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Iced Masala Chai with Salted Cream Foam

By • Updated July 2026
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This is how you turn the comforting warmth of masala chai into a July showstopper: cold-brewed overnight with whole spices, poured over ice, then crowned with a thick layer of salted cream foam. The contrast between chilled, aromatic tea and lightly sweet, savoury whipped cream is utterly addictive—and it looks just as good as it tastes.

The secret is a decent handheld milk frother. Unlike whisking by hand, a frother aerates cold double cream in seconds, creating stable, pillowy foam that sits proud on top of your chai instead of sinking. The cold-brew method keeps the spices bright and the tannins mellow, so you get all the cardamom and ginger fragrance without any bitterness—even after twelve hours in the fridge.

Iced Masala Chai with Salted Cream Foam
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time0 mins
Servings2 Tall Glasses
DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

  • 500 ml cold filtered water
  • 3 tbsp Black Tea (Assam or Ceylon loose-leaf)
  • 4 Cardamom Pods, lightly crushed
  • 1 Cinnamon Stick
  • 3 slices fresh Ginger (about 5 mm thick)
  • 3 Black Peppercorns
  • 100 ml Double Cream (cold from the fridge)
  • 1 tbsp Icing Sugar
  • ¼ tsp Flaky Sea Salt, plus extra to garnish
Nutrition per serving:
Calories: 185
Fat: 16g
Sugar: 7g
Protein: 1g

Instructions

1
Cold-Brew: Combine the water, black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and peppercorns in a jug or jar. Stir gently, cover and refrigerate for 10–12 hours. This cold-brew approach extracts the spices' essential oils without bitterness.
2
Strain: Strain the chai through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean jug, pressing the tea leaves and spices lightly to extract every drop of flavour. Discard the solids.
3
Froth the Cream: Pour the cold double cream into a tall, narrow jug (at least 500 ml capacity). Add the icing sugar and sea salt. Using a handheld milk frother, blend on high speed for 20–30 seconds until the cream thickens and forms stiff, glossy peaks. The foam science is straightforward: fat and air stabilise into a mousse-like texture when agitated quickly.
4
Assemble: Fill two tall glasses with ice cubes—or even better, frozen chai cubes. Pour the cold-brewed chai over the ice, leaving about 3 cm headroom.
5
Top & Serve: Spoon the salted cream foam generously onto each glass, letting it mound above the rim. Finish with a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt. Serve immediately with a straw and a long spoon—you want to taste the spiced chai and the cream together in every sip.

🫖 Equipment You'll Need

A handheld milk frother is essential here because it introduces hundreds of tiny air bubbles into cold cream in under thirty seconds—something a whisk or spoon simply can't replicate. The high-speed motor stabilises the fat globules into a firm, stand-up foam that holds its shape on top of iced drinks. Without one, you'll end up with a loose, grainy cream that sinks straight through the chai.

See our milk frother picks →

Expert Tip: Make It a Latte

For a creamier, less intense drink, stir 50–100 ml of cold whole milk into the strained chai before pouring over ice. The fat and protein in milk round out the tannins beautifully, creating something closer to an iced latte texture.

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