Did you know that you can make many of the specialty coffee drinks with a tea base? The nice thing about tea though is that there are so many more diverse flavors because of the hundreds of different plants and flowers that can be made with tea. It also has some fabulous health benefits. That was one of the things that I loved so much about working in the café with our barista Lisa was that she helped me make traditional coffee drinks with our tea bases.
Along those lines I always wanted to make fruit based teas into lattes but we ran into some problems with the acidity of the fruit curdling the milk. We probably tried at least 20-30 different combinations. For Valentine’s day I particularly wanted to make a raspberry tea latte but we just couldn’t get it to work. Finally two years later I added this pomegranate vanilla to our inventory and was so excited that this tea worked for a tea latte and it finally gave me the fruit based latte I was looking for.
This tea is a custom blend and I love the combination of green and black teas which cuts down on the caffeine and gives the extra antioxidants of the green tea but the flavor is deepened by the black tea base. There is a really nice mellow sweet vanilla flavor highlighted by the tart pomegranate and cranberry notes. It is like drinking a symphony of flavors with the base notes of the black tea, the earthy guitar feel of the green tea, the brass sound of the pomegranate, and the sweet flavor of vanilla like the wind instruments.
So here is my symphony of flavor for you this Valentine’s Day. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Be sure to comment below or post on social media and tag us @Somscafe for some free samples.
The Pomegranate Vanilla Tea Latte
Ingredients:
- Pomegranate Vanilla Tea https://somscafe.com/product/pomegranate-vanilla/
- Milk product of choice
- Sweetener of choice

Directions:
- Properly steep the tea base. We have more detailed instructions for how to make a proper tea latte in the link listed, but I will give you the summary steps in this blog: https://somscafe.com/how-to-make-a-tea-latte/
- Bring water to @200°. Since this tea is a blend of black tea and green tea, I want it hot enough to capture the flavor of the black tea, but not too hot to embitter the green tea. I prefer to use my tea kettle with the temperatures listed on it, but you can also use a kitchen thermometer and take the temperature after small bubbles begin to appear and a few minutes before it boils.

- Heat your preferred milk product on medium heat on the stove to 140°F. I usually set the timer for 5 minutes and watch for small bubbles. Once they start appearing I take the temp until it reaches 140°F then I remove it from the heat. Almond milk and soy milk are less frothy than regular milk. Oat milk is my preferred milk for a lactose free alternative because it has a very nice froth.
- Put the proper amount of tea for the tea concentrate in your infuser. For the tea flavor to cut through the milk in a latte, we use double the amount of tea in a small amount of milk. The rule of thumb for normal tea is 1tsp/8oz, so for a latte you will use 1.5-2tsp/8oz. For a 16 oz mug we use 3 tsp. of loose leaf tea. You can get a tea infuser here: https://somscafe.com/product/metal-tea-infuser/

- Once your water has reached the right temperature, heat up your cup so that it holds the proper temperature by putting a little of the hot water in it, swirling it around, then pouring it out.
- Fill your mug @1/3rd full with water then put your tea into the water to make the tea concentrate.

- Cover your mug with a saucer to infuse the tea and set your timer for 4 minutes to steep the tea.

- While your tea is steeping you can froth your milk once it has reached 140°. I prefer using an induction blender or hand blender, but if you don’t have one you can use a french press, a whisk, or a blender to froth your milk.
- Once the timer goes off, use a spoon to squish the tea leaves and get all the flavor out of the leaves and into your cup.
- Fill your mug with the liquid steamed milk, add sweetener of choice, and dollop the foam on top.
You can get loose leaf tea, recipes, and videos like this every month through our monthly subscription service, onsale now for Valentine’s Day for just $9.95/month: https://somscafe.com/?s=monthly+subscription.