Chai Iced Tea

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Chai Iced Tea is a refreshing way to start the day! Made with black tea, your choice of sweetener, cinnamon and other favorite spices, and coconut milk, this quick, easy tea recipe is super-satisfying! {Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free}

Comforting AND refreshing. That’s how I’d describe Chai Iced Tea. It is a creamy, spicy blend of black tea, coconut milk, and cinnamon. Ooh, and, if you have one on hand, a star anise. So pretty and so delicious. Chai Iced Tea is also really easy to make, which is, more often than not, my favorite kind of recipe to try.

Let me put this drink another way. If you need to get ALL THE THINGS DONE today but you also just really want a hug or a soft, comfy blanket, then this Chai Iced Tea totally gets your vibes. The tea is your pick-me-up while the coconut milk, cinnamon spices, and sweetener combine to form one big hug JUST FOR YOU. A hug for you and anyone else with whom you’d like to share some chai.

Spiriteds, Chai Iced Tea is one incredible AND/BOTH recipe. Energizing but also comforting, cooling (thank you, ice cubes) but also warming (thank you, spices). It’s an ALL CAPS recipe just waiting to be made.

So let’s get boiling and steeping and enjoy a cup full of creamy, cinnamon-y goodness!

This tea is

• Gluten-Free
• Vegan-Friendly
• Spicy and warming
• Lightly sweet and slightly bitter (but the good kind of bitter)
• A straight-up hug-in-a-mug

Because you can adjust the sweetener and milk of choice, there are several ways to enjoy this chai recipe! Same with the spices. Adjust them to what you’re in the mood to enjoy. So play around with this recipe and have fun! 

Chai Iced Tea ingredients

The ingredient list for Chai Iced Tea is straightforward. And much of it you can adapt to your own palate!

• Black tea. I use about 5-6 tea bags, however add more or fewer, depending on how strong you want your chai to be.
• Water. I add six cups, but, like the tea, add as much or as little as you like. Keep in mind, you’ll lose some liquid through evaporation, so you may want a little more.
• Cinnamon sticks. As they warm, the cinnamon stick flavors will flood the chai for a delicious, spicy result.
• Sweetener. Agave nectar, 100% pure honey, or 100% maple syrup will work. I have not tried monkfruit sweetener or stevia in this recipe, but you could definitely give it a go! And if you do, then please tell me how it worked out!
• Spices. In addition to the cinnamon sticks, you can also add ground cardamom, allspice, or nutmeg. I usually add a pinch or two of whichever spices I’m in the mood to enjoy. A little goes a long way.
• Canned coconut milk. I chill a can of coconut milk overnight, skim the cream off the top the next morning, and add that to my chai. It’s delicious! Alternatively, you can use almond, cashew, oat, rice, or other non-dairy milk choices as your palate desires!

How to make Chai Iced Tea

Here are the steps to make your own Chai Iced Tea recipe! 

1. Bring water to a boil and then add the tea bags, cinnamon sticks, sweetener, and spices. Remove from heat and let steep covered for 10 minutes. Then remove tea bags and cinnamon sticks. Strain the tea through a wire mesh strainer, if desired.
2. Next pour the tea into mugs filled halfway with ice cubes and top with two tablespoons of coconut milk, sprinkle with cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, or cinnamon. Add a star anise and enjoy.
3. Refrigerate leftovers in glass jars for 1-2 weeks. During storage, contents will settle. Stir before serving.

Recipe variations

• Flavor. The longer you steep the tea, the stronger and bitterer the flavor will be. For a softer, milder taste, steep the tea for less than 10 minutes. If after a sip you feel it’s too mild, then let it steep a few minutes more.
• Creamy goodness. Experiment with full-fat coconut milk, coconut cream, almond milk, cashew milk, rice milk, and more!
• Sweetener. We’ve experimented with agave nectar (vegan), 100% pure honey, and 100% pure maple sugar (vegan). You can also try stevia, granulated or liquid, and even coconut sugar. The latter, I find, makes an excellent garnish for your Chai Iced Tea. The warm, brown sugary flavor of coconut sugar makes it an excellent sweetener without going over the top.
• Ice cubes. One of my favorite ways to enjoy Chai Iced Tea (and other cool beverages, for that matter) is to make a second batch and freeze it into ice cubes. For Chai Ice, I like to brew a second batch of tea and/or freeze coconut milk and almond milk to add to my tea. If you want to reduce waste and don’t mind mild-flavored ice cubes, then you can reuse the tea bags and cinnamon sticks to make your ice cubes. If you want big flavor all the way around, then brew a second batch for ice cubes using all new ingredients.  

More thirst-quenching drinks!!!

Chai Iced Tea is comforting, energizing, and satisfying. But it’s not the only choice you have on the Spirited blog! Here are a few more tasty drinks to satiate your thirst!

• Dairy-Free Chai Tea
• Homemade Iced Coffee
• Lemon Ginger Tea
• Homemade Pineapple Iced Tea
• Cinnamon Orange Tea
• 3-Ingredient Pineapple Fresca Mocktail
• Dairy-Free Vanilla Cashew Coffee

Friends, as always, I’m glad you’re here. Stay well and stay wild! ❤️

Chai Iced tea

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Chai Iced Tea is a refreshing way to start the day! Made with black tea, your choice of sweetener, cinnamon and other favorite spices, and coconut milk, this quick, easy tea recipe is super-satisfying! {Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free}

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 5 cups tea 1x
• Category: Beverages (Non-Alcoholic)
• Method: Stovetop
• Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 cups water
• 5–6 black tea bags
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 cup agave nectar, 100% pure honey, or maple syrup
• A pinch of cardamon, allspice, and/or nutmeg
• 2–3 tablespoons full fat coconut milk (per cup of tea)
• Garnish with star anise, optional

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Instructions

1. Bring water to a boil and then add the tea bags, cinnamon sticks, sweetener, and spices. Remove from heat and let steep covered for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags and cinnamon sticks. Strain the tea through a wire mesh strainer, if desired.
2. Then pour the tea into mugs filled halfway with ice cubes. Top with two tablespoons of coconut milk, sprinkle with cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, or cinnamon. Add a star anise and enjoy.
3. Refrigerate leftovers in glass jars for 1-2 weeks. During storage, contents will settle. Stir before serving.

Notes

• The longer the tea steeps, the stronger and bitterer it will be.
• Use full-fat coconut milk, chilled overnight, and skim off the cream that rises to the top. Add that cream to your tea. Alternatively, use canned coconut cream.
• If the coconut milk clumps when added to the tea, then stir the chai briskly, even with a fork, until the coconut milk blends into the drink.