I’m having a huge masala chai moment right now, so I’ll be sipping this all weekend too. I can’t get enough of it for some reason! Every time I go out, I make these little detours to get one in my fave reusable cup, sometimes with a lil’ espresso shot added if I’m in the right kinda mood. Of course, masala chai comes from India. If you’re looking to read a bit more about its origins, this little read is great.
This latte habit was proving to be a somewhat spendy undertaking, and since I know how to brew tea and I have a milk frother, this drink was more than within my grasp. I made this version caffeine free with naturally sweet rooibos tea. It is such a delight with all of the cracked and toasted spices and a frothy little cap of warm plant-based milk (I like cashew or almond for this). I sweeten mine with a bit of maple syrup to make it extra nice. Anyway, hope you enjoy the masala rooibos chai and a few links here too! Catch ya next week.
Masala Rooibos Chai Latte & Concentrate
Ingredients
For The Concentrate
- 12 allspice berries
- 10 black peppercorns
- 8 whole cloves
- 6 green cardamom pods
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 4 cups water
- 3 tablespoons rooibos tea
- 1- inch piece of ginger, sliced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of sea salt
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste
For 1 Latte
- 8 oz of the masala rooibos chai concentrate
- 8 oz plant-based milk of your choice
Notes
- This is just how I like my spices in masala chai. Feel free to play around and make it your own.
- I use an electric milk frother to heat my plant-based milk that goes with this, but you can just as easily heat it on the stove in a saucepan.
Instructions
- Using the back of a chef’s knife, lightly “crack” the allspice, peppercorns, cloves, and cardamom pods. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the cracked spices and cinnamon sticks until very fragrant, about 1 minute.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water up to a boil. Add the toasted spices to the pot along with the rooibos tea and ginger. Lower the heat and let the tea simmer for 18-20 minutes. Remove the rooibos masala chai from the heat and run it through a fine strainer into a bowl. At this point, stir in the vanilla, sea salt, and maple syrup. Let the masala rooibos chai concentrate cool completely before storing in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to a week.
- To make a latte: combine 8oz of the masala rooibos chai concentrate with the plant-based milk and heat using your preferred method–stovetop or microwave. If you have a milk frother, bring the masala rooibos chai concentrate to a boil in a small sauce pan and pour the heated and frothed milk on top.
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve been making a similar “from scratch” masala chai almost daily but am finding I don’t have the time, so the idea of a concentrate is brilliant! I can’t wait to try it!
I don’t put salt in mine currently; is that preference, or purposeful to help it last longer, etc? Also, do you happen to know how many average tea bags the amount of loose tea leaves would be?? Thanks!
I drink chai made with black tea daily but am trying to decrease my caffeine intake. I made this recipe almost as written and used soy milk for the latte. I had no allspice but used some grated nutmeg instead, and I didn’t sweeten it. It is robust, flavourful and versatile and will be a perfect substitute for my usual spiced beverage. I thought 3 tbsp of loose rooibos would be too much, but it isn’t. (Other recipes I looked at had 1-2 tsp of loose rooibos with spices and 4-6 cups of water which would be very weak)
Hmm… Am I the only person here who has never heard of vegan yogurt? Or maybe I’m the only one that asked.
That IP article, man… makes me kinda sad. But also happy that I am lucky enough to have time to cook :)
As always, thanks for sharing, love the links.
Can you add the link to where I could buy that planner? Looks amazing!
This is the link: https://www.breathemagazine.com/portfolio-item/breathe-special-journal-52-week-planner/
They sell it at Chapters/Indigo stores in Canada and Barnes & Noble stores in the US. In the magazine section with all of the mindfulness/philosophy magazines.
-L
Hi there I love chai and as someone who can’t dribk caffeine LOVE this option which will help my bridgehead spending habit I’ve gotten into. To clarify – is it loose rooibos tea you add to the pot? Much thanks!
Hi Kim,
Thank you for this! Yes, it is loose leaf tea.
-L
We’re big chai-makers in this house, and this recipe looks perfect! Thank you! We also like to add a piece of chaga to our brew (we find it a lot growing on birch trees in the woods around here, lucky us!), it gives it a nice deep colour and taste, and of course oodles of health benefits.
Have a beautiful Sunday :)
I love that, Eva! Good for boosting the immune system this time of year :)
-L
Yes to the bounty that feeds our vision and our minds with this round-up. Ever grateful for supporting our piece & your presence in the empowering and cosy corner of the often overwhelming WWW.
Thank you for my weekend beverage, reading, and listening, my friend. Also: I want to make literally everything you’ve posted this week. And thanks for the link love ❤️❤️❤️.
I look forward to your beverage+links posts — thanks for keeping this series going!
So glad that you’re enjoying it Kristin! Thanks for this <3
-L