There is a point every year when I stop wanting my tea to be refreshing and start wanting it to taste like I should be wearing a sweater. Unfortunately, here in North Carolina, that usually happens several weeks before the weather gets the message.
This Spiced Apple Chai Apple Butter Latte is for exactly that part of the year. It’s warm, creamy, full of apple and spice, and tastes very much like fall without requiring pumpkin to be involved at all. The apple butter gives the latte a deeper, almost baked-apple flavor while also adding a little sweetness and body.
And because the base is our Spiced Apple Chai, which is already packed with real apples and warming chai spices, you don't need a cabinet full of syrups to make it taste like something.
Why Apple Butter Works So Well in a Chai Latte
Apple butter is basically apples that have been cooked down until they're concentrated, dark, sweet, and almost caramelized. Despite the name, there’s no actual butter involved. The “butter” refers to its smooth, spreadable texture.
That concentrated flavor makes it especially good in drinks because you can add a relatively small amount and still get plenty of apple flavor. Regular apple juice can easily water down a latte, while chunks of apple obviously aren't going to dissolve into your mug. Apple butter lands right in the middle.
It also pairs naturally with chai spices. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and other warming spices are already flavors we associate with baked apples, apple pie, and apple cider, so combining the two doesn't require much convincing.
What Is Spiced Apple Chai?
Our Spiced Apple Chai is Full Moon Tea Company's fall chai blend, made with real apples and warming spices. If you've been drinking Full Moon Tea for a while, you might remember this blend by its former name, Appalachian Chai. Same tea, new name.
Unlike our Smoky Mountains Cowboy Chai, which is built around bold black tea and smoky Lapsang Souchong, Spiced Apple Chai is softer, fruitier, and naturally caffeine-free. That makes this latte particularly nice in the afternoon or evening when you want something cozy but don't necessarily want another dose of caffeine.
The apple is already built into the tea, so the apple butter isn't trying to create the entire flavor on its own. It makes the apple that's already there taste deeper and richer.
Do You Need to Make Homemade Apple Butter?
Absolutely not.
If you happen to have homemade apple butter, this is a fantastic use for it. But a good jar from the grocery store works perfectly. Just take a quick look at the ingredients because some brands are significantly sweeter than others.
That's also why I recommend tasting the latte before adding maple syrup. Between the natural sweetness of the apple butter and whatever sweetener is already in your particular brand, you may decide you don't need anything else.
If it does need a little more sweetness, maple syrup is my choice here. It blends easily into a hot drink and adds another layer of fall flavor without covering up the tea.
How to Make a Really Good Tea Latte
The trick to any tea latte is making the tea stronger than you would if you were drinking it on its own.
You're about to dilute that tea with milk, apple butter, and possibly sweetener, so a normal-strength cup can disappear underneath everything else. Brewing a concentrated amount of Spiced Apple Chai gives the finished latte enough tea flavor to actually stand up to the milk.
You'll also want to give this tea enough time to steep. Herbal blends are much more forgiving than green or white teas and generally benefit from hotter water and a longer steep. This is not the moment to be timid with your tea.
Once the concentrate is ready, the rest is incredibly simple. Whisk in the apple butter and maple syrup while the tea is still hot, add warm milk, and froth it if you want that coffee-shop latte texture.
Can You Make an Iced Apple Butter Chai Latte?
Yes, and this is particularly useful during that strange part of September when your heart says fall but the temperature says absolutely not.
Make the tea concentrate the same way and whisk in the apple butter and maple syrup while it's still warm. Let it cool completely, then pour it over ice and add cold milk. You can shake the milk in a jar, use a handheld frother, or add cold foam if you want it extra creamy.
The hot version tastes a little more like warm apple pie. The iced version feels more like fall has arrived, but we're being realistic about the weather.
