It doesn't feel like the holiday season until you have your first
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- 🥤 What is the Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte?
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🗒 Ingredients
- 🥣 How to make gingerbread syrup
- 🧋 How to make Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte
- 🎉 Customization ideas
- ⚡️ Does the drink have caffeine?
- 🍬 How much sugar does the drink have?
- 🍭 How to make this drink lower sugar
- 🎄 What are Starbucks' other holiday menu items?
- ☕️ More Starbucks winter drink copycat recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
When does the holiday season officially begin for you? Two days after Halloween may seem too early for some, but that's what we're going with around here.
Because that's when the
After the huge success of
This time around, it's the Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte and I have to tell you it's absolutely perfect. And I'm so excited to be sharing my copycat recipe with you!
🥤 What is the Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte?
After I enjoyed the pumpkin chai drink this fall, I already had a great idea of what the gingerbread chai would be like before the official ingredients list was published.
And now that it's out and I've tried the actual drink, I've been able to make a copycat version that tastes just like it!
So, what exactly goes into the new chai drink at
It's made with gingerbread syrup, a chai tea concentrate, and oat milk. The surprising part for me when I saw the ingredients list is that the drink is topped off with pumpkin pie spice. But trust me, it works with the drink.
Another interesting new twist for
Similarly to how the pumpkin sauce is incorporated into the cold foam in the pumpkin chai, the gingerbread syrup is incorporated into the oat milk froth in this drink and isn't actually mixed into the drink itself.
Oat milk doesn't really froth up well, especially when syrup is added to it, so I've already seen a lot of people complaining about this, including baristas who have to deal with unhappy customers. So, I'm giving you a few options with this drink.
Of course, you can get any customizations you want to turn it into your ideal drink and I share some ideas you can do at home.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
If you're a fan of the
In addition to the oat milk froth, I've also already seen a lot of people complaining that the drink doesn't taste enough like gingerbread. But when you make it at home, you can really control the level of gingerbread flavor and sweetness involved.
This iced holiday drink is so easy to make and once you have the gingerbread syrup, you can make it at home super quickly any time you want!
🗒 Ingredients
You don't need too many ingredients for this iced chai recipe and all can be easily obtained or made. Here's everything required (but be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Chai tea concentrate:
Starbucks doesn't sell the chai tea concentrate they use, so I recommend using Tazo Chai Tea Concentrate or simply the brand you like best (though note they are all a little different in terms of sweetness). If you prefer to make a homemade chai tea with tea bags instead, I share some information on how to do that below under the the subheading "how to make this drink lower sugar." - Ice
- Oat milk
- Gingerbread syrup: You can either make your own gingerbread syrup with this recipe (I'll show you how within this post, too) or you can buy a bottle of gingerbread syrup.
- Pumpkin pie spice, for topping
And if you want to make your own gingerbread syrup, here's everything you need for that:
- Water
- Granulated sugar
- Molasses
- Ground ginger
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground allspice
- Ground nutmeg
If you don't have molasses, I recommend making the syrup with brown sugar instead of white sugar, so you still get some of that molasses flavor.
🥣 How to make gingerbread syrup
Gingerbread syrup is super easy to make at home! And once you make a batch of it, you should have enough for about 4 grande iced lattes.
It's also really easy to double or triple the recipe and keep it in your fridge for whenever you get a gingerbread latte craving!
You can check out my full gingerbread syrup recipe post for lots more info.
To start, put all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.
Once it's boiling, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.
Pour the syrup into a mason jar or bowl and place in fridge to cool completely before using.
The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
🧋 How to make Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte
Now that you've either made or bought your gingerbread syrup, you're ready to mix up the iced latte drink. It takes no time at all!
Start by adding the chai concentrate to your ice-filled glass.
I use 3 oz. of chai concentrate, but note that all brands are different. I actually used a brand different from Tazo and found 3 oz. way too sweet. So, you may want to do some experimenting here.
Pour in 3 oz. of oat milk.
Then you can froth the remaining 3 oz. oat milk with 1 oz. gingerbread syrup.
You can either use an electric frother, hand mixer, blender, or jar to turn it into froth. Just note that it's not going to froth up like a cold cream does and even when it does froth, the froth doesn't last for a very long time.
I used my electric frother for mine:
But it didn't last long when I poured it over the rest of the drink in the cup and sprinkled pumpkin pie spice over the top.
I prefer to make this drink by mixing the chai concentrate and gingerbread syrup into the cup with the ice and then pouring all 6 oz. of oat milk over the top.
The syrup does settle on the bottom of the cup more than it does when it's incorporated into the froth, but you just have to give it a good stir every now and then.
🎉 Customization ideas
I always order new
But once I get to know the drinks, I start experimenting with substituting and adding different ingredient and various flavors. Here are some fun ideas for the Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte:
- Of course, you can make it with any type of dairy or non-dairy alternative you want. I do think the oat milk complements the gingerbread flavor nicely, but other types of milk would froth up a bit better. Try regular 2% milk, almond milk, soy milk, or even coconut milk. I would use unsweetened varieties.
- If you don't care about the froth, simply mix the gingerbread syrup with the chai concentrate and pour the oat milk over the top.
- Or you can make the oat milk froth AND add extra gingerbread syrup to the drink. I've made it like that a couple times.
- If you want extra gingerbread flavor without adding more syrup, top the drink with your own spice blend instead of pumpkin pie spice. I'd use ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, but go heavier on the ginger.
- Some people have said adding brown sugar syrup to the drink makes it even better.
- You can top it with your own cold foam instead of the froth. You can use this cold foam recipe and customize it with any flavor you want. Of course, gingerbread would be delicious, as would salted caramel or vanilla. You could also use whipped cream instead.
