It’s easy to make your own sweet and refreshing iced dirty chai latte at home with just a handful of ingredients.
A couple months ago, I posted a dirty chai latte recipe that’s been a reader favorite. Since we’re heading into warmer weather, it felt like a good time to show you how to transform that warming winter drink into something icy, refreshing, and perfect for spring and summer.
Time to make an iced dirty chai latte.
An iced dirty chai is simply a chai latte with a shot of espresso served over ice. If you’ve never had one, it’s incredibly good, lightly spiced from the chai, with a hint of bitter coffee flavor that’s mellowed out by the milk.
At Starbucks, you’d make it with premade chai concentrate, milk, and brewed espresso, but you can make a pretty darn good chai latte at home without two of those three ingredients by being just a little creative.
Ingredient Notes
- Chai tea bags: Instead of store-bought chai concentrate, we’ll make our own shortcut concentrate using a couple chai tea bags, some water, and some sugar.
- Milk: Any milk will work just fine in this recipe. Feel free to swap in your favorite dairy-free milk if you’d like to make a vegan latte.
- Chilled coffee: Instead of espresso, we’ll use strongly brewed coffee here. Your coffee needs to be chilled or at the very least room temperature or you’re going to melt the ice too quickly and water down your drink. If starting with hot coffee, measure out what you need and put it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until it cools. If you have espresso-making capabilities and you’d like to use espresso, feel free to replace the coffee with a shot of espresso and simply increase the milk to slightly less than ¾ cup.
How to Make an Iced Dirty Chai Latte
1. Steep tea: In the microwave or on the stovetop, bring water to a boil. Steep tea bags in the water for 5 minutes.
2. Add sugar and coffee: Remove and discard the bags and stir in the sugar until the sugar dissolves completely. Stir cold coffee into the chai mixture. The cold coffee will help bring down the temperature of the chai concentrate so it doesn’t melt the ice too quickly. Do not use hot coffee at this step!
3. Assemble: Fill a 16-ounce cup or mason jar with (about) 1½ cups of ice. Pour chai/coffee mixture over the ice. Add milk, and stir to combine.
4. Serve: Add whipped cream and cinnamon (or cinnamon whipped cream) if desired, and enjoy!
FAQ
Can I make this with cold brew?
Absolutely. Cold-brew would work great here.
Can I make this without coffee?
Sure. If you leave out the coffee and replace it with the same amount of milk, you’ll have an Iced Chai Latte instead of a Dirty Chai. Mix the milk with the chai concentrate before pouring it over the ice, and enjoy!
More Easy Coffee Recipes
Iced Mocha
Iced White Chocolate Mocha
Homemade Mocha
Iced Caramel Latte
White Chocolate Mocha
Iced Dirty Chai Latte
Ingredients
- ¼ cup filtered water
- 2 chai tea bags
- 2 teaspoons (8g) granulated sugar *
- ⅓ cup chilled, strongly brewed coffee *
- 1½ cup of ice
- ½ cup milk any percentage
- Whipped cream optional for topping
- Cinnamon optional for topping
Instructions
- Bring ¼ cup of water to a boil. Steep tea bags in the water for 5 minutes.
- Remove and discard the bags and stir in the sugar until the sugar dissolves. Stir cold coffee into the chai mixture.
- Fill a 16-ounce cup with (about) 1½ cups of ice. Pour chai/coffee mixture over the ice. Add milk, and stir to combine.
- Add whipped cream and cinnamon if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Leo says
I love a dirty chai! When I first worked in a coffee shop, I thought all chai drinks had coffee in so a few customers had a bit extra energy those days!!