This Honey Vanilla Masala Chai Recipe makes a concentrated syrup for either hot or iced lattes, and is perfectly sweet and richly spiced! If Masala Chai Lattes are your favorite coffee shop drink, save money by easily making Masala Chai concentrate at home.
If I had to choose one smell that I feel sums up fall, it would be baking apple pie. However, this chai syrup comes in at a close second.
But since it’s about a month too soon (at least for me) for hot beverages like hot chai lattes, I’ll wait on that for now.
And instead use this syrup to make iced chai lattes!
Masala Chai Recipe
If you’re the person who always orders a chai latte (hot or iced) from your local coffee shop, get ready to be amazed. And also start saving some serious money by making your favorite drink at home.
If you have a well-stocked spice cabinet, you probably already have everything on hand for this recipe!
Masala Chai Ingredients
- Water
- Honey or sugar
- Cardamom pods
- Whole star anise
- Fresh ginger
- Ground cinnamon
- Whole cloves
- Whole allspice
- Freshly grated nutmeg
- Whole peppercorns (or more to taste)
- Vanilla bean pod or vanilla bean paste
- Black tea bags or loose leaf black tea
In this Masala Chai recipe, honey and vanilla bean (or vanilla bean paste) are my unique twists on a classic Masala Chai.
I like to use fresh ginger for the best ginger flavor, and many of the other spices are whole instead of pre-ground. Pre-ground spices will also work, but I like the potency and freshness of whole spices.
You can play around with the amounts of each spice to suit your tastes.
How to Make Indian Chai Tea from Scratch:
- Boil the water, sweetener, and spices for 20 minutes.
- Cover the saucepan and let the spices steep at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Strain out the spices and pour the sweet spice syrup into a glass jug.
- Add the tea and refrigerate for 3 days.
- Strain out the loose leaf tea or remove the tea bags.
- Serve hot or iced with milk.
How Long Does Masala Chai Concentrate Last in the Fridge?
Stored in a glass jar in the fridge, Masala Chai syrup will last up to 2 weeks.
More Coffee Shop Drinks to Make at Home:
- Cold Brew Coffee
- Starbucks Iced Caramel Frappuccino Copycat Recipe
- Starbucks Copycat Healthy Java Chip Frappuccino Recipe
- Skinny Peppermint Mocha Recipe
- Starbucks Pink Drink Copycat Recipe
- Blended Iced Cinnamon Latte
Did you make this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment below because I love hearing from you! You can also tag @anediblemosaic on social media. To stay up-to-date FOLLOW ME on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Xoxo, Faith
Honey Vanilla Masala Chai Recipe (Syrup for Iced or Hot Lattes)
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 1/4 cup pure honey or 1/3 cup sugar
- 15 cardamom pods cracked open
- 2 whole star anise
- 1- inch piece fresh ginger grated
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon whole nutmeg freshly grated
- 1/4 teaspoon whole peppercorns or more to taste
- 1 vanilla bean pod seeds scraped or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 4 black tea bags or 4 teaspoons loose leaf black tea
Instructions
- Add all ingredients except the tea to a medium saucepan; bring to a boil, then turn heat down slightly and boil for 20 minutes with the lid slightly ajar.
- Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan, and let it steep at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Strain the liquid through a cheesecloth-lined fine mesh sieve, squeezing the cheesecloth to extract all the liquid.
- Pour the spicy syrup into a jug and add the tea.
- Cover the jug and transfer it to the fridge for 3 days (or longer if you like your tea stronger).
- After 3 days, remove the tea bags (or strain out the tea leaves); store the chai concentrate for up to a month in the fridge.
- Combine the chai syrup with milk to make hot or iced chai lattes (I use about a 2:1 ratio of milk to chai concentrate, but you can play with the ratio to find what you like).
Helpful Tips
- This recipe makes about 3 cups of Masala Chai concentrate; each serving is 1/2 cup of concentrate. Nutrition information is given per 1/2-cup serving without anything added.
- To Make Iced or Hot Lattes: This concentrate is perfect for making either iced or hot lattes. For iced, add cold syrup to cold milk and top off with ice. For hot, add hot syrup to hot milk (and you can top with steamed milk, if available).
Nutrition
This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on August 11, 2014. I updated it with more information on August 19, 2020.
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links to products I believe in, which means that even though it doesn’t cost you anything extra, I will receive a small amount of money from the sale of these items. Thank you for helping to support An Edible Mosaic!
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
This is such a perfect plan! I would be making pitchers of chai for days ifI had a batch of this around. :)
I love chai too, what a perfect syrup for fall!
This is such a fabulous idea Faith! i have to pick up some decaf black tea and try it!
These flavors sound amazing!
Wow, you have a lot of flavors here! This will be new for me, and I am looking forward to it.
What a great recipe and awesome way to save money! I cannot believe we’re inching closer to fall (what?!)