10 Minute Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte Starbucks

A flavorful pumpkin spice chai latte that is full of flavor and spice, making the perfect cozy drink!  Use authentic chai masala powder to make a delicious cup of chai that is better than a Starbucks copycat!

Homemade pumpkin spice chai latte made the way authentic masala chai is made!  This gives the cup of chai more flavor and gives you the flexibility to hit the spice notes you love.

This blend complements the chai spices and introduces a cozy, seasonal pumpkin flavor that’s synonymous with fall. This Starbucks copycat pumpkin chai latte recipe looks to elevate the flavors you usually get at your local coffee shop.

Chai tastes like creamy black tea with a balance of spicy and sweet. This homemade chai latte celebrates pumpkin season with the flavors of fall.

I use a quick 10-minute pumpkin sauce recipe as a component of this delicious cup of chai. 

Fellow chai lovers may also be interested in trying a better than Starbucks Iced Chai Latte or an Oat Milk Chai.

Chai is one of my favorite things and love to try out different flavors. Some include hot Chocolate Chai, Rose Chai, Biscoff Chai

Ingredients

You can make this with a pumpkin spice sauce or I’ll outline the ingredients for a single serving in the recipe card below!

Black Tea Bags or Loose Tea: The foundation of a Pumpkin Chai Latte is the black tea base. Black tea offers a robust and full-bodied flavor that serves as a canvas for the other ingredients. 

You can either use a black tea bag or for a more authentic chai taste, use a CTC loose leaf tea such as the Wagh Bakri brand I use for chai.

Chai Masala Powder: No chai is complete without it! Chai masala is a blend of various spices that infuse the tea with a unique and complex flavor profile. Common spices found in chai masala include cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and black pepper. These spices create a warming sensation and a depth of taste that’s both invigorating and soothing.

Pumpkin Spice Sauce: The star of the show, the pumpkin spice sauce can be easily made at home with real pumpkin puree!

You’ll need pumpkin pie spice which you can also make at home.  It typically consists of a mixture of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.  

Water: Water is used to brew the black tea and infuse it with the chai masala powder. It acts as a carrier for the flavors from the tea leaves and spices, helping to create a balanced and aromatic base.

Milk: Milk is the creamy component that transforms the chai tea into a latte. It adds richness and a silky texture to the drink. The fats in milk also help to mellow the strong flavors of the tea and spices, resulting in a more balanced and indulgent beverage. 

The type of milk can be substituted with plant-based milk but I prefer dairy milk for a creamy chai.

Substitutions + Variations

You can use various types of milk, such as cow’s milk, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, or oat milk, depending on your preferences and dietary restrictions.

Vanilla extract – Optionally you can add a dash of vanilla extract, but since the warm spices are strong, you definitely don’t need it.

The pumpkin spice sauce uses sweetened condensed milk.  If you’d like a sweeter chai feel free to add a little white sugar, maple syrup, or brown sugar according to your taste 🙂 

How To Make It

To make a Pumpkin Chai Latte, the ingredients are combined in a specific manner. 

First, the black tea bag is steeped in hot water along with the chai masala spices, allowing the flavors to meld together. 

Then, the pumpkin spice sauce is added, infusing the tea with the comforting aroma of pumpkin and fall spices. Finally, milk is added and boiled

You can optionally top it with steamed milk to create that signature latte creaminess.

Here are the details

Add water, chai spices, and black tea bag to a pot and let it come to simmer on medium-high heat.

Once it simmers for 1-2 minutes, add whole milk and pumpkin sauce to pot on medium-high heat. Let it come to rolling boil. 

Note, if using loose tea leaves you may want to add the pumpkin sauce last, after the tea is boiled and strained else you will lose some of the pumpkin in the straining process.

In about 3 minutes the chai will begin to boil and produce foam. The foam will rise to the top, before it reaches the top turn down the heat. I like to let it rise twice by turning the heat up then back down.

Use a spoon or silicon spatula to scrape the sides of the pot so the tea stuck to the sides is mixed back in.  Then, keep heat on medium or a notch below medium to let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Turn off gas and strain tea into a mug. Optionally top the pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream or steamed milk for a frothy topping!  You can use a milk frother or even an immersion blender to achieve a foamy topping.

Have you tried this pumpkin spice chai (tea) latte recipe? If so, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a comment and rate it with stars. It would mean a lot to me to hear how it turned out. If you’re on Instagram, please tag me so I can see your creation. Thank you for your support!