Chai Concentrate substitute

Best substitute

Homemade chai concentrate from whole spices

Makes about 1 ½ cups; use 1:1 for bottled concentrate

Best for chai lattes and iced chai

Close match

The real thing, built from black tea, whole spices and sugar simmered together and strained.

Other chai concentrate substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Chai tea bags brewed double strength, plus sweetener
Close match
3 chai tea bags in 1 cup water, steeped 8 minutes, plus 2 Tbsp sugar or maple syrup; use 1:1
The quick fix, using the spice blend already packed into a chai tea bag and simply concentrating it.
What changes
Best for
chai lattes, baking and overnight oats, iced chai, chai frostings
Fast, reliable and needs nothing you would not already have if you drink chai. Tea-bag chai blends are generally lighter on ginger and black pepper than a real masala chai, so the result tastes politer and rounder, with cinnamon leading and less heat at the back of the throat. Grate in half a teaspoon of fresh ginger while it steeps if you want that bite back. Eight minutes is deliberate and long; four minutes gives you tea, not concentrate.
3Strong black tea plus chai spice blend and sugar
Different texture
1 cup very strong black tea + ¾ tsp chai spice or pumpkin pie spice + 2 Tbsp sugar; use 1:1
Assembling the concentrate from its components using ground spice instead of whole.
What changes
Best for
chai cake, cookies and muffins, chai frostings and glazes, overnight oats, quick lattes
In baking this is as good as anything, because the ground spice ends up dispersed through a batter where nobody notices its texture. In a drink it is the weakest option: ground spice never dissolves, so the latte comes out slightly cloudy and leaves a fine gritty sediment in the last inch of the cup. If you must drink it, let it stand five minutes and pour off the clear liquid. Pumpkin pie spice works well but has no cardamom, so add a pinch of ground cardamom if you have it.
4Chai latte powder mix
Taste and texture differ
Make it up at roughly double the package strength, then use 1:1
The dry cafe-style powder, which is usually milk powder, sugar and spice with a little instant tea.
What changes
Best for
chai lattes, frostings and fillings, milkshakes, quick drinks
Convenient and genuinely popular, but be clear it is a different product. These mixes are built on milk solids and sugar rather than on brewed tea, so what you get is sweeter, creamier and much less tea-forward, with almost none of black tea's tannic grip, and the colour is pale beige instead of deep tan. In a cake that sweetness and those milk solids will also change the crumb slightly, so cut a tablespoon of the recipe's sugar per quarter cup used.
5Already-made masala chai (tea brewed with milk)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount for the concentrate, and skip the milk the recipe adds on top
Finished chai from a pot or a cafe, used as-is rather than as a base to be diluted.
What changes
Best for
iced chai, chai lattes, chai overnight oats, chai pancakes and French toast
Sensible when you have a pot of chai and no concentrate. Because it is already diluted with milk, do not add the milk the recipe calls for or you will end up with faintly spiced warm milk. In baking this route brings dairy the recipe was not expecting, which can slacken a batter, and the spice reads faintly because it is spread through twice the liquid. Boil it down by about a third first if you can spare the time.
6Plain black tea at double strength
Different taste
Use the same amount plus 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground cardamom, ¼ tsp ground ginger and 2 Tbsp sugar per cup
The bare-cupboard version: the tea half of chai concentrate with the spice half improvised or omitted.
What changes
Best for
chai cakes and cookies, cake soaks, iced tea drinks, puddings
Used entirely unspiced, this fails at the thing chai is for: a chai cake made with plain strong black tea just tastes like a tea cake, pleasant and unremarkable. With the ground spices added it gets most of the way back, and cardamom is the ingredient that makes people recognise it as chai, so include it even if you skip the ginger. Without added sugar it will also taste flat, because bottled concentrate carries two to three teaspoons of sugar per half cup.

What is Chai Concentrate?

Chai Concentrate is a bottled liquid of strongly brewed black tea, warm spices and sugar, sold as chai tea concentrate or chai latte concentrate and meant to be diluted about half and half with milk, so it is carrying three things into a drink or a bake at once: tea tannin, spice warmth and sweetness.

Cooking tips

Concentrate is roughly twice the strength of a normal cup of tea, which is why the standard latte is one part concentrate to one part milk. If you brew a substitute at ordinary tea strength, use it undiluted and skip the milk step, and accept that the drink will be thinner than a real chai latte.
Crush whole cardamom pods and peppercorns with the flat of a knife before they go in the pan. Left whole and intact, the pods give up almost nothing in ten minutes of simmering and you will wonder where the cardamom went.
Do not boil black tea for chai longer than about ten minutes. Past that point the tannins turn harshly drying and slightly metallic, and sugar and milk will not hide it. Simmer ten minutes, then take the pan off the heat and let it sit for five, which extracts spice without over-extracting tea.
Bottled concentrate is very sweet, often two to three teaspoons of sugar per half cup. If you swap in unsweetened brewed tea for concentrate in a cake, an overnight oats or a frosting, add sugar back or the recipe will taste oddly flat and under-seasoned rather than simply less sweet.
Homemade concentrate keeps about a week refrigerated and freezes very well in an ice cube tray, which is the easiest way never to run out again. Two cubes plus half a cup of milk is a latte, and the cubes go straight into an iced chai without watering it down.

Frequently asked questions

How much do I dilute chai concentrate?

One part concentrate to one part milk or water is the standard, since concentrate is brewed at roughly double strength. For an iced chai, keep the same ratio and pour it over plenty of ice, or go slightly stronger on the concentrate to allow for the ice melting. If a substitute you made is only normal tea strength, use it undiluted.

Can I use chai tea bags instead of chai concentrate?

Yes, and it is the easiest good swap. Steep 3 chai tea bags in 1 cup of water for a full 8 minutes, then stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar or maple syrup, and use that 1:1 for concentrate. Tea-bag chai tends to be gentler on ginger and pepper than bottled concentrate, so grate in half a teaspoon of fresh ginger while it steeps if you want the warmth at the back of the throat.

Can I leave the chai concentrate out?

Not really, because in most recipes it is supplying the liquid, the sugar and the entire flavour all at once, so removing it leaves a hole in three places. In a chai cake or chai oats you can replace it with strong black tea plus a teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of cardamom and sugar to match, which is a real substitution rather than an omission. In a latte there is nothing left if you take it out.

Is chai concentrate the same as chai latte mix?

No. Concentrate is a liquid of brewed black tea, spices and sugar, and it is tea-forward with real tannin. Chai latte powder is a dry mix built mostly on milk powder and sugar with only a little tea, so a drink made from it is sweeter, creamier, paler and much less tea-tasting. You can substitute the powder by making it at double strength, but expect the difference to be obvious.

How do I make a dairy-free chai latte without concentrate?

Brew the concentrate as normal, since it contains no dairy at all, then finish with oat milk, which froths best and whose natural sweetness suits the spices. Simmer 4 black tea bags with crushed cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns and fresh ginger in 1 1/2 cups water for 10 minutes, strain, sweeten, then combine half and half with hot oat milk. Avoid chai latte powders, which are usually milk-based.

Related substitutes

More beverages substitutes

Chai Concentrate substitute

Other chai concentrate substitutes

2Chai tea bags brewed double strength, plus sweetener

3Strong black tea plus chai spice blend and sugar

4Chai latte powder mix

5Already-made masala chai (tea brewed with milk)

6Plain black tea at double strength