The best caramelized onions are the ones that have been simmering for hours. Cooking onions…
Slow Cooker Chai Concentrate
Oh the chai latte. I realize I’m about 15 years behind on this food trend. I mean, you know something is no longer “in” when your local Costco stops carrying it.
But I still love, love, love, Chai Lattes! They have never gone away in my books.
Maybe 15 years is enough time to bring something back! Are you with me? We could have a Chai Latte revival!
Anyone? If you’re reading this, then I’m assuming you’re on board. Tell all your friends.
The chai is back.
Why It’s A Smart Choice
- Spices have fantastic health properties. Cinnamon can help stabilize blood sugars. Black pepper enhances digestion. Ginger battles nausea.
- Unlike the cartons of concentrate, with this recipe you can control the amount of sugar. The 1/2 cup of honey will give a lightly sweetened latte.
I highly recommend vanilla powder for this concentrate. The vanilla in a liquid extract will evaporate with the alcohol while it’s heating. It’s not easy to find in stores but it’s very easy to order it on Amazon
If you give this recipe a go, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or snap a photo and tag it with #smartnutritionrecipes on Instagram! I’d love to see your creations! Knowing someone has enjoyed one of my recipes always makes my day brighter.
Slow Cooker Chai Concentrate
A lightly sweetened Chai concentrate for making lattes.
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- ½ cup honey or sugar for vegan option
- 10 whole cloves
- 5 whole black peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla powder
- 2 tsp cardamom
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 4 black tea bags
Instructions
- Place all ingredients (EXCEPT for the tea bags) into a slow cooker.
- Turn on low for 6-8 hours (or overnight). After an hour or so, stir to dissolve the honey.
- Add in the tea bags and steep for another 10-15 minutes.
- Strain the spices and tea bags out through a cheese cloth, nut bag, or a colander lined wit a clean tea cloth over a large bowl. You could also use a fine metal strainer but you'll still have some powder that seeps through. It depends on how "sediment-free" you'd like the concentrate to be.
- Store in the fridge.
- To make the latte, combine equal parts of the concentrate with a plain milk of your choice (dairy or non-dairy). Heat on the stove or in the microwave.
- If you have a milk frother, use it to make the latter extra special 🙂
Calories:
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
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This looks so good! What a great treat to have on hand for the winter months!
So you only add the tea at the last 10 to 15 minutes? Am I reading that correctly? Sounds delicious I am just waiting for my vanilla powder to arrive
Yup! That way it doesn’t oversteep.
You can add liquid vanilla at the end after it cools down, start with small amount then adjust as needed. Concentrated pure vanilla extract will evaporate if cooked, but it’s already concentrated and does not need to cook with the other spices, hence can be added at the end. You could alternatively leave it out completely and use vanilla milk or almond milk in your latte’s…. enjoy
Yum! Just made last night. I’ve been trying everything chai version. Breaking my concentrate, high sugar habit. Any thoughts on calorie count using honey and skim milk.
Thanks for the recipe.
Well, I cup of skim milk is 80 calories. The whole batch of concentrate has about 500 calories. So it depends on how much you add to your milk!
I have cardamom seeds, how many would you use?
I also dont have vanilla powder… does vanilla extract work?
Also, loose tea is okay to just float?
Vanilla extract will work but it won’t be as flavourful. Yes, the loose tea is okay to just float… you’ll strain everything out later. As for cardomom seeds, I’m sorry but I don’t know what the conversion would be.
It seems to be light on the spices, is this a strong and flavorful one? I love very strong chai flavor. Would doubling the spices be too strong?
No, I don’t think doubling would be too strong! You can always add more milk 🙂
I don’t have vanilla powder, but I have vanilla beans… that should do it, right? Split, scrape, and throw in at the beginning? Maybe only half a bean needed? Any idea?
Yes! Vanilla beans would be even better! They’re just expensive so I don’t buy them 🙂 Half a bean sounds like it would be plenty.
You could use stevia or some other nonsugar sweetener.
Yes, you could use stevia or some other non-nutritive sweetener!
If I left out the honey will it change the flavor a lot. I have Diabetes and that’s a lot of sugar grams. Thanks
Is there any brand of tea you prefer? Can’t wait to make this. Could I use liquid vanilla instead of powdered? Thanks for posting this
Most of the vanilla flavouring will evaporate if you use liquid. That’s the reason why I use powdered vanilla. But it would still be tasty with all the other spices in there!
As for brand of tea, I don’t have a particular allegiance!
Hmmmm I wonder if you could can this concentrate to make it last longer? Any thoughts anyone?
It could be frozen!
Yay! I’ve never even looked for the concentrates myself (I guess it never occurred to me) but I like this option, and feel like it would probably be more cost effective anyway. Thank you!
Yum! Just a question – how long is the concentrate good for in the fridge? Thanks Jessica!
I estimate it would be good for a couple of weeks in the fridge.
So excited to make this! You can actually still get the cartons of Chai Latte concentrate at the Winnipeg Costco on Kenaston, but I’m looking forward to having a less sugary option 🙂
Thanks Jessica!
Good to know! It’s interesting how the stock is slightly different at each Costco. I haven’t seen it at the one in st. James in a long time!
Yes! I’m so sad Costco doesn’t carry the concentrate anymore as I’m still very in love with the chai latte! I can’t wait to try this this week. Thanks Jessica
Chai lattes forever!