Lavender Milk Tea
This Lavender Milk Tea recipe is just in time for spring! Delightfully floral lavender buds and bold black tea are steeped in milk, making a luxuriously sweet and creamy hot or iced tea latte. Boba tea, London fog, and vegan modifications included.
When fresh lavender’s floral, herbal, and woodsy aroma graces the great outdoors, you know spring is in the air! But, believe it or not, lavender doesn’t just smell heavenly. It tastes like heaven, too -and this lavender milk tea recipe proves it!
In short, this carefully crafted spring-inspired milk tea recipe showcases lavender-infused milk steeped with antioxidant-rich black tea. The results are an elegant, pleasantly floral, earthy milk tea latte with a luscious, velvety texture.
Like my beloved matcha milk tea, this rejuvenating lavender milk tea is a must-make for hot milk tea, iced milk tea, and boba tea lovers. In this post, I’ll teach you how to make all of the above, plus how to make a traditional lavender London fog!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Quick and easy. You don’t need to be a professional barista. With this milk latte-making guide, 4 ingredients, and a few minutes of your time, it’s as easy as 1-2-3.
- Easy to personalize. You’re in charge of the type of milk and sweetener used and whether to make it hot, iced, or with boba pearls.
- Cost-effective. Making tea-based drinks at home is cheaper than daily runs to your local coffee shop or bubble tea cafe.
- Energy booster. Black tea isn’t quite as caffeinated as coffee, so lavender milk tea is a perfect morning or afternoon pick-me-up, hopefully without the jitters.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Milk – Steeping tea in milk instead of water makes it luxuriously creamy. I like using Fairlife whole milk because it’s lactose-free, with 50% more protein, 30% more calcium, and 50% less sugar than regular milk. See the ‘variations’ below for dairy-free alternatives.
- Dried lavender buds – These are the edible flowers of the lavender plant. They have an aromatic floral flavor with notes of mint and rosemary to complement the rich, earthy, and bitter taste. Be sure to use food-grade dried lavender.
- Black tea – AKA “red tea” (hong cha) in China, is a blend of heavily oxidized dark tea leaves, so the depth of flavor is generally more intense than other types of tea. You can use tea bags or loose-leaf black tea.
- Liquid sweetener – I used my favorite NuNaturals vanilla stevia syrup to sweeten this without added calories, and it was delicious. You could also use honey (the customary sweetener for lavender milk tea), maple syrup, simple syrup, agave nectar, etc. You can also use regular sugar or other types of granular sweetener, but you must add it while the tea is hot so it dissolves.
- Collagen peptides – This is optional but recommended for a big nutritional boost.
How to make lavender milk tea
Step 1: Steam milk with lavender. Warm the milk and lavender buds in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 4 – 4½ minutes. You want it nice and hot but not boiling.
Step 2: Steep the tea. Turn off the heat, add the tea bags (or loose tea leaves), and let the mixture infuse for 3-4 minutes.
Step 3: Strain the tea. Remove the loose lavender buds and tea leaves by pouring the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and into your drinking vessel.
Step 4: Sweeten and serve. Stir in the sweetener of your choice and collagen peptides if you like. Then, sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Recipe tips
- Do not let the milk heat to a boil, or it may foam over the sides of the pot and make a huge mess. If you have a fancy milk steamer, feel free to use it.
- You don’t want this to taste like lavender-flavored milk, so steep the black tea long enough to taste it.
- You can grind the dried lavender into an extra fine powder to stir directly into the steamed milk (just as you would matcha powder) for a more pronounced lavender flavor. Or add a splash of store-bought lavender simple syrup like Monin, Collins, or Torani.
Variations
- Lavender tea latte – You can easily make this a foamy layered latte by warming an additional ½ cup of milk to 140 – 155℉. Then tilt the warm milk at a 45-degree angle and foam with an electric frother or whisk by hand. Finally, pour the frothed milk slowly over the back of a spoon to layer it on top.
- Iced lavender tea latte – Need to cool off? Prepare the hot version as instructed, then place it in the refrigerator. Once completely chilled, pour the tea into a glass filled with ice, add a layer of cold foam if you like, and enjoy!
- Lavender boba tea (aka bubble tea) – Add tapioca balls (aka “pearls” or “boba”) to the bottom of your glass, then fill the glass with ice. Add sweetener to taste, and top the glass with chilled lavender milk tea.
- Lavender London fog – Substitute black tea with Earl Grey tea bags or loose leaves. A traditional London fog also has a hint of vanilla, so steam the milk with a vanilla bean, add a dash of vanilla extract, or sweeten the drink with vanilla-flavored simple syrup.
- Vegan lavender milk tea – To make a creamy dairy-free version, you can’t go wrong with almond, oat, cashew, or soy milk, but to make the CREAMIEST dairy-free version, go with barista-style dairy-free milk.
Storing & freezing
As with most tea and coffee drinks, lavender milk tea is best right away, but if you don’t finish it all, here’s what you can do:
- Storing: If iced, first strain the milk tea into an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. If hot, be sure to let it cool before storing it.
- Freezing: Freeze the milk tea in an ice cube tray, and store the cubes in a freezer-safe plastic bag for up to a month. Then, you can use the frozen milk tea cubes to chill future iced milk tea lattes and bubble teas. You can also freeze it in popsicle molds!
FAQs
Yes. Since this one has black tea, it doesn’t have as much caffeine as a standard espresso latte, but just enough for extra pep in your step. Of course, you could also make this with decaffeinated tea bags if needed.
Sure! Instead of black tea, try infusing lavender milk with white, green, or oolong tea. Or, try an herbal blend like chai or chamomile.
Yup! If you have access to freshly picked lavender flowers, you can use them but know that the flavor of fresh lavender isn’t as concentrated as dried, so you may need to use more.
More easy drink recipes for spring
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Lavender Milk Tea {Hot & Iced}
Equipment
- 1 small saucepan
- 1 fine mesh sieve
- 1 mug or glass
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk whole milk is recommended for creaminess (see notes on lactose-free and dairy-free recommendations)
- 1/2 tbsp dried lavender buds
- 1 black tea bag or 1 tbsp loose black tea leaves
- 1 tsp NuNaturals vanilla stevia syrup honey, maple syrup, or simple syrup are other sweetener options- more or less to taste
- 1-2 tbsp Optional: collagen peptides for a nutrition boost
Instructions
- Add the milk and lavender buds to a small saucepan over medium heat and heat for 4- 4 1/2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the milk is very hot but not boiling.
- Turn off the heat, add the tea bag (or loose tea), and allow the mixture to infuse for 3-4 minutes.
- Strain the tea mixture by pouring it through a fine mesh sieve over your drinking vessel.
- Stir in your desired sweetener (and collagen peptides, if using) and enjoy. *You can froth an additional 1/2 cup of milk for a latte-style milk tea.
- For the iced version:
- Follow steps 1-3 and stir in the collagen, if using. Chill the lavender milk tea in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
- Fill a glass with ice (adding boba first at the bottom, if desired), add sweetener to taste, and pour the cooled tea mixture over the ice and enjoy.
Notes
- Do not let the milk heat to a boil, or it may foam over the sides of the pot and make a huge mess. If you have a fancy milk steamer, feel free to use it.
- You don’t want this to taste like lavender-flavored milk, so steep the black tea long enough to taste it.
- You can grind the dried lavender into an extra fine powder to stir directly into the steamed milk (just as you would matcha powder) for a more pronounced lavender flavor. Or add a splash of store-bought lavender simple syrup like Monin, Collins, or Torani.
Nutrition
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