I’ve recently fallen in love with the Chair tea latte’s from the good people at Starbucks and I can’t seem to get enough of them. Spicy and sweet chai tea mellowed out by hot milk is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, especially for someone like me that doesn’t drink coffee.
The only problem said chai latte is $3 for small or tall or whatever stupid name Starbucks has for it. Bounce on one of those per day for a week and you’re in the hole $20.
So check this. I took the time to watch them prepare it one day and I saw that they were simply mixing a concentrate mix with milk and warming it on the milk steamer. Hmmm, I wondered. Do they sell that concentrate mix to the general public?
They sure as hell do: Tazo chai tea concentrate
But at $10 a container, you’re not saving much money.
Alas, it is also sold at Amazon. Many offerings of which are in bulk putting the price sub $4. Each 32 oz. container is mixed half and half with milk, giving you 64 delicous oz. of chai tea latte at $4.50.
If you don’t want to order online, Target stores also carry the concentrate mix at $3.99.
Tagged with: chai tea latte • starbucks chai tea latte • tazo chai tea
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April 29th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Awesome idea – I have been enjoying Starbucks chai lately, but I do not enjoy the cost. This is a great solution. I have been thinking of giving up coffee – it is too hard to buy or make a really good cup of coffee. I mean really good, not some lukewarm, bitter brew that leaves me tasting tobacco in my mouth afterwards.
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April 29th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Starbucks is such a joke. What a rip off! How can get away with selling it for $10 when Amazon & Target can sell it so much cheaper.
If you want an even cheaper way to have chai tea lattes, try making them yourself. It’s super easy. All you need is a chai tea bag, milk, and sugar. Heat up some water and steep the tea bag. Warm a little bit of milk (to taste). Add some sugar and the milk to the tea and stir. It will take a little practice to perfect your recipe, but once you do it will be better than what you get at starbuck$ and a lot cheaper.
Here’s a link to a more involved recipe, I’ve not made it, but it sounds tasty. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hot-Chai-Latte/Detail.aspx
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Jen Reply:
August 30th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Starbucks.com sell (2) cartons for $10.50. Making it only slightly more then in store.
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April 29th, 2009 at 9:17 am
This stuff is the same as what you’re looking for, and widely available locally. It’s definitely sold at World Market and Trader Joes, and I believe (not 100%, but almost sure) I have seen it at Giant Eagle and Target. It’s also available in regular or sugar-free, and I usually drink it cold mixed with milk and it’s goood. It’s also around $4.00 for their 32oz container.
http://www.oregonchai.com/
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April 30th, 2009 at 11:35 am
In the fall, try it with a shot of pumpkin (use half the chai) and in the winter, try it with gingerbread.
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June 18th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I am a big chai tea fan. Starbucks is definitely more expensive than buying Tazo Chai Concentrate… but they just don’t compare in taste. Starbucks is sooo much better. They don’t sell the mixture that Satrbucks uses. If anyone knows their secret, they me know!
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Chantal Reply:
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Tazo chai concentrate is the exact mixture Starbucks uses. I fill my tumbler to the top with ice and put half concentrate and half vanilla soy milk. It tastes exactly the same. Also, if you are going to have it hot, Starbucks put’s water in it to dilute the concentrate.
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June 21st, 2009 at 2:15 am
Yep. I noticed the same thing. The mixture at Starbucks is more of a concentrate that you mix about 1 to 3 milk.
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June 25th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
The above quoted Starbucks $10 price (actually $9.90) is for TWO – 32oz ounce cartons making it about $4.45 ec. I generally buy mine at Target for $3.99 or in a pinch @ Albertsons for $4.99. I mix mine (about 1/2 and 1/2) with Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk to get a smooth creamy delicious drink served hot with whipped cream and lots of cinnamon on top or simply over ice.
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July 24th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
“Hmmm, I wondered. Do they sell that concentrate mix to the general public?