- Lining the cup with caramel sauce adds some extra sweet deliciousness
- If you want some extra caffeine, you can make this a "dirty chai" and add a shot or two of espresso.
⚡️ Does the drink have caffeine?
Because chai tea is a black tea, it does have a little bit of caffeine in it. According to
For reference, a grande iced coffee at
If you prefer, you can use a decaf chai tea concentrate to make this drink.
🍬 How much sugar does the drink have?
A grande size of this gingerbread drink does have 45 grams of sugar in it, so it's not a low-sugar drink. However, note that this is less than the fall's Iced Pumpkin Chai, which had 66 grams of sugar.
Of course, the more syrup and/or chai concentrate you add to your drink, the more the sugar levels will increase.
🍭 How to make this drink lower sugar
Many people are often surprised to learn that chai tea drinks at
But
If you want a lower sugar drink, you can make your chai tea with actual tea bags. I recommend using a couple tea bags per cup of water so you still have a concentrated flavor to the drink.
I like these chai tea bags best.
When making the drink, you'll want to use more of the tea than you would of the concentrate, so you get enough chai flavor. Then you can add gingerbread simple syrup until you reach the sweetness level you like. Or if you want less gingerbread flavor, you can use honey, agave, or maple syrup.
Another option is to use a lower sugar chai tea concentrate. You can also use less of the regular chai concentrate if you want, but keep in mind that the less you use, the less the chai flavor will be pronounced.
You can also try using sugar-free gingerbread syrup.
🎄 What are Starbucks ' other holiday menu items?
Not only is
Several favorites are also coming back, including the Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte (also available hot!), Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte, and the Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino.
For food, the gingerbread loaf is back along with the snowman cookie, cranberry bliss bars, peppermint brownie cake pops, and the sugar plum cheese danish.
Which holiday drinks are you most excited for?
☕️ More Starbucks winter drink copycat recipes
I love making copycat versions of
- Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice {Copycat Recipe}
- Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte {Starbucks Copycat}
- Starbucks White Hot Chocolate
- Pistachio Latte {Starbucks Copycat}
- Cinnamon Dolce Latte {Starbucks Copycat}
- Santa Claus Frappuccino {Starbucks Copycat}
- Starbucks Medicine Ball {Honey Citrus Mint Tea}
- Taylor Swift Starbucks Drink {Caramel Nonfat Latte}
And if you love chai drinks, definitely give my copycat recipe for the Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte a try!
You can see all my Starbucks copycat recipes here.
I hope this make-at-home version of the
Let me know your favorite way to customize this drink!
📖 Recipe
Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte {Starbucks Copycat}
Ingredients
- 3 oz. chai tea concentrate
- Ice
- 6 oz. oat milk, divided
- 1 oz. gingerbread syrup, store-bought or homemade with recipe below
- Pumpkin pie spice, for topping
Gingerbread Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Add chai concentrate to an ice-filled glass. Pour 3 oz. oat milk over the concentrate.
- You can either use an electric frother, hand mixer, blender, or jar to turn the rest of the oat milk into froth. Just add the remaining 3 oz. oat milk and gingerbread syrup together and froth, mix, blend, or shake until the mixture froths up a bit. Note that oat milk doesn't froth that well and the froth doesn't last long. See notes for alternative if you don't want oat milk froth.
- Pour oat milk froth over drink. Top with pumpkin pie spice.
Gingerbread Syrup
- Put all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.
- Pour syrup into a mason jar or bowl and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools. It should keep fresh in your fridge for about a month.
Notes
- If you don't want the froth, you can simply mix the gingerbread syrup with the chai concentrate and then pour all 6 oz. of oat milk over it.
- Note that different brands of chai concentrate have different amounts of sugar in them, so you may need to experiment to get the sweetness level you want.
- The gingerbread syrup recipe makes enough for about 4 of these drinks.
- See post body heading "how to make drink lower sugar" to learn how to make the drink with chai tea bags instead.
- See body of post for lots of drink customization ideas!
George says
First batch of gingerbread syrup didn’t go well. Unlike pumpkin syrup, this one boiled over a lot faster and all spices must of spilled over. Not to mention once cooled I ended up with candy. Next batch I went low on heat and didn’t simmer as long, and it is great. I do like froth so I’m using heavy cream instead of oat milk to mix it with.
Monica Gomez says
Loved your recipe! It’s an exact match!
Allie P says
Thank you for this! I made it with oat milk and it tastes exactly like Starbucks. Also tried it with regular milk to get better foam and it’s good both ways!
Eva says
Very yummy
Mercedes says
Taste just like the starbucks one! So yummy thank you
Amanda says
It's perfect.
Every. Single. Time.
I really don't like gingerbread so I was surprised at how much I loved the holiday drink. I ordered it almost every day (😬)
When it was gone I was so sad. Thankfully I found this recipe and it's perfect!
Iv also found that my oat milk froths perfectly. It takes a little longer and I have to start at the bottom and work my way up but it makes a beautiful foam that lasts longer than my drink does. I'm really excited to now be able to make this with alternative, healthier options.
Heather says
What other brands of syrup will work?
Sues says
Hi Heather- I haven't tried many others since I love my homemade, but I believe Torani is rated the best! DaVinci is also good!
Sarai says
Thanks for the recipe but can do without the thesis statement to get to it
Sues says
Hi Sarai- I'm glad you liked the recipe! All of the information in my posts is meant to be helpful to readers, offering background, tips, and customization ideas. However, I know not everyone needs or wants that, which is why I have a "jump to recipe" button at the top of all my posts. If you click this, you will go right to the recipe, no scrolling needed. I hope this helps!
Sofia says
this is great! Thank you for creating this recipe! This was my favourite drink and i am so glad i can enjoy it throughout the year 🙂