Tea lattes are a fun way to enjoy tea. They can be served hot for a comforting cup or iced for something more refreshing. Starting with a tea concentrate and topping it with milk, it only takes a few minutes to put one together! Follow this step-by-step guide to learn how to make a tea latte at home using any tea.
What Is A Tea Latte?
A tea latte is a tea drinker’s version of an espresso-based latte. It is a beverage made with a strong tea base (tea concentrate) and topped with steamed or frothed milk.
They can be made hot or iced and there can be other additives, like sweetener, but that is optional.
Best Tea for Lattes
Tea lattes can be made with almost any tea, pure or blends. They can also be made with loose leaf tea or tea bags.
Truthfully, the best tea for lattes is one you already enjoy! If you already enjoy a specific tea with milk, then I recommend trying it as a latte, too.
- Black Tea: Possibly the most popular tea type for lattes, black teas can be bold and malty and are often great with milk. Earl Grey Latte and Chai Latte are a couple of well-known lattes.
- Green Tea: Some green teas may not do well with milk but there are a lot out there that shine as a latte like matcha, hojicha, genmaicha and more.
- White Tea: Similar to green, white teas can be lighter and not generally seen as a good tea for lattes. However, white tea blends can be used as they will have other ingredients added to the dried tea that will make the flavour stand out in a latte.
- Puerh Tea: The stronger flavour from puerh tea can work well as a latte, especially with additional flavours if it is a blend.
- Herbal Tea: I love caffeine-free lattes because it’s a great way to enjoy one in the evening without worrying about staying up all night. Some of my favourite herbal teas to use include rooibos, honeybush, chamomile and butterfly pea flower.
Best Milk for Tea Lattes
Just like tea, you can use any type of milk you’d like to make a latte. However, you should keep in mind that some milk with froth better than others.
Personally, I like to use dairy milk or oat milk for a dairy-free option. The taste is more neutral so it doesn’t overpower the taste of the tea itself like almond milk or some other nut milk options do.
If you’re making an iced version, then you don’t need to worry about whether or not your milk will froth well as froth is not required for an iced latte.
I go into the specifics when it comes to the type of milk used for frothing in my article about how to froth milk with a handheld frother. Read it here.
Tools You’ll Need
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Tea of your choice (loose leaf or tea bags)
- Water
- Milk
- Optional: Sweetener (I like to use white sugar, maple syrup or even simple syrups like these ones!)
Perfect Tea Latte Recipe
Find the full instructions and ingredients measurements in the printable recipe card below.
To make the perfect tea latte, starting with a tea concentrate is important. A tea concentrate is essentially a strongly brewed tea. It requires double the tea leaves or tea bags and less water.
Using a tea concentrate ensures that the tea will still be very flavourful after it is diluted with milk.
Step 1
Add tea of choice to an infuser (if using loose leaf tea) or directly to a mug (if using tea bags).
Heat water to the recommended temperature depending on the tea you are using. Add it to the mug and steep the tea for the recommended time.
Example: A black tea may require freshly boiled water 100 degrees Celsius/212 degrees Fahrenheit and 5 minutes steep time. But, if you’re using a green tea the water temperature will need to be lower and the tea should not be steeped for too long.
Step 2
Strain tea leaves or remove tea bags. Add sweetener (optional) and stir until dissolved.
Step 3
Heat and froth milk until it has almost doubled in volume. Top the mug of tea with frothed milk.
Step 4
Enjoy! If desired, the latte can be garnished with spices, chocolate shavings, candy pieces, tea powder and more.
How to Make an Iced Tea Latte
This process is similar to a hot tea latte recipe, with a couple minor changes – adding ice cubes and not frothing milk.
To make an iced version, steep the tea as you would make a hot latte and add the sweetener (if using) while the tea is still hot.
To assemble, fill a glass with ice, pour tea and then top with milk.
Basic Tea Latte Recipes:
Unique Tea Latte Recipes:
- Salted Caramel Hojicha Latte
- Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte
- Iced Mint Matcha Latte
- Sugar Cookie Latte
- Smoked Butterscotch Latte
Perfect Tea Latte (made with any type of tea!)
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons loose leaf tea or 2 tea bags of choice
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon sweetener optional
Instructions
TO MAKE A HOT TEA LATTE:
- Add tea of choice to an infuser (if using loose leaf tea) or directly to a mug (if using tea bags). Heat water to the recommended temperature depending on the tea you are using. Add the hot water to the mug and steep the tea for the recommended time that is often found on the tea's packaging. Example: a black tea may require freshly boiled water 100 degrees Celsius/212 degrees Fahrenheit and 5 minutes steep time.
- Strain tea leaves or remove tea bags. Add sweetener (optional) and stir until dissolved. I like to use white sugar, brown sugar, simple syrup or even maple syrup.
- Heat and froth milk until it has almost doubled in volume. Top the mug of tea with frothed milk.
- Enjoy! If desired, tea lattes can be garnished with spices, chocolate shavings, candy pieces, tea powder and more.
TO MAKE AN ICED TEA LATTE:
- Steep the tea as you would make a hot tea latte and add the sweetener (if using) while the tea is still hot.
- To assemble, fill a glass with ice, pour tea and then top with cold milk. Enjoy!
Save this How to Make a Tea Latte guide on Pinterest so you can reference it later. Click here and pin it!
This is a really delicious drink! I often use Dian Hong Jin Luo tea and add honey/maple syrup. It’s also a great summer drink – if you add some ice 🙂