Lavender Milk Tea (Perfect Bedtime Drink!)

This creamy lavender milk tea is deliciously floral with a calming effect that makes it a perfect warm drink to enjoy before bedtime. You can also easily customize this recipe to make an earl grey lavender milk tea, an iced version or froth your milk for a creamy latte drink.

I have to say that I'm pretty excited to share that extra simple lavender milk tea recipe. It is one of the easiest recipes on the blog to make, almost feels too easy to count as a recipe!

I do love to make all sorts of drinks using lavender, such as seen in this lavender blueberry lemonade and this lavender almond milk recipes. My favorite is actually making a matcha latte with lavender. Lavender adds such a pleasant aromatic flavor to drinks, whether it is warm or cold, we are simply hooked and make them often.

I also love how aromatic milk tea calls for a pause in your day: it is floral, creamy, warm and filled with a delicate flavor thats has a direct soothing effect that calms and simply makes you feel good. It's great just before bedtime (especially with lemon cookies or date scones), to help you wind down from the day and relax your mind.

This recipe is super simple: it pairs milk + tea, plus you can sweeten just as much as you need.

This basic milk tea recipe is delicious just like that, with a little splash of sweetener. But, you can also play around and add other tea leaves, use different kinds of milk or sweetener and even make it cold for the hot summer days.

Let me know if you gave it a try! ❤️

What's to love about this recipe

• Easy and simple recipe, only 3 ingredients!
• Delicate floral flavors
• Ultra creamy texture
• Great cool weather cozy warm drink
• Amazing bedtime drink
• Ancient and traditional drink that can help sooth stress and calm your mind
• Completely caffeine-free
• Easy to customize
• Vegan and dairy-free

What is milk tea?

Milk tea simply refers to tea that has had milk added to it. Either lots of milk, close to a latte, or can simply be a little splash of milk in a regular cup of tea. There are all kind of milk teas: warm vs cold, caffeinated vs herbal, black vs green or the popular bubble tea. Adding milk to your tea can mellow the flavor, especially in strong teas that are more bitter.

In this case, only a small amount of water is first used to extract the lavender flavor. Then, the drink is elongated with milk. This creates a super creamy texture and using a higher ratio of milk vs water enhances the soothing effect from that drink.

What you will need to make this lavender milk tea

• Lavender buds or flowers: choose either dried or fresh flowers.
• Water
• Vegan milk of your choice: I love oat milk when making drinks and lattes because it is so creamy and thick. Almond milk or soy milk would work too.
• Sweetener (optional): I used maple syrup, which is my go-to sweetener for drinks as it dissolve well. Feel free to use stevia, granulated sugar or agave nectar as well. Or, simply omit if you prefer!

What lavender to choose to make this milk tea

You can simply use store-bought lavender buds. I buy mine online (I use the lavender buds by Eat Well). Just make make sure you are using culinary grade or with a mention that they can be used for tea (most of them are ready for consumption though).

If you grow lavender yourself, then you can simply use fresh lavender flowers to make it. Dry the lavender flowers from your garden to be able to store them properly and make lavender tea all year long.

Lavender health benefits

Although still debated in the literature (and not approved by FDA for consumption yet), the use of lavender, either consuming the flowers or only enjoying its fragrance, may help reduce the overall stress. A simple cup of tea before bed can assist you in falling asleep and handle your anxiety better.

Lavender is most known for its calming effect, but consuming lavender may also help your skin heal, sooth pain, unbalanced moods and so much more. Either these positive effects are scientifically proven or not does not matter so much as long as the result is a more relaxed version of yourself, placebo or real. This recipe makes for such an amazing vegan bedtime drink!

How to make it

It is as simple as making a cup of tea!

• Steep some lavender buds in a small amount of warm water for 5 min.

• While the tea is steeping, warm some milk (I like to use the stove, but you can also use the microwave).

• Strain your tea using a colander or a tea infuser and transfer the warm milk to the cup of tea. Sweeten the tea if desired. Enjoy!

Helpful tips

• You can easily make this recipe ahead and keep in the fridge for a few days. To serve the leftovers, warm it up using the microwave or the stove, or simply enjoy cold by pouring over ice cubes. In any case, do not freeze!
• Adjust how strong you want your tea to taste by steeping for longer (stronger) or less (milder) time. If you aren't use to the floral lavender flavor, you may want to steep for a shorter amount of time!
• Another way to strain the lavender buds would be to use a French press, I love using it when making tea!
• DO NOT use lavender oil as they often aren't made for consumption and their flavor would be too overpowering.
• While warming up the milk on the stove, be sure NOT to let it come to a boil. Watch carefully and remove from the heat once it gets steamy.

Substitutions

If you don't have fresh or dried lavender buds, then feel-free to use lavender tea bags (you can get this online). Simply steep the bag in the water instead of the free buds. Also, check on the packaging to see if it is combined with a caffeinated tea, such as black tea, just in case you want to enjoy it late at night.

Also, you can use lavender syrup instead, which will also provide the sweetener you need for your milk tea. I prefer using lavender buds so I can sweetened the milk tea to my taste.

Another interesting substitution would be to use 2-3 sprig of rosemary instead. It is less floral, but actually similar in flavor to lavender and very aromatic.

And If you have some dried chamomile flowers, then I suggest you also include some. They have a calming effect as well and a nice flavor that would pair well with lavender.

Other flavoring ingredients you could include are:

• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Cardamom

If you wanted to add a little caffein, then you can also steep a bag of black tea with the lavender buds.

What kind of milk to use?

Any kind of milk should work well when making this milk tea. I love using oat milk from Oatly for its thicker and slightly sweet flavor, but almond milk works very well too. Also, regular full fat vegan milks give you a more creamy milk tea compared to the low in fat ones.

And if you are looking for a treat, then try using coconut milk (not in a can, the one in a carton in the fridge) for added sweet flavor and extra creamy texture. Or, if you have some vegan horchata, use it instead for an amazing combo in flavors!

How to make a creamy lavender milk latte instead?

You can very easily make a cloudy and creamy latte instead simply by frothing the warm milk before adding it to the steeped tea. I use an electric frother to foam the warm milk, but you can watch this video on how to froth your milk without using an electric tool if you don't have one.

Can I make an iced lavender milk tea?

Yes you can! To do it, steep and strain your lavender buds as directed. Then, use a tall glass, fill it with ice cubes, transfer the strained tea and add the cold milk. Sweeten your drink and stir.

Lavender pairs very well with blueberries, so you could also add a few fresh or frozen ones to the bottom of your glass first, gently crush the fruits and add the rest of the ingredient. This would add lots of color and flavor.

Make an earl grey lavender milk tea

If you are looking for added caffeine into your drink, then simply steep a bag of earl grey (or loose tea leaves) while steeping the lavender buds. Earl grey pairs very well with lavender and will give stronger flavor to your drink.

I hope you enjoy this relaxing lavender milk tea recipe as much as I do! If you try it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it was. Your feedback is so helpful!

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Other tea drinks you might like

• Chia seed tea
• Peach oolong tea
• Blueberry lavender almond milk
• Vanilla matcha latte
• Lemongrass and ginger tea
• Butterfly pea flower tea latte
• Iced blueberry matcha latte
• Matcha chai latte
• Earl Grey milk tea
• Orange peel tea
• Cinnamon milk tea

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