Caffeine-Free Herbal Dirty Chai Latte
Apparently the first recipe in Sips, Suppers & Stories is a dirty chai that contains neither coffee nor caffeinated tea, which feels like an appropriate way to begin.
I love chai. Warm, creamy, spicy chai is one of those drinks that makes me want to put on a sweater even when September is still pulling July temps. Give me cinnamon and cardamom and something steaming in a mug and suddenly I’m ready to make soup, light a candle, and pretend it isn’t 84 degrees outside.
The problem is that I don’t drink coffee, caffeinated tea, OR caffeine. This makes recreating some of the world’s best drinks a challenge in its own right, but I think I nailed this one.
What Is a Dirty Chai?
A traditional dirty chai is basically the marriage of a chai latte and coffee: spiced chai tea, milk, and a shot of espresso.
Mine is…not that.
I use a really strong herbal chai from The Herbal Tea Co. in place of traditional caffeinated chai and Postum in place of the espresso.
Postum is a caffeine-free roasted grain beverage that has this deep, toasted, almost coffee-like flavor. When you add it to strong chai with milk or cream and a little sweetness, you get that darker, roasted flavor that makes a dirty chai so good without adding coffee or caffeine.
Is it technically an herbal caffeine-free dirty chai? I’m sure someone on the internet will tell me no.
Am I still calling it one?
Absolutely.
Why This Dirty Chai Is the Beginning of Something New
About a month ago, Instagram shut down my account. I got it back pretty quickly, but when the internet is your job, having your account disappear is basically the worst-case scenario. I’ve spent eight years building this little corner of the internet—telling stories, sharing recipes, making people laugh, oversharing about my family, and somehow meeting women through a tiny screen who have become actual friends. And then one day it was just…gone.
At first, all I could think about was, What if I never get it back? But once I did, I started asking myself a much better question: What do I actually want to do with it while I have it?
And mostly, I just want to make better stuff. Tell the stories I’ve been meaning to tell. Share recipes people actually make. Make you laugh. Make you think. Maybe convince you to invite somebody over for dinner or call your mom or finally make the damn soup.
Basically, I want to spend less time trying to figure out what Instagram wants from me and more time making things I’d actually want to send to a friend.
And that’s how Sips, Suppers & Stories started.
Welcome to Sips, Suppers & Stories
For the next 12 weeks, I’m making something delicious to eat or drink while I tell you a story on Instagram
Some will be meaningful, some will be funny, and some will be completely unhinged. Based on the stories I’ve accumulated over the last 40 years, at least a few will probably involve me nearly dying.
Every week: something delicious to make and a story worth pulling up a chair for.
And we’re starting with chai.
How to Make My Caffeine-Free Dirty Chai
The trick here is making the chai strong. You’re going to add Postum, milk or cream, and something sweet, so a weak cup of chai will completely disappear underneath everything else. I steep mine for a full six to eight minutes so those warm spices can hold their own.
Caffeine-Free Dirty Chai Latte
What Chai Do I Use?
My favorite for this recipe is The Herbal Tea Co. Chai.
My code is ABI for 5% off!
It’s herbal and caffeine-free but still has exactly the warm, spicy flavor I want from chai. Because this drink has several other ingredients competing with the tea, I recommend brewing it stronger than you would if you were drinking it plain.
There are a few other Herbal Tea Co. teas I love making this way too: Le Marche Cinnamon, Fresh Mint Blend, and Baked Apple. You can use the same basic idea and suddenly you have an entire fall beverage situation happening.
Another one I love is Bengal Spice from Celestial Seasonings. It’s caffeine-free and makes a great substitute if you want something you can find at a lot of grocery stores.
What Is Postum?
If you’ve never heard of Postum, welcome to a very specific corner of the beverage world.
Postum is a caffeine-free roasted grain beverage that you mix with hot water. It has this deep, toasted flavor, which is exactly why I use it here.
It isn’t espresso, and I’m not going to pretend it tastes exactly like espresso. But it doesn’t need to. What I want is that deeper roasted flavor against all those warm chai spices, and Postum does the job beautifully.
I also love Pero, which is another option if that’s easier for you to find.
Can I Make This Without Postum?
Absolutely. Without the Postum, you essentially have a caffeine-free chai latte instead of my version of a dirty chai.
Still delicious!
Can I Make It Dairy-Free?
Absolutely. Use whatever milk you normally like in warm drinks. Different milks have different levels of richness and sweetness, so you may need to adjust the amount of sweetener depending on what you use.
Can I Make an Iced Dirty Chai?
ABSOLUTELY make it iced. It might actually be better.
Just make sure you mix the Postum and sugar with something hot first so everything dissolves. You’ll also want to let your chai cool before pouring it over ice so you don’t immediately water the whole thing down.
Or, if you are impatient like me, steep your chai extra strong using about half the water and then pour it over a full glass of ice.
A Few Things I Love for Chai Season
My favorite mug
Beverages objectively taste better out of a mug you love. I don’t make the rules.
My loose-leaf glass tea kettle
This is what I use when I’m making loose-leaf chai.
My favorite fall sweater
Completely irrelevant to the success of this recipe. Extremely relevant to the experience.
Something good to read/listen to while you drink it
If we’re committing to fall, we might as well go all the way.
AND right now, you can get a four month Audible Standard subscription for 99 cents a month (and if you’re not a Prime member, you can get 3 months).
This deal is only happening for a month go get it asap!!
Click here for the link to the deal!
Pull Up a Chair
One other thing came out of the Great Instagram Disappearance of 2026: I realized I want to spend more time writing in places that belong to me, too.
So I’m writing more here and sending out newsletters that are actually worthy of your inbox. More recipes, more stories, more things I’m learning, and more thoughts about this weird little life we’re all living.
Instagram is wonderful for a lot of things. But sometimes I want more than 90 seconds. I want to finish the story. I want to tell you the part that didn’t fit in the Reel. I want to give you the actual recipe instead of making you pause a video seventeen times while standing in your kitchen.
If you want that too, pull up a chair.
And welcome to Sips, Suppers & Stories.
I think we’re going to have a lot of fun.
Dirty Herbal Chai Latte
Ingredients
Method
- Steep the chai tea in hot water for 6 minutes.Strain.Add 1 teaspoon Postum, stir until combined.Add a splash of cream and sugar to taste.Serve warm and enjoy.
