The Best Ways To Incorporate Chai Spice Into Your Drinks, According To A Cocktail Expert

Fall is the season of warming, spiced drinks. Next to pumpkin spice, chai spice is one of the season's most complementary flavors. This spice blend, led by the flavors of cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger, goes beautifully with black tea — for a traditional chai — and coffee. The blend is often used in baked goods as well, but there's another fun way to enjoy more of that chai flavor this fall: in cocktails. Chris Cusack (sommelier, cicerone, and owner of both locations of the highly celebrated cocktail bar Betelgeuse Betelgeuse in Houston, Texas) gave us his best tips to incorporate chai spice into your boozy beverages.

Unsurprisingly, the cocktail creative is full of ideas. "When I think of chai, I immediately think demerara rum. Rich, dark notes pair very well with the spiciness of chai," Cusack says. The orange notes and demerara syrup in a dark rum old fashioned match well with the spices. The ginger in the blend is also brought out by the ginger beer in a dark n' stormy (the no-lime-juice version). Or taking inspiration from the signature drink at his old coffee shop, Cusack suggests, "Try a vodka espresso martini with chai spices — or better yet, a traditional espresso martini ... with a chai latte foam."

A traditional vodka espresso martini is made with vodka, coffee liquor, and room temperature espresso. To add chai spice to this cult favorite cocktail, you can simply sprinkle the spice blend on top as a garnish. Or try mixing it with the hot, freshly brewed espresso before you let it cool to better incorporate the flavors throughout the cocktail.

To make the version with chai latte foam, Cusack says you'll need chai concentrate, egg white, vanilla syrup, and Irish cream in addition to the classic espresso martini ingredients. Shake the chai latte foam ingredients together in a shaker without ice (a method called a dry shake), then add the ice and shake again to chill it before straining it to make that perfect espresso martini foam.

And don't be afraid to get even more creative with the espresso martini recipe. Going off of Cusack's suggested pairing for chai spice and dark rum, you could try Gordon Ramsay's favorite rum espresso martini. Whatever chai spice cocktail you choose to make, complete it with a sweet sugar rim. Demerara sugar would work especially well for this, especially in drinks with demerara rum. It can be hard to find in some stores, but it's easy to order online; we love Caribbean Rhythm's Pure Demerara Cane Sugar.