Homemade Iced Chai Cold Foam (Printable Version)

A spiced iced chai drink with a creamy cold foam topping, perfect for warm days or anytime refreshment.

# What You'll Need:

→ Chai Concentrate

01 - 2 cups water
02 - 2 black tea bags
03 - 1 cinnamon stick
04 - 4 whole cloves
05 - 4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
06 - 4 black peppercorns
07 - 1-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
08 - 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup, adjusted to taste

→ Cold Foam

09 - 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
10 - 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
11 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ To Serve

12 - Ice cubes
13 - Ground cinnamon for dusting (optional)

# How To Make It:

01 - Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add tea bags, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pods, peppercorns, and sliced ginger. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
02 - Remove from heat, discard tea bags, and allow spices to steep for an additional 5 minutes. Strain mixture into a pitcher and stir in honey or maple syrup while warm. Cool to room temperature before refrigerating until chilled.
03 - Whip cold heavy cream, sugar or honey, and vanilla extract with a whisk or milk frother until thick and foamy but not stiff.
04 - Fill two tall glasses with ice cubes. Pour chilled chai concentrate into glasses, filling approximately two-thirds full.
05 - Spoon cold foam generously over chai and optionally dust with ground cinnamon. Serve immediately.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It tastes like you spent ten minutes at a café instead of ten minutes at home.
  • The cold foam elevates something simple into something that feels genuinely luxurious.
  • You can make the concentrate ahead and pull together a café-quality drink whenever the mood strikes.
02 -
  • If you add honey or syrup after the chai cools, it'll sink to the bottom and you'll get sweetness only in the last sips—always sweeten while warm.
  • Don't skip the second five-minute steep after removing from heat; that's where the deeper chai flavor lives, and it's the difference between something good and something you'll crave.
03 -
  • Toast your whole spices lightly in a dry pan for thirty seconds before adding water; it wakes them up and makes the chai taste even more aromatic.
  • Invest in a milk frother if you love foam drinks—it transforms the whole experience and takes the guesswork out of getting the texture right.
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