There are various versions online of how to make your own tea latte at home. I have been playing around with this quite a bit lately and it’s a lot of fun to test different methods out. The great part is that you don’t need an expensive machine. Making your own latte at home is simple, cheaper, and it’s just a great feeling when you’re drinking a fancy beverage that you know you made yourself!
Today, I’m sharing with you three different methods I tried in order from least favourite to the best! The tea I used for this experiement was Seven Sisters Tea’s Caramel Cherry Cheesecake. Bonus: for a limited time, The Cup of Life readers can get 20% off their entire online order with Seven Sisters Tea. Shop around on their website and be sure to enter the code: TEACUPOFLIFE at the check out!
What You Need
- your favourite mug/teacup
- a kettle filled with fresh water
- measuring cup
- 1-2 teaspoons of the tea of your choice
- milk (latte = milk in Italian!)
- sweetener of your choice
Directions
1. Begin by grabbing your favourite mug or teacup to drink out of.
2. Boil water at the appropriate temperature for the tea you use and pour it over 1-2 teaspoons of tea leaves. Fill your mug or teacup about 3/4 of the way because you want to leave good enough room for the milk.
3. Let your tea steep for the amount of time needed and then add a the sweetener of your choice directly into the tea.
4. Measure about half a cup of milk into a measuring cup. You can use any type of milk that you like too – skim, whole, almond…the possibilities are endless!
Now for the fun part….
Microwave Method
- Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 minute. The microwave will warm up the milk and gently steam it. It may create a small froth like effect on the surface. This is my least favourite way to do it but if a microwave is all you have to use it’s better than nothing!
Stove Top Method
- In a small sauce pan pour your milk and have it heat up on medium heat. It’s important to not let your milk boil. Once you begin to see small bubbles form take it off the heat. I think this way is pretty decent, I especially like using it when I make tea infused hot chocolate as it creates a creamy consistency.
Hand-Held Frother
- I few years back I got a hand held frother from a store that was closing. I can’t find the exact one I have but it’s very similar to this one at Ikea for four bucks. I know you can get other ones like this else where but I’ve always found them to be a lot pricier. For four bucks you can’t go wrong. Similar to the microwave method, warm up the milk you’ll use in the microwave for about 50-60 seconds. Each microwave is different so be careful not to overheat. Battery operated, you place the frother directly into the milk and press the button. The trick is to not do it for too long or the froth consistency will ruin. Once you notice a good froth you can stop–that should be after about 30 seconds. It took me a while to get the hang of it but now I’m always using it!
For all three of these methods, after you prepare the milk to your desire you can gently pour it directly into your mug of tea. Some liquid milk will go into the tea and you should have a froth at the surface. There’s an old rule I heard once that if you place a spoon on top of the froth and it does not sink then that means you’ve done a great job. It wasn’t possible for me to do the first few times though! If you like you can even add a sweetener to the milk before you froth it.
Experiment and enjoy!
Yummy! Have you done a Dark Chocolate Chai latte yet? Omg amazing!
I have yet to – that'll be next on my list 🙂