Iced Chai Latte With Pumpkin Cold Foam

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This iced chai latte with pumpkin cold foam is one of the best Starbucks fall drink recipes. It’s easy to make this copycat version at home, any time of the year. Chilled, creamy chai tea with a generous topping of pumpkin flavored cold foam. Then a little extra sprinkle of pumpkin spice on top for the ultimate seasonal latte.

Up close view of an iced chai tea latte topped with pumpkin cold foam, a cinnamon stick sticking out of the glass and cold foam cream dripping down into the latte, decorative pumpkins in the background.

Starbucks lattes always taste so fancy and are addictively good, but having them every day can be pricey.

But it’s actually so easy to make your own at home for a fraction of the cost.

Why you will love this latte:

We made the best pumpkin cold foam recipe. Why is this cold foam so good in this latte? Because it’s half stiff foam and half runny foam. This means that you get the classic pumpkin foam sitting on top of your drink with every sip. And you also get some of the delicious pumpkin cream seeping down into your iced chai, for the best pumpkin and chai flavor.
There are no fancy ingredients. You don’t need to search for hard-to-find ingredients, sauces or syrups. This latte can be made with items you already have at home or can easily find in a grocery store.
It’s quick and easy to make. You can even prepare the chilled tea and cold foam in advance so you can make a morning latte in less than a minute— much faster than driving to Starbucks.

Overhead shot of a chai latte topped with pumpkin cold foam and sprinkled with cinnamon, with a cinnamon stick as garnish.

Ingredients & Substitutions:

Chai tea bags: Chai tea bags are used to create a very chai concentrate, which is basically a very concentrated tea. This is used as the base flavor for this latte. Using a chai concentrate will make sure the chai flavor isn’t watered down when the other ingredients are mixed in.
Sugar: A small amount of sugar is used to sweeten the iced chai tea as well as the pumpkin cold foam. You can adjust the amount of sugar in both the tea and cold foam to your liking. If you want to make your drink sugar free, you can leave it out as well, or replace it with an artificial sweetener.
Cream: Use heavy cream or whipping cream. This is used to add creaminess to the tea and as the base of the cold foam. For the tea, you can replace this with milk if you want a healthier option, but for the cold foam, this is essential for creating the right consistency.
Milk: A dash of milk in combination with the cream for the cold foam creates a cold foam that is part stiff and also part runny. This is the best combo — half the pumpkin foam sits on the top and half runs down into your chai tea, adding pumpkin flavor.
Pumpkin Pie Filling: You only need a couple teaspoons of the pumpkin pie filling — so this is a great recipe to make at another time where you also need a more significant amount of pumpkin pie filling.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: This adds extra pumpkin flavor to the cold foam, and you can also sprinkle a small amount on top of your finished latte.

Iced chai latte with pumpkin cold foam on a wooden board, surrounded by decorative pumpkins, and golden leaves in the background.

How to make an iced chai tea latte with pumpkin cold foam:

Make the iced chai tea latte: Let the tea bags steep in the boiling water for five minutes to create a chai concentrate. Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar. Chill the tea in the fridge.
Make the pumpkin cold foam: Froth the pumpkin pie filling, pumpkin pie spice, milk, cream and sugar together for a couple minutes until the mixture thickens into a foam.
Put it together: Mix in the cream to the chilled iced chai tea, add in the ice cubes and scoop the pumpkin foam on top.

FAQ:

What does pumpkin cold foam taste like?

It tastes like pumpkin pie flavored whipped cream. It is just the right balance of sweetness, creaminess and pumpkin flavor. It’s addicting to eat on its own with a spoon, or generously top your favorite iced drink with it.

How do I make this a healthier iced chai latte with pumpkin cream cold foam?

For the iced chai latte, replace the sugar with an artificial, no calorie sweetener and use milk instead of cream. For the cold foam, you can replace all the cream with milk, but keep in mind that the cream will not be as stiff. It will still taste just as good, but will mix into your latte more, rather than sit on top.

Overhead photo of an iced latte with pumpkin foam on top, on a wooden board, with golden decorative pumpkins around the glass.

Expert Tips:

Scoop the pumpkin foam on top of your latte. To make the most presentable latte, use a spoon to scoop the looser foam first over your iced latte. This runnier foam will drip down into your latte more quickly. Then, scoop the stiff part of the cold foam and put it on top of your iced latte. This part will sit there while you drink.
Store extra in the fridge. To make this tea quickly in the future, you can make a large batch of chai concentrate and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge. Wait until you are ready to drink it before adding the cream. The pumpkin cold foam will keep in the fridge for up to a couple days.
Use chai ice cubes. If you don’t like your drink to get watered down, or you tend to drink slowly. Create chai ice cubes by freezing chai tea in an ice cube tray. Use these instead of regular ice cubes. You can use regular chai tea to make these ice cubes instead of chai concentrate.

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