Instant Chai Mix {Free Printable Gift Tags}
This Instant Chai Mix will warm you right up! Free Printable Gift Tags make this perfect for gifting!
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not a coffee drinker.
This might not sound like a big deal, but it kind of is. Because almost every adult drinks coffee. It’s a whole big thing. People meet for coffee. They go spend lots of money in fancy coffee shops. They say things like, “don’t talk to me before I’ve had my coffee” or “does the hotel room come with a coffeemaker?”
Have you ever shared a hotel room WITHOUT a coffeemaker with a coffee drinker? Well. Mornings are fun, I’ll tell you that much.
But one thing I HAVE discovered, is that I love tea.
Obviously tea doesn’t have as much caffeine as coffee. For that reason, I kind of feel like coffee drinkers look at us tea drinkers as wimps. They’re all hardcore over there with their caffeinated motor oil and here I am sipping leaf water.
I get it, okay? I do. But I do dream of a day where tea and coffee drinkers are considered worthy of equal respect. Until that day, I’ll be whispering my Starbucks order (Oprah Chai latte, please) over all the scary sounding yells for Venti Lattes. Not being judgmental, but you coffee people are kind of a rowdy bunch.
I’ve discovered that I really do love Chai Tea. It’s creamy, it’s caffeinated, and the cinnamon spiciness is super comforting. I’ve bought several different brands of Chai mix and have never been super thrilled with it, so I decided to make it myself.
And, it’s amazing. So sweet, creamy, and spicy. It also makes a WONDERFUL gift (I love food gifts that can sit around until the person is ready to use it), so I’m including FREE printable tags! Aren’t they lovely?
I packaged my tea up in pint jars, which is enough for 5 -8 cups of tea. Smaller jars will yield just a few cups. This whole recipe fills 4 (1 pint) jars, so plan accordingly. It’s super simple to double or even triple this recipe!
Click HERE for the free printable tags. There is also a version that can be printed on round sticky labels HERE. Take as many as you need!
Ingredients
- 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
- 1/2 cup powdered non-dairy creamer (plain)
- 1 1/2 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
- 2 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 2/3 cups unsweetened instant tea
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in the spices. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.
- To prepare, stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water.
Notes
I like mine spicy! If you don't, decrease the pepper to 1/4 teaspoon or leave it out all together.
**adapted from Allrecipes
This is the perfect gift for any tea lover — just tuck in a jar of this mix along with a cute mug and a spoon :)
Enjoy!
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I’m with you! Venti non-fat, no water, extra hot Chai….and I’m from the home of Starbucks. Practically a sacrilege not to drink coffee in Seattle!!!
I live in the U.K. Never heard of instant tea.
Any ideas please
They sell instant tea in the U.K. Tesco & sainsbury both have jars of instant tea granules, one from PG tips, the other from Typhoo. They’re not easy to spot on the shelf but they are usually next to the herbal tea & loose leaf boxes. For the non dairy creamer the U.K. Only sells very small amounts of Coffee Mate powder and they don’t stock the vanilla version so it’ll have to be substituted for more plain powder instead.
I don’t drink coffee either. I like trying different types of tea, I love chai. I’ve seen recipes like this before but I hate powdered milk and I don’t even know if they sell creamer in Australia. I have a great chai tea syrup recipe which is the best. Let me know if you’d like it. It keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks and you just use about quarter of a cup top with milk and heat in microwave.
Yes please I would love your recipe
I would love to have your chai syrup recipe please.
I would like your chai recipe please
Gretchen- I would love your chai syrup recipe. I am chai fanatic!????
Gretchen, I would love your Chai syrup recipe as well. Thank you!
Gretchen, I as well would love your Chai syrup recipe! Thanks You!
Love this homemade gift idea!! Can’t believe how fast Christmas is coming!!
love this! cute tags!
OMG! Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve been craving chai but you can’t get where I live. I am so making this!
What is instant tea?
I LOOOOVE coffee, caffeine has no effect on me (it’s part of my DNA via my father), I even drink coffee on purpose before going to bed. But I also LOOOOVE a chai latte. and on the extremely rare occasion that I visit Starbucks (usually because someone wants to meet there or takes me there — I’m too cheap) I order a Large Chai Latte… I don’t know the size names.
I don’t drink coffee so chai tea is my go to drink on a cold morning. I was very excited when I saw this in my inbox. Thanks for sharing!
OOh, I love chai (I love coffee too, but that’s beside the point). This looks like such a perfect gift… and I’ll be sure to make one for myself too!
Chai is my beverage spirit animal. I love, love chai lattes, but now that Starbucks is far, far away, I never get to have them. I’m definitely trying this mix, and I love the tags! Your photos are beautiful.
So cute, love the tags :)
This is fantastic! Love the gift idea!!!
