For the Love of Chai

The Tao of Chai

I am a chai freak. Chai latte, to be exact. The combination of spices apparently has some emotional/mental effect on me.

Making homemade chai is such a comforting process, and for me, worth all the time and effort involved. So I'm going to walk you through it, since most of the time I give a quick synopsis and recipe, leaving out details you must figure out as you make it. This is not a huge problem, it's not science, it's cooking, so enjoy!

There are expenses involved, some of which you can fudge. I use a mortar & pestle, french press, a strainer and a large pot. You could use a crock pot, then stain it into another pot, but you want to get all the goop out. I also keep a press pot cozy made of recycled wool on my press pot, of course, available in my etsy shop :-) so we can keep it warm while we sip. I'm giving a recipe for 1-2 cups, so double or triple it to make more. It's a matter of flavor, and as you make it you will see what ingredients you'd like more or less of. So here's the ingredients you'll need:
1 cup whole milk (you can use cream, it's really heavy though)
1 cup water
1 tea bag or enough loose tea for a cup (I empty out the tea loose into the pot). My friend who gave me the recipe uses only Tetley British blend, but she's a tea perfectionist. I'd say she's right, but it's not mandatory.
A cinnamon stick or a tsp of cinnamon
4-6 cloves
a pinch of allspice
4-6 cardamom pods
4-6 white peppercorns
4-6 black peppercorns
(you may want to start with 3 of each of the pepper, I like mine spicy, and it WILL be spicy with more pepper)
sugar or honey to taste (I use a T or 2 of sugar, I have a sweet tooth, you can add more later)
1 T grated ginger, or maybe a tsp of ginger juice. If you use dry ginger, perhaps start with a tsp and you can add more next time. I love it gingery.
Grind the whole spices in your mortar & pestle, or if you don't have one, put a tea towel over them and pound them a bit.

Here's the thing. I never make one cup. If I'm going to take the time to make it, I make a pot with 4 cups each of water & milk, then save the rest. Some recipes say to put it all in, adding the milk last, I just put everything in and simmer for about 1/2 hr. The key is to boil off most of the water. This makes a heck of a strong cup of tea, so be warned if you're going to drink it late.




I strongly advise watching it for boiling over, it can. I also advise standing over it and inhaling the immensely YUMMY aroma. This is almost the best part.

I then strain or scoop out as much of the gunk as I can before I put it in my press pot. It's pretty gunky. Press it through, then give a little taste for sweetness. Pour a cuppa, and ooooooohhhhhhhh. Enjoy! If I forgot anything, my apologies, ask me any questions you like. Share it with a friend! My best friend put all the dry ingredients in a jar for me as a gift once, it was so good! Every batch will come out a little different, but once you get the hang of it you won't even need to measure.

Have some for me!