Homemade iced chai latte-- Starbucks-style

I've been a chai latte fanatic for a long time. In fact, when I first started working at Starbucks, that's all I would drink. That, my friends, is how you get fat. I quickly switched to coffee drinks, graduating to quadruple shots on ice with a bit of half and half. And that, my friends, is how you get through that opening shift beginning at 3:30 a.m.

I've never cared for the overly-sweet, underly-spicy chai concentrates that most coffeehouses serve. And the Starbucks chai concentrate that they sell in their stores isn't great either.

Everyone I've ever served this drink to has really liked it-- so I thought I'd pitch my own version of the chai latte into the web, although there are already so many. I'm pretty partial to this one though.

Step 1: Get an awesome glass from an awesome friend. Steve Holt!

Step 2: Insert favorite chai tea bag. I stay loyal.

Steep.

Be patient.

Eat some Barbara's Baked Cheese Puffs while you wait. Or, shove them in your mouth by the handful. Whatevs.

Take out your tea bag. If you're lucky, your mom will have gotten you a sweet little tea bag rest.

Some honey. About a tablespoon.

Add 6-8 drops of stevia. If you don't have stevia around, go get some. Or, add one or two tablespoons of regular sugar, or a sugar substitute. Stevia, like other sugar substitutes, is much sweeter than regular sugar. The point is, honey doesn't have enough sweetness on its own to get it to the sweetness level that I like, although I love its flavor.

This is the brand we buy. Notice the filthy bottle? This was Elias' FAVORITE toy for most of his life. He still grabs it when he sees it in the cabinet and takes it all over the house with him.

So you've got tea 1/3 of the way up the glass, plus honey, plus stevia.

 Milk 2/3 of the way up. We use raw milk; that's why it's in a fancy jar.

 Getting there. Get some ice, and fill up the rest of the way.

Drink it. :-) It's good stuff. I try to wait until 3 p.m. to make it-- the caffeine and sweet kick help me run the last lap of our day before Jeremy comes home. Lately though, since Elias decided to become a toddler and whatever, I just try to make it to 1 p.m. Crazy kid.