!
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Why You'll Love This
- This Dirty Chai Tea Latte is a delicious pick-me-up: The toasted, earthy coffee flavor and the aromatic spices in Masala Chai go super well. Because this latte contains robust black tea and coffee, it has extra caffeine to keep you awake.
- Budget-friendly: Making this popular drink at home is certainly better on your wallet than all those trips to Starbucks! And because it's all homemade, there are no weird preservatives or chemicals in it! You don't even need an espresso maker or milk frother to get the frothy, foamy top, so no special equipment needed too.
- Easy to make: Only simple ingredients and done in under 10 minutes!
Note: if you love Chai flavors but want less caffeine, try Green Tea Spiced Chai, Hot Chocolate Chai Tea or this Matcha Tea Chai Latte. If you're crazy about tea and coffee drinks, try this Cantonese Coffee & Milk Tea or 1 of these popular latte flavors. For chocolate lovers, I recommend this Nutella Coffee.
What is Dirty Chai?
It's basically Masala Chai + Frothy Milk Foam + Espresso Shot!
Other names include Espresso Chai, Java Chai, Red Eye Chai, and Filthy Chai Latte.
Ingredients
Method 1: Dirty Chai Latte using Chai Concentrate
This is a healthy and simple way:
- Masala Chai Syrup: If you often drink Masala drinks, the best and easiest way is to pre-make your own Homemade Chai Concentrate Syrup. This can last in the fridge for 1 week to a few months (see the link for more details.) (You can also substitute with shop-bought Tazo Chai Concentrate.)
- Black Tea Bag: Steep in 1 Cup of water. If you're substituting with black tea leaves, use 1-2 teaspoons of loose leaves.
- Espresso or strong coffee: The coffee is why we call this latte "dirty." (Instant espresso is fine too) The richness complements the spices in the chai perfectly but you can also use instant coffee powder, just brew it strong (i.e. ½ Tablespoon of coffee powder to ½ Cup of hot water.)
- Milk: I prefer a milk with a higher fat content and use whole milk or, when it's extra cold out, milk mixed with heavy whipping cream. If on a vegan diet, a plant-based milk such as oat milk and cashew milk work well. (Starbucks uses 2% milk, if you were wondering!)
Method 2: Dirty Chai Latte from scratch (using whole spices)
If you prefer to cook from scratch:
- Masala Chai Spices: I use 1 cinnamon stick, 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, 12 green cardamoms, ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, ½ teaspoon coriander seeds, 6 cloves and 1 star anise. The blend of spices is flexible so you can add other spices that you like, such as ginger, nutmeg etc
- Sweetener: 1-2 Tablespoons of honey, sugar (preferably brown), maple syrup or 1 of these alternatives to sugar.
- Everything else is as per the Ingredient list on the left (i.e. Black Tea Bag, espresso/ strong coffee and milk)
Method 3: Using Chai Tea Bags
You can replace the Masala Chai Syrup/ Spices and Black Tea bag with Chai Tea Bags.
Variations
- Vegan Dirty Chai: Use bone-char free brown sugar and a dairy-free milk such as almond milk or soy milk.
- Dirty Vanilla Chai: stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Extra Dirty Chai Latte: double the dirty and use 2 shots of espresso!
- Iced Dirty Chai Latte: cool the coffee and Chai (so that they don't melt the ice) then pour them over ice. The ice actually helps to create more distinct layers and makes for a prettier drink! If you like Instagram-worthy drinks, try this Brown Sugar Tiger Tea.
- Dirty Chai without Caffeine: If too much caffeine makes you jittery, use decaffeinated tea and decaf coffee.
Step-by-step Instructions
- Brew a strong cup of black tea by steeping 1 black tea bag (or leaves) in 1 Cup of hot water for 3-5 minutes.
- Whilst the tea is steeping, make your espresso or strong coffee (½ Tablespoon of instant coffee powder to ½ Cup of hot water.)
- Remove the tea bag.
4. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of Chai Syrup to the black tea (or to taste.)
METHOD 2: if you don't want to make Chai Syrup, simply boil the spices (see "Ingredients" above) for 5-10 minutes then add the black tea and steep for 3-5 minutes.
METHOD 3: Or make your life super easy and just steep Masala Chai tea bags in hot water for 5 minutes.
For both alternatives, you will need to add a sweetener, to taste.
5. Add the espresso to the fragrant Masala Chai tea that you just made.
6. Use a milk frother, French press or whisk to froth up the milk. If whisking/ pressing, you'll need to whisk/press at least 100 times vigorously to get a more stable milk foam.
Alternatively, you can froth milk by shaking vigorously in a Mason Jar.
7. Slowly pour the milk into the Espresso Masala Chai.
Serve and enjoy, maybe with some chewy mochi muffins on the side?
How to Store
To enjoy the bubbly top, this caffeinated drink is best drunk fresh.
You can however make the concentrated Masala Tea-Coffee Mix in advance and refrigerate it for 1-2 days (perfect for iced Dirty Chai Lattes!) then add the milk right before you want to drink it.
