Simple Christmas Morning Chai Recipe

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The holiday season is a wonderful time of the year. Everything seems so merry and bright. Christmas morning itself is a magical time for children, waking up to dreams of Santa Claus and stockings full of treats. For adults, this magical day can feel a little stressful with all the responsibilities that come with creating this magic for their children. But, with a hot cup of this Christmas Morning Chai recipe in your hand, the enchantment of Christmas morning can be rediscovered in the form of a hot, sweet caffeinated beverage!

Chai literally means tea. In India, chai is a hot, spicy, sweet, and milky beverage that is enjoyed daily by the billions. A popular American version that has gained popularity is the Dutch Bros’ Christmas morning chai tea. This sweet, chocolaty chai version of traditional Indian chai has created a Christmas season following of enthusiasts.

Since the festive season is upon us, I tried to experiment with this simple Christmas morning chai recipe that you can make at home. I also want to introduce you to the traditional Indian way of making chai, which has long delighted the world of tea drinkers.

What is Chai Tea?

America’s favorite chai tea latte is a reinvention of Indian chai. This delicious drink is a staple in India. Indian chai is essentially black tea with sugar, milk, and some aromatic herbs and spices that create a warm and aromatic drink. No Indian breakfast is complete without a hot cup of chai to accompany your hot idlis, dosa, and chutney. Chai actually means “tea”, but in the western world it is known as “Chai Tea”, which actually makes it “Tea Tea”. But, no matter, tea is so good, it’s worth saying twice!

In India, chai concentrates are not typically available, as people make their chai fresh every day. However, in American supermarkets, you can easily get chai concentrates. I’ll show you both ways of making chai.

The first is a copycat version of the Dutch Bros Christmas Morning Chai recipe. You can make it hot, which I prefer, but you can also make a cold brew version or an iced version of it with ice cubes. The second is an authentic Indian chai recipe that will warm up your Christmas morning with the aroma of aromatic spices filling your home.

Ingredients

There are two sets of ingredients, as I am going to share two ways of making chai tea on Christmas morning.

For Dutch Bros’ Copycat Christmas Morning Chai Recipe

Chai concentrate

For this easy recipe, you need a good chai concentrate that you can get at most grocery stores. Dutch Bros uses the Oregon chai tea concentrate, so if you can, pick that one to mimic the recipe closely. You can also use the Oregon instant powder mix, but I personally liked the concentrate better. One half cup of concentrate should be enough.

Creamer

Use whole milk for greater creaminess. You need around a cup to make this white chocolate chai breve. You can also use almond or oat milk. 

White Chocolate Syrup

This is the secret ingredient of Dutch Bros Christmas morning chai tea recipe that lends so much texture and white color to the drink. You can substitute it with vanilla syrup, white chocolate sauce or a caramel drizzle according to your preference.

Optional

You can optionally add whipped cream, fresh nutmeg, chocolate milk or coconut sugar according to your taste buds.

For Indian Chai Recipe

Black Tea Leaves

This is the base ingredient for Indian chai tea. Make sure you get a high quality loose leaf black tea.

Whole spices

You can either use chai spice blends or use whole spices separately which are steeped in hot water with the tea leaves to make a concoction. Use 2-3 cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, and a star anise pod to make a typical masala chai mixture.

Whole milk

Whole milk is typically used for chai.

Fresh Ginger

My pro-tip is to add a small piece of fresh ginger. This lends masala chai its unique flavor, but you can skip it if you do not like your chai too strong.

Sweetener

Add white or brown sugar or any sweetener of your choice.

Cooking instructions

Are you ready to set a new holiday tradition? Let us add this delicious Chirstmas morning chai recipe to your family’s Christmas morning breakfast.  

For Dutch Bros’ Copycat Christmas Morning Chai Recipe

Heat your chai tea concentrate in a small pot with whole milk. Mix continuously to avoid scalding of the milk. When the mixture is steamy hot, take it off the heat. Avoid boiling the mixture.

Now simply stir in your white chocolate syrup. Taste it as you go to make sure it doesn’t get too sweet.

Top it with some whipped cream and fresh nutmeg, and you are good to go with this creamy goodness. 

For Dutch Bros’ Iced Chai Tea Recipe

To make an iced version of this coffee shop recipe, add your whole milk, chai tea concentrate, and white chocolate to a blender with some ice cubes and blitz it.

Now put some ice cubes in your holiday cups and drizzle a small amount of white chocolate syrup over them.

Then pour your milk and chai blend over the ice.

Finally, add some whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg or ground cinnamon on top for that holiday touch.

For Indian Chai Recipe

In a small saucepan, boil a cup of water with tea leaves, whole spices and a small piece of ginger until it is reduced to half.

Boil some whole milk in another pan and add it to the boiling masala chai mix.

Now add sugar according to your taste and pour your masala chai tea in cups through a strainer to remove whole spices.

Your strong masala chai is ready.

Serving

Serve your chai with Christmas morning breakfast or enjoy anytime of the year. You can also create a fusion breakfast spread that joins east and west just like this tea. Serve it with a South Indian breakfast with masala idlis, Indian stir-fried potatoes, and chutneys. You can also serve it to your guests with Indian snacks like ulli vada or medu vada.