Recipe: Almond Milk Chai Latte

One of my guiltiest pleasures are tea lattes.  If I'm ever stressed, I find myself at the closest Starbucks ordering tea lattes to comfort me.  But even if you're paying $5 for a latte (absurd) they never make it as delicious as you can make it at home.  Making Chai lattes at home is surprisingly simple, tastes SO much better when you can customize the spices to your liking, and you probably already have most of the ingredients at home in your spice rack.  The result is creamy and rich, rather than the 1/2 cup of froth you might pay for at a coffee shop.  And I love that it's customizable.  Not feeling ginger-y today?  Skip the ginger!  It's incredibly easy to adjust.   

Ingredients:
2 cups Almond Milk (can sub w/ soy or coconut milk)
1 Black Tea Bag*
1 Cinnamon Stick (can sub w/ ground cinnamon)
2 Star Anise Pods
2 Whole Cloves
1/4 tsp All Spice
1/4 tsp Cardamom
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
Optional: pinch of ground ginger
Optional: your choice of sweetener (honey, agave, coconut sugar, etc) to taste

Notes:
*Any unflavored black tea will do.  I usually use Irish Breakfast tea.
 
Directions:
Bring all ingredients, except the tea bag, almost to a boil in a saucepan over medium-low heat.  I usually will put mine on low and ignore it while I'm making myself some eggs.  Remove from heat and add in tea bag to steep for 2-5 minutes.  Pour mixture through a strainer into your favorite mug (I got the gem pictured above on Etsy), or you can just scoop out the anise, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.