Expert Tips
Tip #1: You can even create 3 layers! Simply follow these steps: add ice, pour in the sweetened Masala Tea (brown layer), then the frothed milk (white layer), then the espresso coffee (brown layer)
Tip #2: For thicker, long-lasting foam, use steamed milk. (The milk needs to be heated in a small saucepan till 150F or 65.5C- you can also heat gently in a microwave.) However, this spicy Chai Latte actually tastes super good when there is a hot-cold contrasting effect. To achieve this, you can substitute the frothed top with cold whipped cream.
Tip #3: For a true cafe-style experience, garnish this delicious drink with ground cinnamon or cocoa powder to create latte art!
Recipe FAQs
The coffee! Simply skip the espresso/ strong coffee and you have the recipe for Masla Chai Latte.
1 cup generally contains 1-2 shots of espresso.
Any kind you like! Traditionally, Wagh Bakri tea is 1 of the most popular brands used to make Masala Chai spiced tea. However, you can also use Assam, Darjeeling or even Earl Grey (slightly controversial). (Maybe don't tell a purist though!)
Other Chai Recipes
Enjoyed this Starbucks-inspired Dirty Chai Latte recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if it really helped you re-create your coffee house experience, I'd love a comment! Thank you!
Dirty Chai Latte
Equipment
- Whisk, french press or milk frother
Ingredients
Method 1: using Chai Concentrate
- 1-2 Tablespoons Masala Chai Syrup Homemade Chai Syrup can last in the fridge for 1 week to a few months. Substitute: shop-bought Tazo Chai Concentrate.
- 1 Black Tea Bag If you're substituting with black tea leaves, use 1-2 teaspoons of loose leaves.
- 1 Cup Hot water
- 1 shot Espresso Substitute: strong coffee (i.e. ½ Tablespoon of coffee powder to ½ Cup of hot water.)
- 1- 1½ Cups Milk I use whole milk or, when it's extra cold out, milk mixed with heavy whipping cream. (Starbucks uses 2% milk.) If on a vegan diet, oat, soy, almond and cashew milk work well.
Method 2: from scratch (using whole spices)
- 12 green cardamoms
- 6 cloves Although you can change the amounts of spices to taste, beware of cloves which can be overpowering.
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 star anise
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns You can also add other spices such as ginger and nutmeg, if you like them.
- 1 Black Tea Bag If you're substituting with black tea leaves, use 1-2 teaspoons of loose leaves.
- 1 Cup Hot Water
- 1 shot Espresso Substitute: strong coffee (i.e. ½ Tablespoon of coffee powder to ½ Cup of hot water.)
- 1-2 Tablespoons Neutral-flavored Honey Substitute: sugar (preferably brown), maple syrup, brown sugar syrup or 1 of these alternatives to sugar.
- 1- 1½ Cups Milk I use whole milk or, when it's extra cold out, milk mixed with heavy whipping cream. (Starbucks uses 2% milk.) If on a vegan diet, oat, soy, almond and cashew milk work well.
Method 3: using Chai tea bags
- 2-4 Chai Tea Bags
- 1 Cup Hot Water
- 1 shot espresso Substitute: strong coffee (i.e. ½ Tablespoon of coffee powder to ½ Cup of hot water.)
- 1-2 Tablespoons Neutral-flavored Honey Substitute: sugar (preferably brown), brown sugar syrup, maple syrup or 1 of these alternatives to sugar.
- 1- 1½ Cups Milk I use whole milk or, when it's extra cold out, milk mixed with heavy whipping cream. (Starbucks uses 2% milk.) If on a vegan diet, oat, soy, almond and cashew milk work well.
Instructions
Method 1: using Chai Concentrate
- Brew a strong cup of black tea by steeping 1 black tea bag (or leaves) in 1 Cup of hot water for 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the tea bag. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of Chai Syrup to the black tea (or to taste.)
- Pour in the espresso.
- Froth the milk (See Notes) then pour into the Masala Chai Coffee.
Method 2: from scratch (using whole spices)
- Add all the spices and the cup of water to a pot and boil for 5- 10 minutes (till spiced enough for you.)
- Add the black tea and steep for 3-5 minutes. Remove the tea bag/ leaves and spices. (They can be used to make a 2nd batch of Spiced Masala Tea!)
- Add the espresso. Sweeten to taste with the honey.
- Froth the milk (see Notes) then pour into the Coffee-Black Tea mixture.
Method 3: using Chai tea bags
- Steep the Chai tea bags in hot water for 5 minutes.
- Remove the tea bags and add the espresso.
- Froth the milk (see Notes) then pour into the Coffee-Black Tea mixture.
Optional cafe-art for all 3 methods
- Sprinkle ground cinnamon or cocoa powder on the foam.
Notes
How did you find this Dirty Chai Latte recipe? Let me know which of the 3 ways-to-make-it is your favorite!
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