Oat milk masala chai: the best recipe, hot or iced

Made well, oat milk masala chai is very good. It is creamy enough to carry the spice, it froths well, and it suits anyone who skips dairy. Ginger, black pepper and clove give it warmth, and oat milk's mild sweetness rounds them off.

Oat milk does need handling a little differently from cow's milk, so here is how we make it, hot and iced, with the same amount we use for everything else: one level tablespoon of chai, about 5 g, for every cup.

At a glance

For	Chai	Water	Oat milk	Time
1 hot cup	1 level tbsp (5 g)	½ cup	½ cup	7 min
2 cups, on the stove	2 level tbsp (10 g)	a scant cup	a scant cup	8 min
1 iced latte (16 oz)	1 level tbsp (5 g)	½ cup	1 cup, cold	20 min with cooling

Three rules for oat milk chai

• Brew the tea strong, and cover it. Oat milk is lighter than whole milk, so a weak brew tastes thin. A lid or saucer keeps the spices' aroma in the cup.
• Do not boil it hard. Many oat milks thicken or separate at a rolling boil. Heat it until it steams and stop there. That also means the three rises of stovetop chai are for dairy milk only.
• Barista-style oat milk froths best. It is made to hold foam, so it is worth using for a latte. Some oat milks are already sweetened, so taste before you add sugar.

Hot oat milk masala chai, the quick way

Makes 1 cup · about 7 minutes. You will need a mug with a lid or saucer, a small pan, a fine strainer and a milk frother.

• 1 level tablespoon of masala chai, about 5 g
• ½ cup (120 ml) water, just boiled
• ½ cup (120 ml) oat milk, barista-style if you can
• Sugar or maple syrup, to taste (optional)

1. Steep. Put the chai in a mug, pour the just-boiled water over it, cover, and leave it for five minutes.
2. Warm the oat milk. While it steeps, heat the oat milk in a small pan until it steams. Do not let it boil.
3. Froth. Take the pan off the heat and froth for about 20 seconds.
4. Strain and pour. Strain the chai into your cup, pour in the oat milk, and sweeten to taste.

Oat milk masala chai on the stove, for two

Makes 2 cups · about 8 minutes. The tea is boiled in water first, as always, which draws the most out of the spices. The oat milk goes in at the end and is only warmed, so skip the three rises you would give dairy milk.

1. Boil the water with the chai. A scant cup (200 ml) of water and 2 level tablespoons (10 g) of chai, on high heat. About 2 minutes.
2. Simmer for two minutes, until the water is deep amber.
3. Add a scant cup (200 ml) of oat milk and turn the heat down. Warm it until it steams, without letting it boil.
4. Sweeten and strain into two cups.

Iced oat milk chai latte

Makes 1 large glass (16 oz) · about 20 minutes, including cooling the chai.

• ½ cup of strong chai: 1 level tablespoon of chai steeped in ½ cup of just-boiled water, covered, for five minutes, then strained
• 1 cup (240 ml) cold oat milk
• 1–2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup, optional
• Ice

1. Sweeten the chai while it is warm, so the sugar dissolves, then let it cool completely, or chill it in the fridge, so it does not melt the ice.
2. Fill a tall glass with ice and pour in the chai.
3. Pour in the cold oat milk. One cup is our standard, one part chai to two of milk. Use 1¼ cups for a lighter glass, or ½ cup for a stronger one.
4. Top with oat milk foam if you like: froth a few tablespoons of cold barista oat milk until thick and spoon it on.

Our concentrate recipe makes a batch that keeps five days in the fridge, so you can skip the first step on busy mornings. There are photos of each step in our brew guide.

Common mistakes

• Boiling the oat milk. It can turn grainy or separate. Warm it until it steams.
• Too little tea. Oat milk needs a strong brew. Keep to one level tablespoon a cup.
• Sugar on top of sweetened oat milk. Taste first.

Which chai to use

Both of our masala chais work for all of these, with the same six spices: cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, clove and black pepper. The Masala Chai pouch is Assam CTC, which brews dark and fast and stands up well to oat milk. The whole-leaf tube is smoother and more layered. Both are unsweetened and make 30 cups.

Prefer one spice? The same recipe works with our Cardamom Chai pouch.