Dreaming of a creamy smooth tea latte? There’s no reason you shouldn’t be treating yourself to perfectly frothy favorite tea latte every time you want to enjoy a soothing drink. You can easily make it at home.
What is a tea latte?
Tea latte is a milky drink made with steeped tea and hot milk. Milk can be steamed or frothed, or even heated and shaken in a cocktail shaker, blender bottle or a jar. Traditional latte made with coffee is a milky drink, containing more steamed milk than coffee, and froth on the top. That’s exactly how your tea latte should look and taste like–a strong shot of tea blended with a lot of steamed milk and froth on the top.
Making a perfect tea latte at home doesn’t need to be difficult. Yet sometimes, instead of a frothy creamy drink, you may still end up with a cup of watery, tea-flavored milky drink. The good news? It’s actually quite easy to make it at home, but there are some things you should pay attention to:
1. The choice of tea
Although theoretically you can use any tea for making tea latte, some teas may taste better than the others. To make a delicious-looking latte, tea base is as important as the choice of milk. Your tea should be strong and should go well with milk. Delicate white teas such as silver needle or gentle green teas such as Dragon Well are not the best choice for making a tea latte. Choose stronger black teas, those with chocolate, smoky and malty flavors, strong green teas such as matcha green tea powder or Chinese gunpowder tea, dark oolongs such as Red Robe or even herbal blends with chamomile and rooibos. Flavored teas are an amazing choice too. The size of tea particles will have an impact on your latte as well. Smaller broken leaves will infuse into a stronger cup than full unbroken leaves.
2. The amount of tea
To make a strong tea base, always use at least double the amount of tea leaves. If you are usually making tea with 1 teaspoon of loose leaves, use 2 teaspoons for making a latte. Next, use only about 1/3 to ½ cup of water.
3. The brewing method
How you brew your tea matters. After choosing the right tea and measuring the perfect amount of leaves, it’s time to steep. Use only freshly boiled spring water. Bring it to a boil and follow brewing instructions but steep it longer. Strain the tea into a mug. Always steep your tea right before adding steamed milk.
4. The choice of milk
Today, there are so many dairy and non-dairy milk options it’s often difficult to choose. The choice of milk will depend on your personal preferences and, of course, the type of tea. If you are not a vegan or vegetarian, cow’s milk is the best choice for making lattes. The more fat it has, the creamier and sweeter it will be, so using the full fat milk is a golden rule for making a proper latte. However, if you want to use a dairy free alternative, choose types that are not too watery. Some non-dairy milk brands are creamier than the others, and some milk types are naturally thicker. For example, cashew milk is usually always thicker than rice milk.
5. The choice of sweetener
Choosing the best sweetener for your latte is not a simple task either. Today, there are many alternatives to sugar, many of them healthier and tastier. White sugar, brown sugar, muscovado sugar, coconut flower sugar, even silver birch tree sugar, hundreds of types of honey and artificial sweeteners such as erythrol or natural stevia. If you want to add not only sweetness, but more flavor as well, you can choose different calorie free syrups, maple syrup or even make your own tea syrup. With so many options out there, it will be important to experiment.
6. The choice of utensils
To make a perfect tea latte, you will need some basic utensils. They include a kettle and a teapot or a strainer to brew tea, and something to steam and froth the milk. The easiest way to brew tea is using a teapot with a strainer, cotton tea filter, or a tea infusing basket. If you have a coffee machine or a milk steamer where you can steam and froth the milk, you won’t need any other utensils. Alternatively, you can use the microwave or boil the tea on the stove.
How to Make a Tea Latte (with a frother)
Perfectly steamed and frothed milk makes a difference between a perfect latte and a regular milk tea. To make a tea latte with a milk frother you need to:
- Brew loose leaf tea and strain it into your drinking mug.
- Add sweetener and stir.
- In a small saucepan and add about 2/3 to 1 cup of milk.
- Heat it over low fire and don’t let it boil.
- When it’s near its boiling point, remove from heat.
- Use electric hand frother to make froth.
- Pour frothed milk into your mug with tea.
How to Make a Tea Latte (no frother)
If you don’t have a frother, you can still make a delicious latte at home by using:
- Shaker bottle
- Glass jar
- French press
- Hand blender
- Hand mixer
- Balloon whisk
However, keep in mind that using a heated milk in closed bottles such as cocktail shaker or a closed jar will create pressure. Froth the milk first, then heat it using a microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove. If you are using hand blender or hand mixer, keep it on low power, and use it with heated milk in a saucepan. If you are using a French press, pour the heated milk into a French press and move the plunger up and down. For frothing milk in a jar or cocktail shaker, pour in lukewarm milk, close the bottle or a jar and shake vigorously for about 30 minutes. Then use a saucepan or a microwave to heat it properly.
Tea Latte Recipes
Ready to make your own lattes? Try some of these recipes first.
Regular Black Tea Latte
Regular black tea latte is a good starting point in earning how to make a perfect latte. Black tea is the easiest to brew out of all types of tea, it has the strongest flavor and almost any black tea will taste good with some milk. Besides, it goes well with sugar or other sweeteners too. If you want to perfect your skills, try choosing different types of black tea. Flavored teas such as Summer Nights, Pumpkin Spice Black, Simple Earl Grey or Honeyed Black tea all make for a wonderful cup of tea latte.
Ingredients:
- 2-3 teaspoons of broken leaf black tea
- ½ cup of water
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- 2/3 cups of milk
Instructions
- Place the tea leaves into a teapot or an infusing basket.
- Boil spring water using a kettle.
- Pour about 1/3 to 1/3 of water over tea leaves and steep in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. The longer you steep it, the stronger it will be.
- Strain the tea into your drinking mug.
- Add sweetener and stir.
- Steam and froth about 2/3 cups of milk.
- Add steamed milk to your tea.
Regular Green Tea Latte
Some green teas make for a wonderful cup of tea latte too. Although matcha green tea powder is by far the most popular type of green tea for making lattes, you can use some other teas and still get amazing drinks too. For example, stronger Chinese Gunpowder tea or delicious Indian Makaibari Green or Guranse green tea, fragrant Jasmine Green or even refreshing Moroccan Mint are perfect for making tea lattes.
Ingredients
- 2-3 teaspoons of Moroccan Mint green tea
- 2/3 cups of water
- Few fresh peppermint leaves
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- 2/3 cups of milk
Instructions
- In a small saucepan bring fresh spring water to a boil.
- Add tea leaves and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- Rub the inner wall of your drinking mug with fresh peppermint leaves.
- Strain the brewed tea into your drinking mug.
- Add sweetener and stir.
- Steam and froth about 2/3 cups of milk.
- Add steamed milk to your tea.
Spiced Black Tea Chai Latte
If you want to spice up your latte, there’s no better way than with adding a big of ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and star anise. Although this recipe uses spices, it’s not the same as regular Masala Chai. Chai Masala is a pulled tea, always made with full fat milk and approximately the same ratio of water to milk. Furthermore, it shouldn’t have any foam.
Ingredients
- 2-3 teaspoons of Assam black tea
- 2/3 cups of water
- Small piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
- ½ small cinnamon stick
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1-2 teaspoons of honey or sugar
- 2/3 cups of milk
Instructions
- In a small saucepan bring fresh spring water to a boil.
- Add tea leaves and spices and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- Strain the tea into your drinking mug.
- Add sweetener and stir.
- Steam and froth about 2/3 cups of milk.
- Add steamed milk to your tea.
