One of the reasons that I like going to Starbucks in the month of December is due to the warming smell of spices oozing out from their special Christmas drinks.

I rarely indulge in any of their sugar-ladden “special lattes” anymore, but the smell is certainly inviting.

The only way to be sure of what kind of food or drink you are ingesting is to make it yourself of course. Therefore I sourced for simple recipes to make my own chai latte and hoping I would get the similar smell and better taste that is also good for my body.

Note: I don’t recommend any of the pre packaged chai latte available in the supermarket. Most of them are full of sugar and preservatives.

Example: the ingredients in the Lipton Chai Latte sachet are:

sugar, maltodextrin, instant tea powder (9%), flavours (contain soybean derivatives), mineral salt (341)

They don’t sound like edible things to me.

Make your own chai latte. It’s easy. You can get as creative as you want with it.
I love the heart warming smell filling the house whenever I make this chai latte.

Recipe modified from wholefoodmarkets.com
1 cinnamon stick
6 whole green cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
1-2 star anise
1 inch piece ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced
4 whole black peppercorns (optional)
3 cups water
2 single-serve black tea bags or 1 tablespoon loose black tea (I use Dilmah Darjeeling teabags)
soy/almond/coconut milk (as much as you like)
1 tbs honey (optional)
ground nutmeg and cinnamon for sprinkling (optional)

Method:
Place cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, ginger, peppercorns and water into a small pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Return pot to the heat and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat, add tea, cover and set aside to let steep for 3 to 5 minutes.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve, discarding solids
Stir in optional honey and milk and heat over low heat for 1 minute.
Pour into cups, sprinkle some ground nutmeg and cinnamon and serve.