There are so many different ‘lattes’ blends on the market these days – turmeric, chai, hot chocolate, gingerbread, even beetroot lattes (yes, they’re bright pink)! But no Choc Chilli Chai…

One of the perks of working in a health food store with a cafe is that I get to experiment with all these different flavours! I’ve always really enjoyed dark chilli chocolate so I thought I’d try and recreate this in a hot drink. And it certainly took a few goes to perfect the recipe with many a batch thrown down the sink with just too much chilli haha! Here’s what I arrived at – note that I do love chilli so you may like to add only half the amount to start with and see what your tolerance is.

 
Ingredients

• 2 T raw cacao powder
• 1/2 t chilli powder (if you’re not a real chilli person then try adding half the amount and see how you find it – add more if you like)
• 1/2 t cardamom powder
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg
• 1 t ground cinnamon

Place all these powders in a jar, close the lid and shake it all up to combine well.

Method

• Place 1 cup of your milk of choice and 2 teaspoons of the spice mix above into your milk frother, turn it on and once finished serve.
• Alternatively:
  • heat 1 cup of milk of choice and 2 teaspoons of the spice mix above in a small pot on the stove and while stirring. OR
  • heat 1 cup of milk of choice in the microwave and blend with 2 teaspoons of the spice mix above in a blender.
  • steam 1 cup of milk of choice and 2 teaspoons of the spice mix with a conventional espresso machine milk steamer.
• For a really delicious and decadent option – add a teaspoon of peanut butter! “Choc-Chilli-Peanut Butter-Chai”.