It was cold and rainy today. The leaves have fallen off of the trees and the cold weather has come on with a vengeance. As soon as the weather starts turning, I start thinking of all the things that I love about autumn. The crisp leaves, the cool air, my cozy slippers, flannel sheets, and warm drinks.
My favorite warm drink is chai tea. The drink mixes are expensive, but mixing up a batch of this yourself can help to keep your pockets nice and warm with a little extra money. Most of the spices, dry creamer, and dry milk are already stocked in my pantry. The only additions I usually have to run out and get is the instant tea and powdered vanilla creamer.
To make the batch more smooth, instead of gritty, I process everything through my blender. I first mix all of the white ingredients in my blender (milk, sugar, creamer, vanilla creamer). I dump those in a plastic container and then I mix up all the brown ingredients (tea and spices). I pour this on top in the plastic container, seal the lid and give it a good shaking to incorporate or mix it up with a spoon. If you have a large food processor, you may be able to process it all together, but if you have a blender it is best to do this in divided batches.
Not only is this drink mix wonderful for yourself, but mixing up a batch of this and tucking some of it in a mug would be a wonderful gift to give to someone special in your life.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea Mix
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer
2 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ cups unsweetened instant tea
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
¼ tsp white pepper
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until it is a fine powder. Add two-three tablespoons of mix to 8 ounces of hot water or milk.
What is your favorite autumn/winter drink? Do you have any recipes to share for drink mixes?
Thank you, Amy! I have a couple of the boxes from using a starbucks gift card but really would love to try making it on my own. It is so good on a cool afternoon. And I love making chai tea lattes when I have company over. No one ever refuses one
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Patricia Reply:
January 11th, 2013 at 7:42 am
The tea is VERY good… but it tastes even better with warm milk instead of hot water… (i use Lactaid milk and italian cream (international foods) creamer…
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I too love Chai. I’m going to have to try this! I make vanilla coffee a lot from the hillbilly housewife website.
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This looks great! I love Panera’s but will rarely ever pay for one. Have to try this.
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Looks great!! Will have to give this a try.
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Yum yum! I already know the perfect person to give a batch to!
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I am not a coffee drinker but I do love chai tea. I’m definitely mixing up a batch of this. Thanks for sharing.
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Amy, Can I ask if this is similar to Tastefully Simple’s On My Chai? I love that stuff and have found a less expensive version, but I would be THRILLED to make it myself! The drink I am looking for is like a creamy, spiced hot chocolate. Thanks for letting me know!
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Michelle- I have only had that chai once, but to the best of my recollection, it is VERY similar. This is very creamy since it has the creamer, milk, and vanilla creamer. I liked the Tastefully Simple, but I think this rivals the taste of that quite well. Let me know if you try it!!
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I am about to have mine iced this morning, but as it is getting chillier I will be referring to this! Thank you!
P.S.
So, are we ever going to manage a get together!?
Steph
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My mother-in-law is a big fan of chai tea. I’ll be passing this recipe on to her. Thanks for sharing!
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oh yummy! Can’t wait to make.
As for our fav drink…my hubbie and I sit down almost every night to a cup of Bengel Spice Tea from Celestial Seasonings. Absolutely divine!
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This sounds great and would be a perfect gift for the tea drinkers in my family! Thanks for the tip.
I love to take a small bag of red hots and fill a coffee filter with them. Then I’ll top them with a scoop of instant lemonade then run the coffee maker. It’s so delicious and super easy!
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That looks yummy – I love Chai Tea!
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This looks delicious! My favorite cold weather drink is Spiced Tea!
2 cups Tang
1/2 cup powdered Lemonade
1/2 cup instant Tea
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
(but I use one cup instant lemon-flavored tea and leave out the lemonade)
This is delicious and also a great mix for sharing!
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This sounds very similar to a recipe I have been using for years from allrecipes.com, and I LOVE it! I am going to make up batches to give as Chrismtas gifts this year!
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Oh My Goodness! This is so good. I made the mix with my daughter this afternoon and it is so good. I’ve been looking for a chai mix recipe for a while now, but couldn’t find on that I like. This is wonderful! I think I might make some for Christmas gifts this year!
