Are you a fan of Chai Tea too? With fall in full effect and winter on its way, I routinely find myself at one of my favorite coffee shops buying a cup of tasty hot Chai. When I’m at the grocery store I like to buy chai concentrate from Sherpa or Bhakti Chai. If purchasing Chai online I love Blue Lotus’ instant ground chai spices. All these quick options are great, but let’s not forget the joy and fun of making your own. When I lived in Panama, I made my own Chai. It was my favorite part of the morning both for the ritual in preparation and the delicious taste.
There’s no need to drain your bank account on this liquid delight! Making your own Chai tea is actually quite easy and much more affordable to prepare at home. As a bonus the cooking process will perfume your house and you can tailor your Chai to tickle your taste buds exactly how you like. Use extra ginger for a kick of spice, add turmeric to decrease inflammation, or make an all herbal Chai with a base tea like Rooibos.
Chai is the perfect winter time beverage as its herbs are “warming” and improve digestion. It will also help to stoke your energy and “internal fire” to keep your body running at high voltage throughout the winter.
Home Made Chai Tea:
INGREDIENTS
2-inch piece fresh ginger, cut in to slices
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
6 cardamom pods
6 cups cold water
6 bags of black tea (Darjeeling, Asam, PG Tips)
2 cups milk of choice (I love Oat Milk right now)
1/4-1/2 cup sugar (can omit and/or add your sweetener of choice: coconut sugar, honey, etc.)
PREPARATION
Begin by combining your spices in a medium saucepan, add water and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially covering the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the liquid from the heat. Next, add tea bags and steep 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags. If you want to use the liquid in your fridge for further uses, omit adding milk on the stove. If you are going to use all of the batch right now, you may add milk and sugar to taste. Bring the liquid back to simmer over medium heat. Strain the spices and serve. If you are omitting milk for a single serving, strain tea now in to a separate container leaving a cup of tea in the pan, add a fourth cup of milk and simmer once more. Store the rest of the liquid in an air tight container in the fridge. Use within a few days.
Optional Ingredients:
2 in piece of turmeric, cut into slices *add when steeping other herbs
Dash of nutmeg *to taste as you serve the cup of Chai
Dash cocoa powder *to taste as you serve the cup of Chai
Recipe modified from Epicurious.com
Written by Cailey Halloran, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.
