The Simple Ratio To Use To Make Any Kind Of Tea Latte

Tea lattes are a popular cafe treat, but they don't always get as much airtime as their coffee-centric cousins. Things are changing, though. Take a quick scroll through Instagram or TikTok, and you'll start wondering if chai lattes, frothy Dubai chocolate matcha concoctions, and London Fogs are coming for coffee's crown. 

Those Instagram-ready drinks have a bougie reputation, but you don't need to shell out big bucks at a coffee shop to enjoy your own tea latte. They are easy to make at home — though they do require a little more effort than your standard cup of Twinings. Drip coffee served with a splash of milk doesn't count as a cafe latte, so you can't throw hot water, milk, and a tea bag into a cup and call it a tea latte, either. 

"If you are attempting to make these drinks at home then you want to use a couple of ounces of extremely strong brewed tea," ex-barista Matt Woodburn-Simmonds told The Takeout. "Add about double that amount of textured milk ... Say, 2oz tea concentrate and 4oz milk." Yup, that seems like a lot of milk, but you're not looking for a strong flavor. "The point of these drinks is to create a more delicately flavored tea drink, just like a cafe latte is a more delicately flavored coffee," Woodburn-Simmonds says. "Treat them in the same way."

No, "textured milk" isn't an interesting way of referring to the three-week-old carton in the back of your fridge. For us coffee noobs, "textured milk" refers to milk that's been whipped into a fine foam with a steamer or milk frother. Steamers are usually pretty pricey, but milk frothers are much more affordable — and absolutely worthwhile. My $1.99 IKEA milk frother will probably outlive me. 

Tea lattes use their own version of espresso, too. "The tea lattes made in high street coffee shops use a couple of 'pumps' of a tea concentrate," Matt Woodburn-Simmonds explains. Tea concentrates are essentially super-strong tea, and they're easy to make at home — if you do it right. A longer steep results in a bitter brew, so you'll want to stick to the recommended time and temperature. The secret to making a stronger tea is to add more leaves: You'll get a concentrated taste without sacrificing the tea's subtleties. 

According to Matt Woodburn-Simmonds, the chai lattes sold in Western cafes aren't that different from the ones traditionally found in South Asia — at least compared to matcha lattes. He explains that traditional chai is made by boiling "a relatively small amount of tea leaves with spices, sugar, and lots of hot milk." Unlike Western chai lattes, though, the ingredients are all boiled together. According to Woodburn-Simmonds, this caramelizes the sugars. He says that a cup of real South Asian chai is "vastly superior to a Western chai latte," adding, "the extra flavor from the spices adds more depth and complexity, making it more suited to a very milky drink."

Woodburn-Simmonds maintains a healthy suspicion towards Western matcha lattes. "The traditional process of preparing and serving matcha in Japan is laborious and complex, not at all suited to mass market production," he says, adding that he finds sweetened matcha lattes "weirder" than chai. Consumers love sweet drinks, but cafes also use milk and sugar to cover up the taste of low-quality matcha. "Good matcha is very expensive," he explains. 

Matt Woodburn-Simmonds isn't always afraid to break the mold. He enjoys a good Earl Grey latte, also known as a London Fog, though he admits that some folks find it blasphemous. "Every tea expert in the world is sharpening their pitchforks and coming for me," he says. "Lemon is the only thing that should be added [to Earl Grey] traditionally." 

Not a fan of Earl Grey? Woodburn-Simmonds recommends lapsang souchong, a smoky black tea, as a woody alternative to Earl Grey's floral flavors. "These two teas have bold and distinct flavors that will still come through when heavily diluted with milk," he says. Skip lighter teas, like white teas or most green teas. Herbal teas can be hit-or-miss, too: A chamomile latte will probably just taste like a cup of steamed milk. Some herbal teas work well, though. Look for rooibos blends if you want a caffeine-free alternative to traditional chai.