If you love a delightful iced chai latte but also want to celebrate the fall season by adding pumpkin flavor to your life, I’ve got the perfect recipe for you!
The iced pumpkin cream chai latte combines the warming spice flavors of chai with pumpkin cream cold foam, resulting in the perfect fall drink recipe.
The homemade version is tasty and has several health-promoting ingredients, making it a fall treat that you can feel good about.
With only a handful of ingredients, you can whip up this tea-based drink that might become your new fall favorite.
Let’s get to it!
Click here to skip right to the recipe.
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What is an Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte?
The iced pumpkin chai latte combines chai tea concentrate with sweet pumpkin cream cold foam.
Pumpkin pie spice is sprinkled over the top, giving the drink one final blast of fall flavor.
What’s in an Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte?
The pumpkin spice chai latte has a few main components.
And the true gift of making this drink at home is that you get to decide how it all comes together!
Chai
This popular drink is traditionally a blend of black tea, spices, and milk.
Chai tea lattes can be served either hot or cold.
The chai tea base can be either homemade or purchased from the store.
My favorite brand of done-for-you chai is Oregon Chai. It has the best overall flavor and holds up well in recipes such as this one.
The flavor of Oregon Chai is very similar to what you would find at a coffee shop.
But I prefer to make my own blend of spices and use decaf black tea.
You can also buy chai tea bags, although I have found the flavor very different from coffee shop versions.
The tea also ends up with a weak flavor that doesn’t combine well with the other flavors in this particular drink.
Despite the weaker flavor, it doesn’t have the higher amount of sugar that Oregon Chai has.
It also doesn’t contain the actual spices, eliminating possible “sludge” at the bottom of your glass.
If time is a factor, use Oregon Chai.
And if not, make your own batch of spices that you can combine with black tea for a unique, personalized version of this fall menu drink item!
Milk
The standard Starbucks version uses 2% milk; feel free to use your favorite milk.
There is milk in both the chai and the cold foam portions of this drink.
I prefer oat milk because it has a subtle flavor and foams well in the frother.
From a flavor perspective, almond milk works well, although it doesn’t froth very well.
Whole milk is another option that gives you a more robust drink.
You could also try one type of milk in the chai portion and another in the cold foam portion.
Experiment and see what tastes the best!
Sweet Pumpkin Cold Foam
Cold foam is simply cold milk that has been frothed to give it body.
Flavor syrup is generally added before it is frothed.
The cold foam in this recipe gets its pumpkin flavor from pumpkin puree sweetened with a hint of honey.
But you could substitute pumpkin spice syrup if you don’t want to make your own.
Either way, pumpkin cold foam is a tasty treat that is the perfect finishing touch to this delectable drink!
Why Should You Try the Homemade Version?
For years, I had been a silent bystander to the craziness of pumpkin spice season.
I saw people posting on social media about how much they craved that pumpkin spice flavor from their favorite seasonal latte.
Trying the drink had been on my bucket list, but I only took the plunge this fall when I wanted to create an easy Starbucks copycat recipe.
And so, I found myself in line at the local Starbucks coffee shop, ordering the iconic fall classic.
I couldn’t wait for that very first sip!
But my very first experience with the pumpkin spice latte was highly disappointing.
I found the drink sickeningly sweet, even by my standards.
There also was way less pumpkin flavor than I was expecting.
I found the drink so disappointing that I didn’t even finish it!
My disappointment with the drink inspired one of my favorite Starbucks copycat recipes.
By recreating the drink myself, I captured what I feel are iconic fall flavors without a lot of sugar or preservatives.
And by using real ingredients, I get the added bonus of each ingredient’s health bonuses.
Although creating coffee shop-style drinks at home may seem intimidating, you can have total control over what you add, and it’s a lot simpler than it appears at first glance.
You decide how much sugar and flavoring should be added.
Becoming a home barista is the best way to take control of your coffee habit!
And just think about all the time and money you’ll save by avoiding the drive-thru.
It’s a truly empowering feeling!
Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte
Ingredients
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 black tea bags
- 3 tsp honey divided, more to taste
- 3/4 cup milk divided
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- cinnamon garnish
- ice
Instructions
- Combine the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves in a small bowl and stir to combine. For a finer consistency, put the spice mixture in a spice grinder.
- Combine the boiling water, tea bags, 2 tsp of honey, and spice mixture and allow to steep for 10 minutes. A 2-cup glass measuring cup works well for this step.
- Once the mixture is done steeping, remove the tea bags. Give the mixture a stir. If you didn't grind the spices, you may want to strain the mixture to remove the excess spices. Do this by placing a cheesecloth into a strainer. Position the strainer over a pitcher and pour the mixture into the strainer to remove the sediment.
- Fill your favorite glass with ice. Then pour your homemade chai concentrate to fill the glass about halfway. Store the remainder of the chai concentrate in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Add approximately 1/4 cup milk to your glass and stir.
- Combine 1 teaspoon honey, pumpkin pie filling, 1/2 cup milk, and vanilla extract in a milk frother. You can also use a blender or handheld frother. Froth and pour into your glass.
- Sprinkle the drink with cinnamon and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an iced chai tea latte good for you?
Chai has several ingredients with health-promoting properties. Cinnamon, for example, has been shown to lower blood sugar and improve heart health.
Ginger is another common ingredient found in chai, and this spice is often effective in reducing nausea and improving digestion.
Cloves and cardamom have antibacterial properties that can ultimately improve digestive health.
It’s important to note that the amount of these spices found in most pre-mixed versions of chai is often too small to produce these benefits.
And most store-bought chai has almost more sugar than is recommended on a daily basis.
But by making your own chai at home, you can add more spice and less sugar, giving you a tasty and healthy drink!
Does chai have caffeine?
Chai contains black tea, which traditionally has caffeine.
Most coffee shop versions are, therefore, caffeinated.
If you want to avoid caffeine, use decaffeinated black tea.
How much sugar is in an iced pumpkin cream chai tea latte?
Order a grande of this drink from your local Starbucks, and you will consume over 60 grams of sugar. For comparison, this is more than 15 teaspoons of sugar!
Current health guidelines recommend limiting daily sugar to between 6 and 9 teaspoons a day, depending on individual factors, including gender and activity level.
One of the most significant benefits of making barista-quality drinks at home is controlling the ingredients.
And by adding less sugar, you can make healthy adjustments to the drink without sacrificing flavor.
Does chai have coffee in it?
Chai generally does not have coffee as it’s a tea-based drink.
But if you add a shot of espresso, the drink is known as a “dirty chai.”
Final Thoughts
The iced pumpkin cream chai tea latte is the perfect way to celebrate fall!
It’s creamy and comforting, and by making it at home, you can reap all the added health benefits of fresh ingredients.
Not to mention the added savings you’ll get by skipping the drive-thru!
Give it a try, and let me know what you think in the comments below.
And if you’re looking for more coffee-inspired content, check out these previous posts:
- How to Make a Copycat Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso
- Copycat Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe
- How to Make an Easy Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
- How to Make a Golden Milk Latte with Turmeric
- 8 Surprising Benefits of French Press Coffee
- Copycat Dunkin’ Iced Chai Latte Recipe
- How to Make a Copycat Raspberry Green Tea with Bubbles
- How to Make a Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew with Caramel
- Can You Froth Oat Milk? Your Guide to Home Frothing
- How to Make a Raspberry Chai Tea Latte
