Homemade Iced Chai Cold Foam (Print View)

A spiced iced chai topped with creamy cold foam, ideal for a refreshing and comforting drink.

# Ingredient List:

→ 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, 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)

# Directions:

01 - Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add tea bags, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, 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, stir in honey or maple syrup while warm, then cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled.
03 - Using a whisk or milk frother, whip heavy cream, sugar or honey, and vanilla extract until thick and foamy but not stiff.
04 - Fill two tall glasses with ice cubes. Pour chilled chai concentrate over ice, filling glasses approximately two-thirds full.
05 - Spoon cold foam over the chai and optionally dust with ground cinnamon. Serve immediately.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The foam is impossibly easy to make and tastes decadent enough to trick you into thinking you're at a fancy coffee shop.
  • Once you have the chai concentrate chilled, you can pour drinks in under a minute whenever the craving hits.
  • Those whole spices infuse faster than you'd expect and give you control over how strong or mellow your chai becomes.
02 -
  • The spices need time to release their flavor, so don't rush through that simmering step or you'll end up with something that tastes more like warm water with tea than actual chai.
  • If you whip the cream too far, you genuinely get butter, so watch it carefully and stop the moment it looks fluffy and thick but still spreadable.
  • Using chilled cream from the fridge helps it whip faster and more reliably than cream that's been sitting out.
03 -
  • Buy your spices from somewhere with good turnover so you know they're fresh—old cardamom and cloves will taste dusty and underwhelming instead of bright and alive.
  • If you don't have a milk frother, a whisk and some elbow grease works just fine, and honestly the hand-whipped foam sometimes feels better when you've made it yourself.
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