Chocolate Chai Recipe

Toast spices briefly

In a small dry saucepan over medium heat, add the crushed cardamom, cloves, peppercorns and broken cinnamon stick. Toast for 30–45 seconds until fragrant, stirring constantly to avoid burning.

Add water and ginger to the saucepan along with the toasted spices and star anise (if using). Bring mixture to a gentle simmer over medium-high heat.

Once simmering, reduce heat to low and let the spiced water simmer gently for 6–8 minutes to extract flavors. Partially cover the pan to limit evaporation.

Add the tea leaves (or tea bags) to the simmering spiced water. Continue to simmer for 2–3 minutes for strong flavor (adjust time shorter for lighter chai).

While the tea simmers, in a small bowl whisk together the unsweetened cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon of the milk to make a smooth paste (this prevents lumps). Set aside.

After the tea and leaves have steeped, pour in the remaining milk, the cocoa paste, chopped dark chocolate, brown sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt into the saucepan.

Increase heat slightly and warm the mixture until it is hot but not boiling, stirring constantly to melt the chocolate and dissolve the sugar. Do not let the mixture come to a full rolling boil—small bubbles around the edge are fine. This should take 2–4 minutes.

Taste and adjust sweetness or chocolate intensity: add more sugar for sweetness, or an additional 1/2 ounce chopped chocolate / 1 tsp cocoa for deeper chocolate notes. If flavor is too concentrated, add up to 1/4 cup more milk and warm through.

Remove the saucepan from heat. Using a fine-mesh strainer or tea strainer, strain the chocolate chai into a small pitcher or directly into mugs to remove the tea leaves, ginger and whole spices.

If desired, dollop whipped cream on top of each cup and dust lightly with cocoa powder or grated chocolate.

Serve immediately while hot.