What a super cute gift! I am a coffee drinker, but not a rowdy one (I think) I do like a good cup of Chai though too!
WOW! Thanks for the chai recipe! I LOVE Chocolate Chai…can you tell us how to adjust the recipe to make it? Thanks!!
I’d think you could add some cocoa powder to the mixture before blending. Maybe I’d start with about 1 cup and then taste and if it needs more, add more just about 1/4 cup at a time until it’s how you want it.
I love Chai tea! Anything caffeinated at Starbucks makes me jittery, so I usually get the caramel apple spice (it’s seriously the best drink ever, but don’t let them skip the whipped cream!)…. Wonder what they think of me! I bought decaf tea for this (so I could have more than 1 cup :), but my grocery store had NO cardamom! How big of a deal is it to leave out?
has anyone tried this with splenda instead of sugar. I am diabetic and love chai. Bad combination.
Lovely photos Kristan and great recipe! Being an Indian, I have many cups of chai in a day :-D I add fresh ginger and lemongrass to mine, it tastes heavenly!
Im writing to you from India and we are big chai drinkers in this part of the world so thankyou very much for your recipe. However could you pls tell Me what do you mean by instant tea powder that you’ve incorporated in your blend. Here I use dry crushed tea leaves.
Can this be made with something other than Instant tea powder? I try to avoid using that as all the ones i’ve seen have Maltodextrin in them and i try to avoid that.
It sounds marvelous though.
You can make this without the tea powder and then steep your tea in the hot water and add the mix to your steeped tea. The mix would just add the creaminess, sweetness and spices.
Kristan,
I love, love, love this Instant Chai Mix! I have made several batches since you’ve posted it
Also, I have given it away (as gifts) to several family members who have raved about it.
Thank you so much for this & many great recipe – can’t get enough of this one!
Sheri
I am so glad to hear that — I absolutely love it too!! Better than any store bought chai mix I’ve tried. Thanks so much for reading!! :)
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Thank you SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE!! I ALREADY PLANED ON BEAUTIFUL CUPS AND SAUCERS I BOUGHT FOR THE WIDOWS OF OUR CHURCH FOR A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR THEM. IT SEEMS AT CNR SOME OF THESE LADIES ARE LONELY SO THEY ARE MY OWN LITTLE MISSIONARY PROJECT!!! DO YOU STILL MAKE FREE TAGS TO TIE ON CUPS? I NOT THAT TECKY ( I’M NOT SURE THAT’S A WORD) BUT I don’t KNOW HOW TO PRINT ANY!!!
This looks great .. but as a diabetic, I see all that sugar – which is something I avoid. Has anyone tried making it with Splenda or even no sugar and people can sweeten their cups as they wish as they make it?
What brand of instant tea do you use?
I use Lipton :)
Is it Lipton instant sweet tea? I could only find instant sweet tea at my local grocery store. In MN sweet tea is not as commonly drank as other areas of the US.
It’s unsweetened instant tea granules.
Is it chai tea powder or regular tea powder? Sorry blonde moment ?
Kristan,
If you want to put this in your coffee would you just leave out the tea?
Would you happen to know how many ounces of water you use with your serving? I have a Keurig and my daughter likes chai tea. Wanted to try this for her. Thanks!
Can this be made non dairy? I wonder if there is such a thing as powdered almond milk?
I got powdered soy milk from the health food store. Not sure about almond milk though.. let me know if you find it anywhere! =)
There is powdered rice milk – I’ve gotten that before. :)
How much does this recipe yield? (how many jars? is it possible to cut in half?
Is this using the unsweetened iced tea mix?
Hi, love this recipe! I gave it as holiday gifts. I also made some non-holiday labels and instructions that I would love to share, but I don’t see how I can leave an attachment here in the comments. They are a red, white and black color scheme. I am hoping to use these as gifts throughout the year. Let me know if you would like me to email them to you. :) Thanks again!
1. WHAT is an Oprah Chai Latte?!?
2. Have you had the Chai Tee Frappacino from Starbucks? Add 1 pump of sugar-free vanilla. It’s amazing, especially in warmer months.
3. I tried a mix made with Splenda – tasted like chemicals. I’m going to make this with Truvia.
Thanks for the recipe!
The Oprah Chai is a chai available at Starbucks. It’s okay — not my favorite. I’ll have to try the frappe!
What is Chai syrup, would like to try. Love chai tea.
I like chai tea and also suggest to check this, it’s amazing.
I substitute a little less of Xylitol for the sugar in the recipe. Xylitol is a natural and very healthy alternative to sugar and even though it is a little more expensive to buy, lasts a long time,
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Checked at my store and wasn’t able to find instant tea granules – all I could find was unsweetened instant ice tea powder would that work?
I only found sweetened vanilla creamer. Did you use an unsweetened vanilla creamer? I felt it was a little too sweet. I would use less sugar next time.
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