This recipe was created by students at the Stratford Chefs School while I was the Joseph Hoare Gastranomic Writer in Residence.

By Donna Borooah and Marisa Verbeem

Everyone needs coffee, especially students. This latte is perfect for when you need a treat but don't want to spend the money on a fancy drink. Adding the shot of coffee makes it a "dirty" chai latte. You can customize this any way you want. Leave out the sugar for an unsweetened latte or add 1 oz of your favourite liqueur for an end-of-day drink. You can increase the spice quantities and steeping time to your liking. If you don't have an Aeropress, brew the coffee however you prefer.

Ingredients

Serves 1

• 2 cups water
• 1 English Breakfast teabag
• 3 slices ginger, ¼-inch thick
• 3 cloves
• 3 green cardamom pods, cracked
• 5 black peppercorns
• 3 sugar cubes, or more to taste
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tbsp ground coffee
• ½ cup milk

Method

Boil water. Pour 1 ½ cups of boiled water into small pot for tea mixture. Add tea bag, ginger, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, sugar, and 1 cinnamon stick. Steep mixture over low heat for 8 to 15 minutes.

Add ground coffee beans and remaining ½ cup of boiled water to an assembled Aeropress. Stir and let steep for another 30 seconds. Close filter over the Aeropress and invert over a measuring cup. Slowly push down to brew coffee shot. Stop pushing when you hear a slight hissing sound. Reserve coffee.

Pour milk into shaker, seal lid, and shake for 30 seconds. Immediately after shaking, heat milk in microwave for 45 seconds or until warm.

Strain tea mixture and combine with brewed coffee in serving mug. Top with heated milk and use a spoon to place foam on top. Garnish with cinnamon stick