They sure as hell do: Tazo chai tea concentrate ”
FYI: It’s not the same stuff. It is still Tazo brand, but It’s a special Starbucks only recipe in Tazo’s packaging. If you watched them prepare it, you would know that they don’t mix it 50-50. In the Venti size, they only put 6 (7 on request) pumps in it and the rest is all milk and ice for the Iced Chai. That’s not 1 to 1 or even 1 to 3 it’s more in the range of 1 to 6 or 1 to 10. I’ve been buying my Starbucks Chai concentrate on eBay. It usually goes for about $15 – $20 per quart carton and it’s got a better mix of spices. I make ‘em taste just like Starbucks does. Now don’t go outbid me LOL.
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February 21st, 2010 at 9:53 am
I tried something a little different the other day. Instead of buying the Chai mix, I bought the Kroger brand pumpkin pie powedered spice cannister from the spice isle and the tazo black tea bags. I added the pumkin pie spice to the black tea and steamed some milk. It was pretty close to Starbucks; I think I need to tweak the amount of powdered spice I used. I will use my cappucino steamer next time to see if it makes a difference. I’m thinking about adding the mix to the milk and steaming it together next time before adding to the tea. Any suggestions?
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June 11th, 2010 at 9:26 am
The tazo concentrate is the same as starbucks uses, I’ve talked to a few baristas about it but what no one has mentioned is that the concentrate needs boiling water to bring out the full flavour and then the steamed milk to make it taste better.. If you want to concentrate to be more concentrated, boil it down with chai bags in it to make it even more flavorful
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Steve Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
The Chai Tea Latte concentrate bought in the store or online is NOT the same as the stuff in Starbucks. The stuff in Starbucks is a syrup that Starbucks has ‘exclusive’ rights to. Tazo puts out the ‘concentrate’ version to the retail stores. That is why the Starbucks version has a stronger taste..it doesn’t have water in it. That is also why you see them ‘pump’ it instead of ‘pour’ it.
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January 11th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
If you have access to a commissary on military post most of them sell the same product for 2.99! I had purchased a container online then wondered if it was carried on post and sure enough. The manager told me that if I was to move to another military installation and the commissary did not carry it speak with the manager and they would order it at no extra cost.
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January 23rd, 2011 at 11:52 am
You can easily get close with tea bags but not all tea bags are the same. You’ll have to try a few to figure it out. I even have a variation for Cocoa Chai that I make from the Good Earth company. My trick is really to use two tea bags for one serving. Becuse I find that whatever you add (milk, soy or almond) will water it down, it is best to double up the bags. I usually go for the Spiced Chai Tea from the Market District brand from Ginat Eagle and it works great. If I use vanilla flavored almond milk or soy milk, I can avoid having to sweeten but sometimes I still do. when I order at *$ I always add a shot of vanilla as it seems to intensify the flavor a bit. Try making it at home – really. It really can be a cost savings and you can treat yourself to *$ every once in a while anyway.
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February 8th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Just tried a new recipe I came up with, based on the descriptions of others experiments.
2/3 cup Tazo Tea Chai Concentrate
1 cup Fat Free half-n-half
2 Twinings Chai Tea Bags
Put it all in a saucepan, heat to boiling on med-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, place in mug and enjoy. It came out a little strong, so I added about 1/4 cup of plain water and it was just about perfect!
I hope you all like this experiment, too.
Brenda
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June 4th, 2011 at 4:49 am
Chai Tea Mix
1 1/2 c unsweetened instant tea.
1 c non-dairy powdered coffee creamer.
1 1/2 c powdered milk
2 tbs instant Tang orange drink.
1 c Splenda (sugar substitute)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground allspice
At home in a blender, combine instant tea, powdered creamer,
tang, milk powder, splenda.
Add ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, allspice and blend
until mixture is a fine powder.
Store in an airtight container.
To serve, place 4 teaspoons of the mixture in a mug, and fill
with hot water. Stir.
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August 20th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
I’ve talked with several baristas and they all tell me the same thing: the chai that Starbucks uses to make the drink in the store is Oregon Chai, which you can purchase in concentrate at most grocery stores for $4-5 a box.
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October 8th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
I’ve come pretty close to making my own with the following….
Microwave half a cup of hot water.
Add two spoon fulls of agave nectar.
Add a splash of milk.
Then add Twinnings brand Chai Tea bag.
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October 13th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
if you buy the concentrate and you find its just not spicy enough just get an empty tea bag fill it with whole cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger then put it in the concentrate and let it steep. it tastes closer to starbucks mix
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