Toast the Spices: Place a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the cinnamon stick, crushed cardamom pods, cloves, black peppercorns, and star anise. Toast for 1-2 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until they become very fragrant. This small step makes a huge difference to the final flavour.

Create the Concentrate: Add the 500ml of water and the sliced ginger to the saucepan with the toasted spices. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer.

Simmer and Infuse: Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and let the spices infuse for 10 minutes. The liquid will take on a lovely amber colour and your kitchen will smell amazing.

Brew the Tea: After 10 minutes, turn off the heat. Add the two black tea bags and your chosen sweetener (brown sugar or maple syrup). Let the tea steep for exactly 5 minutes. Any longer and it can become bitter.

Strain the Concentrate: Remove the tea bags and pour the concentrate through a fine-mesh sieve into a jug to remove all the spices and ginger. You should have around 400ml of beautifully spiced chai concentrate.

Heat the Milk: While the tea is steeping, gently heat your 500ml of milk and the 1 tsp of vanilla paste in a separate saucepan over a medium heat. What works best for me is heating it until it's steaming and small bubbles are forming around the edge, but do not let it boil. Boiling can alter the taste and texture of the milk.

Froth the Milk: Once hot, froth the milk. You can do this with a handheld milk frother, by whisking it vigorously by hand, or by carefully pouring it into a French press and plunging up and down for 30 seconds until it's thick and foamy. For a deep dive into milk frothing techniques, Serious Eats has a great guide.

Assemble Your Latte: Divide the hot chai concentrate between two large mugs. Gently pour the hot, frothy vanilla milk over the top. Hold back the foam with a spoon at first, pour in the liquid milk, and then spoon the remaining foam on top.

Serve Immediately: Dust the top of each latte with a little ground cinnamon and enjoy straight away.