Name: Rooibos Chai Latte
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 tsp rooibos; 6 cloves; 8 cardamom pods; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 cm ginger root in slices; 2 tsp dark syrup; 500 ml milk; Cinnamon powder; Cinnamon sticks

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Spicy chai latte is one of my favourite autumn and wintertime beverages. I used to make it with black tea, but when my four-year-old daughter loved it and wanted to sip it with me (basically every day), I preferred to dial down the caffeine that she would have from it. Using rooibos bush leaves instead of black tea gives earthy flavours to accompany spices like cinnamon and cardamom, with no bitter flavours. And it is naturally theine-free, so better for the little ones too!

Rooibos chai latte in a brown cup with a cinnamon stick and colourful autumn leaves around it.

The key things for the most fragrant rooibos chai latte

Keep the milk simmering low and use the thick-bottomed pot so as not to burn the milk.
Always use as fresh spices as you can for maximum flavour.
Grind the spices well with a mortar and pestle to release their flavors.

A woman holding a theine-free rooibos chai latte cup with a cinnamon stick as a decoration.

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Rooibos leaves to balance energy

Rooibos is one of my favourite herbal teas. It is perfect to balance your energy naturally with the lack of theine that is found in true teas made from the camellia sinensis tea plant. Theine is essentially the same as caffeine, but it is more commonly associated with teas. Herbal teas such as rooibos don’t contain theine. That’s why they don’t create such bitter notes like tea when steeped incorrectly.

A woman holding a rooibos chai latte cup with cinnamon powder garnish against the autumn leaves.

If rooibos is your thing, you might want to try out my rooibos iced tea recipe, which is a perfect refresher!

Ingredients You Need for Rooibos Chai Latte

The ingredients for the rooibos chai latte lay on the wooden table: cloves, rooibos, dark syrup, cardamom pods, ginger root, cinnamon stick, and a pot with milk.

Rooibos: Use good-quality natural rooibos leaves that are unflavoured.
Cloves: Can be substituted with a quarter to half a teaspoon of clove powder.
Cardamom pods: If you don’t have the pods, you can substitute with about 1 tsp of cardamom seeds, just remember to grind them for maximum flavour.
Cinnamon stick: Cinnamon adds truly beautiful warm flavours, and if you rinse and let it dry it you can definitely use it multiple times. Save a few sticks to use as straws if you are drinking with children!
Ginger root: Slice as thinly as possible to give more flavour. Substitute with half a teaspoon of powdered ginger if you don’t have fresh root on hand.
Dark syrup: Dark syrup adds the deep hues and flavours in the rooibos chai latte that match perfectly with the seasoning too. If you prefer, you can substitute with your favourite natural sweetener, but it will slightly affect the flavor.
Milk: I tend to use skimmed cow milk with this one, but for a more luxurious chai latte, you can try whole milk too. Neutral plant-based milk, such as oat milk or almond milk, is my suggestion to try out. If you do use other milk, make sure to let me know in the comments. I would love to know how it turned out!

You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.

Tools you may need

Pot of half a litre with thick bottom
Mortar and pestle
Tea sieve
Cups for serving

How to Make Rooibos Chai Latte

Gather all the ingredients and tools you need, and let’s begin!

Step one: Prep the spices

Grind cloves and cardamom pods finely in your mortar. You will be straining the chai later so you can leave the cardamom pods with their seeds in.

Slice ginger root as thinly as you can.

Step two: Simmer spices with milk

Put the pot with milk of your preference on a low heat. Add the spices you grinded, ginger root slices, rooibos leaves, cinnamon stick.

Milk in a pot with chai latte spices and rooibos leaves.

Sweeten with dark syrup and let it simmer covered for 10 to 15 minutes.

Step three: Sieve the spices off and garnish

If you want stronger flavours, you can turn off the heat and leave the pot for another 10-15 minutes and just quickly warm it up before the next step.

Pour rooibos chai latte thrugh a tea sieve into the cups. Save and wash the cinnamon stick for later use. Discard the rest.

Serving

Garnish each cup of spiced rooibos chai latte with some cinnamon powder and a cinnamon stick.

A woman reaching for a cup of rooibos chai latte with a cinnamon powder and cinnamon stick garnish.

We had fun one day with my daughter using the cinnamon sticks as straws when we were sipping our rooibos chai lattes. It gives an amazing cinnamon flavour that way!

A woman spipping rooibos chai latte through a cinnamon stick straw.

Share your Rooibos Chai Latte with Me!

Tag me on Instagram with @blue.tea.tile or let me know in the comments how your spiced drink turned out! I would love to see your version of the rooibos chai latte!

You can find the recipe card below!

Two cups of coffeine-free chai latte with rooibos among the red and yellow colored autumn leaves.