Whether you like it hot or cold, spicy chai tea is a great treat. With a few household spices, you can brew up a batch of Indian-style chai tea.
Chai is the hottest type of tea drink around these days, and it's something that you can make for yourself if you want. Chai isn't actually a particular kind of tea, but a type of recipe with tea. Specifically, its tea brewed with a varying blend of spices like cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, anise, fennel or ginger. It is also sometimes made with milk or cream as well.
Originally an Indian delicacy, chai has become a fairly common sight here in North America. There are many brands of bagged chai tea blends, and you can order chai in coffeehouse chains as well.
You won't need any overly exotic ingredients to make chai, but you may need to experiment to get the flavours you want. There is no one recipe for chai, anymore than there is one recipe for meatloaf.
These recipes all call for loose tea, but if you only have bagged, then replace 1 tsp of tea with 1 teabag. And any of these recipes could be served cold for iced tea as well as hot.
Chai Zanzibar
Whole peppercorns and lots of ginger will brew up a zesty cup of tea.
- 1 quart water
- ½ pint milk
- 1 tsp loose black tea.
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1-inch chunk of raw ginger
- 2 whole cloves
- 5 whole black peppercorns
Peel the piece of ginger and chop finely. Break up the cinnamon sticks into small pieces. Combine all the spices in water and bring to a good boil. Add milk and continue heating until it comes back to a boil. Stir in tea leaves and let simmer for 1 or 2 more minutes. Strain out the spices and serve.
Rich Milk Chai
Condensed milk makes this quite rich, and the cloves do add a spicy kick as well.
- 4 cups water
- 8 tsp loose black tea
- 8 whole cloves
- ½ pint condensed milk
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground ginger
Heat water to boiling, and steep tea lives for about 5 minutes. Strain out the tea, and add the remaining spices. Simmer again for 7 to 8 minutes. Strain again to remove spices. Stir in condensed milk and sweeten with honey, if desired. Serve hot (or cold).
Exotic Moon Chai
Eight spices go into this variety of chai, but you'll likely have them in the pantry.
- 5 cups water
- 4 tsp loose black tea
- 10 1-inch pieces of ginger
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 2 tsp whole peppercorns
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp licorice root
- ½ tsp allspice
- 3 tbs honey
Combine tea and all spices into the water and heat until simmering. Let steep at a simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and let steep for another 20 minutes. Strain out the spices and serve with honey.
Recipes courtesy of the Steaming Cup
