(aka: Captain Obvious cuts back on a Starbucks habit)
This year I started making my own chai lattes. Given the cash flow and the metabolism, I would get a grande nonfat chai from Starbucks every single day. But that is 1400 calories, 294 grams of sugar, and about $20 … every week. So, no. Here’s what I do instead:
Buy a box of chai tea bags (about $3 for 20, so 15 cents each).
Buy a carton of chai tea concentrate–the exact same stuff they use in Starbucks and other coffee shops (about $4, this lasts me at least 4 weeks, so let’s say 13 cents per serving).
Brew a cup of tea with the tea bag. Resist urge to make horrible joke about teabagging.
Add a splash of concentrate. I don’t know, maybe 1-2 tablespoons. There are 133 grams of sugar in the entire 32-oz. container, so if I get 30 servings/container that’s about 4.5 grams per serving (and about 21 calories, based on 630 calories in the whole container).
Add a splash of skim milk.
Enjoy! It doesn’t have the yummy foam of a storebought latte (although I could invest in a little countertop steamer/frother for about $25 … maybe I will!), and it’s not nearly as sweet. But I see that as a benefit. Total cost is under 50 cents and calories are probably between 40 and 50. The milk and the concentrate have similar calorie counts and I use about the same amount of each.
And that is the best tea of ’09!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Yum. Now I want one, but going downstairs means endless chatting with the nanny. So maybe not.
The best gift I’ve gotten myself all year might just be the BonJour Milk Frother. I use it to make my daily soy cappuccino, and it whips my Very Vanilla Silk into delightful froth in about 20 seconds, and then cleans up by just running it under the faucet for a few seconds. The price goes up and down on Amazon… I got it for $15, and it’s currently selling for $20, but considering that $20 represents a week’s worth of Starbucks lattes, it’s worth it!
Teabagging? What has gotten into you? ( I like it!)
I would do this at home if I could replicate the matcha powder they use. I’ve tried. They’ve got the magic formula.. bastards.
I love love love love!! this. I can use this recipe and impress the heck out of all my friends! Yay you! THANK YOU!
I sometimes boil up some black tea leaves with various smashed up spices (clove, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and sometimes black pepper) and a little honey and a splash of milk. It’s chai-like, and I like it.
I also make a hot lemonade when I don’t want tea – a spoonful of honey, some lemon juice, water – all in the microwave.
I stir assorted spices (got the recipe from the newspaper in an article about a woman who traveled or grew up in India) in a jar with a can of sweetened condensed milk. This goes in the fridge (jar is labled “Mom’s Chai”) – a cup of tea and a teaspoon or so of the chai-spiced sweetened milk and I’m good to go. Fewer calories and less sweet than store bought – but you can put in tablespoonsful instead (the original recipe called for that).
Try chai and hot chocolate… to die for.
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Yum. I made this same budget amendment a few years ago, switching from lattes made of the Oregon Chai concentrate and milk to ones with brewed tea, honey or sugar and milk. Not bad at all! So why does walking up to the counter and asking for one feel sooo good?
i totally do not think that a grande nonfat chai has 1400 calories in it?!?! are you sure? who did your research?! lol i think that’s crazy talk.
yeah, you’re insane. i just looked that shit up online, and it says that a nonfat grande chai is 200 calories.
go back. lol
omg.
you meant for an ENTIRE WEEK, not a day. LOL
shutup.
PPS- i buy the chai concentrate stuff from safeway too… but i don’t understand why it isn’t as strong as the sbux? it’s not as flavorful or anything….
ppps- do you think your comments section will stop letting me post comments?
i have a little glass thing that i fill to a line with milk.. heat that shit up and then pull it up and down and it makes the BEST foam in the world.
but still.. like i said… doesn’t taste as strong. at all. and i don’t understand why.
do you think the ones we buy at the store are dilluted with water and the ones at sbux are water free (hence the addition of water in the chai drinks)???
i’m done now.
but i expect emailed answers and responses to every one of these comments. lol
Hey, you can buy a frother for $2 at IKEA
I had no idea that chai from Starbucks had so many calories and dollars! I rarely get out to the coffee shop, but I think I’d follow your example anyway.
You’re going to give Starbucks a run for their money with this recipe! Oddly enough I live in a town that doesn’t have a Starbucks. I didn’t even know that was possible until I moved here!
I think Dunkin Donuts Chai latter is tastier, but still very spendy.
I’ll give this a shot. Of course this means I’ll have to bake my own scone.
That is fab. I love ingenuity in the name of frugality. And it helps that it’s delicious too.
I’ve been making my own white hot chocolate at home. A few white choc chips, some warm milk, a bit of rediwhip, and it’s on!
That sounds yummy…….mmmmmmm!
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