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I love chai tea too. I have become a fan of celestial seasonings decaf chai. I got this for free after coupon at my grocery store. It is really nice and even better than coffee house quality. I recommend it.
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Junglewife- I did get it from allrecipes and then used the comments and feedback to add the other various spices that got mixed in there. It is sooo good!
Mandy- I am so glad that you guys liked it and even like it enough to maybe give it for gifts too. I think it is just great for entertaining. My mom expects it when she comes over in the fall & winter- it has become our drink
Thanks for giving it a try!
Stef- That drink sound sooo good. How in the world did you come up with that winning combination? I love it!
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Yet again another great reciepe. I was at Wal-Mart @ 5:30 this morning to get the fixings for this tea. When I got home, I made it and brought it to school (a small container) with my hot oatmeal. Brad thought I was crazy blending @ 6:30. But now that I have had time to breathe and take a bite of the oatmeal and a sip of tea, OMG it was so worth it. I agree that I may put this in jars for Christmas gifts. THANKS!!!!
Hugs
April
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I have been trying to come up with some sort of good, dry drink mix that I could give out at Christmas that wasnt hot chocolate and i think you posted it! This tea sounds great and I am going to put some of it in jars and give it as gifts to some of my favorite tea drinkers!! Thanks!!!
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Hi! Thanks for this recipe. My husband LOVES chai tea and we’ve had a hard time finding a mix that is just right. I made him a batch of this for Christmas and he told me it was “perfect” and now he never wants to buy another cup of Chai cause it won’t measure up!
-Christen
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This is amazing! We just whipped up a batch and it is delicious. The cardamom was a little too pricey for our budget so we omitted it (& the white pepper) & it is still realy good. So don't let the price of the cardamom keep you from trying this recipe.
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YUM! I’ve been wanting a recipe to make this as I got some homemade as a gift last year and wanted to know how to make a batch myself! Thanks so much!
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I think I will try making this without the creamer or the milk powder and just add to the instructions to mix with your favorite hot milk, since I have family that is allergic to dairy and even my mom can't take the non dairy creamer, but she could mix this with hot soy or rice milk and it would be a wonderful treat! thanks for the recipe!!
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Just want to tell you I did the mixing and blending and pouring of hot water yesterday. I was scared that with about 7 cups of this mix I wasn’t going to like it. It rated an A on my books! Definitely a challenger for the Oregon Chai packets that cost so much! Thanks for posting this!
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Amy Reply:
January 11th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
I am so glad it was a hit, Tina!! I know that it can be nerve-wracking to buy that much in ingredients or make a batch of that size. I am so glad you trusted me
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Amy, Do you know how many calories is in this recipe? Per 8oz cup? I am counting calories and would LOVE to make this at home but I have to know how much is in it. Thanks!
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Amy Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Approximately 100 calories per serving and 1.9 grams of fat. I hope that helps!!
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What do you mean by instant tea? Store bought powder for making iced tea? Or, do you mean loose tea (ie. tea leaves without the tea bag)? Sorry, we don’t call anything here instant tea. Dropping a tea bag into a teapot of boiled water and letting it steep is our “instant”.
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Amy Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 9:29 am
JMK- Instant tea is a powdered tea like instant coffee, used for making instant iced tea. It doesn’t come in a tea bag, just a loose powder. Hope that helps!
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Hi Amy,
I just love this recipe that you put up for Chi Tea but i have a little problem. I’m not able to buy instant tea in Australia anymore so i’ll have to try and purchas from ? What is the brand that you use? Hope to make some more for Christmas gifts.
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Amy Reply:
December 10th, 2010 at 7:42 am
Nicky- I use the Nestea brand. I hope you can find it!!!
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Nicky Reply:
December 10th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Thanks Amy
Yep, i have seen that in a special online “USA foods” shop that i can order from. I’m soooo happy now.
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Amy Reply:
December 11th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Hurray! So glad that you found somewhere to order from so you can make your chai tea!! Happy Holidays, Nicky!
I’m wondering instead of putting the sugar in the blender, which would turn it into powdered sugar, could I start with powdered sugar? Would that work okay? It would save me the time of having to blend the regular sugar.
I’ve made a similar delicious recipe that I found on HillbillyHousewife, which uses French Vanilla Powdered Non Dairy Creamer. I will be trying your recipe, I think the vanilla pudding would cost less & I’m curious to see how it compares.
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Amy Reply:
December 21st, 2010 at 11:39 am
Priscilla- I have never tried it with powdered sugar. Putting the sugar in the blender doesn’t make it powdered sugar, it makes it more of a superfine sugar, not really a powder consistency. It just will blend a little easier and dissolve better. I would hesitate to do the confectioner’s sugar in this place because I have no idea what that would taste like and I know the ingredients can be expensive. Happy Holidays!
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Priscilla Reply:
December 21st, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Thank you for your comments on the sugar. I got mixed up earlier, with my recipes. Your recipe is the one, I’ve tried & really like. It disappears too quickly…my children like to join me for ‘tea’. I’m a mom to 6.
Making a batch now and realize I’m out of ground cloves. Our WI roads are a bit yucky, from new snow. I’m tempted to leave grn cloves out or put a whole clove in my blender & pulverize it, but I’m not sure how well that will work. I have more than one blender, I’ve upgraded to a BlendTec blender, quite powerful.
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Priscilla Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 1:36 am
When making a cup of chai, do you have grounds left in the bottom? I use very hot water (just boiled) and stir…but still have some dark bits left in the bottom of my cup. I’m going to try blending the darker ingredients for a bit longer, maybe I didn’t get them fine enough. Any other tips? Thank You! I love the flavor of this chai tea.
Amy Reply:
January 1st, 2011 at 3:00 pm
There is some residue in the bottom of the cup and I just haven’t found a good way to remedy that. I just try not to drink that last swallow
Sorry I can’t be of more help!
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Thank you so much for this recipe! It is sooo yummy! Tastes just like I buy at my local coffee shop (for $4 a pop)! This is one of my new favorite drink recipes (my other one is the Spiced Tea mix already in the comments). I will be making this many more times
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I’M ON IT! I too, am a chai love love lover – I’ve shared my chai and gotten others hoooked on it too. YUUUMMMMM! I”m making this very soon…and will be thrilled to share with my chai loving friends. Thanks a million. My daughter – The Queen Mommy – shared your link at her blog post today. =)
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thank you soooooooooo much for this recipe!! I absolutely love chai tea but am very picky about how it’s made; the coffee and tea shops never seem to get the blend quite right. This is PERFECT–I gave it as Christmas gifts to all my girl friends last year and they loved it!!!!!
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would it be possible to do the whole thing in non-dairy creamer? Lactose intolerance is the worst!
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Amy Reply:
September 19th, 2012 at 11:55 am
I recently have developed this myself (lactose intolerance). You can definitely try it without the powdered milk. I would imagine it will be much creamier without it and you might want to use less of the mix and play around with the ratios a bit with your water.
I hope that helps, Maureen!
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I am so excited to find this recipe and am now in the process of gathering all the ingredients – was curious if you know – if you can use sweetened instant tea mix ( I am allergic to artificial sweetners) and just leave the reg sugar out or lessen the amt of the reg sugar? Can’t wait to make a batch………….
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Amy Reply:
October 16th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
I buy the Lipton Instant Unsweetened Tea. It comes in a jar and is next to the tea bags in the grocery aisle! They make a caffeinated and a decaffeinated version! I hope that helps!
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Margaret Peltier Reply:
November 13th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
thanks!
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I just finished mixing up some Vanilla Chai Tea. This is a litte piece of heaven in a cup. Delicious!
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Hi, I’m excited to try this and like the lady before me, I am gathering my ingredients. I can not find the unsweetened instant tea anywhere. The only thing I can find says “unsweetened instant ICED tea” by Nestea. Is this what you use?
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Amy Reply:
February 2nd, 2013 at 10:18 am
Yes, that is it!
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What is the best way to make this iced? Use normal temp water and add ice or still use boiling Anna ice that?
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