I might be the only girl in the state of Washington that doesn’t like coffee. *GASP* … I know, I know-it’s pure blasphemy! That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy (need) a daily dose of caffeine, however. My caffeinated vice is just a bit sweeter in nature – chai. Oh how I love a nice cool glass of iced chai on a sunny summer morning. Add a peanut butter chocolate chunk Baker’s Breakfast Cookie to the equation and I can’t think of a better way to start the day. In fact it’s the anticipation of the duo that’s often responsible for prying me from under the covers : )
More than a year ago, I found a recipe for chai in a magazine and decided to try my hand at making my own. The first batch tasted alright, but did not have the flavor I was trying to achieve. I wasn’t quite sure which spice quantity needed adjustment, so an ongoing experiment ensued. Subsequent batches ranged from great to downright awful. It took me almost a year of weekly attempts to find the right combination and recreate it consistently. I hate wasting anything, *especially* food, so I made myself drink it regardless of the outcome- except for that “downright awful” batch – I just couldn’t choke it down so down the drain it went.
A lot of people have asked me for my recipe so I finally paid a little attention and wrote it down the last time I made it. I needed some practice working with my flash, so I thought it would be fun to document the process in pictures and share it with everyone here! The great thing about chai is you can’t really go wrong with the ingredients (except for ginger… I think too much ginger was the culprit in that awful batch!) There are a lot of different spices that are commonly added to chai (fennel, anise, bay leaves) but these are the ones I’ve settled on for now. I’m still trying to figure out how to make it more peppery flavored without making it spicy. If you’ve got any tips, please do share!
1/2 Gallon + 2 cups water
1/2 - 2/3 cup raw sugar or honey
3/4 cup loose leaf black tea (Darjeeling or Assam)
1 tbsp cardamom seeds
3 tbsp white & black peppercorns
2 tbsp whole cloves
4 whole nutmeg
4 3" cinnamon sticks
2" fresh ginger root, peeled & diced into very small pieces
Add sugar to water and bring to a boil. Crush all spices together using a mortar & pestle, a spice grinder or by putting them together in a plastic bag and smashing the heck out of them with a wooden spoon : ) The mixture needs to be coarse in texture, so don’t go too crazy! Place the spice mixture into a fine strainer with a handle. Place strainer into pot of sweetened water. Bring to boil then allow to simmer for about 30 minutes. Add tea leaves and bring to boil again, then simmer for an hour. Stir the ingredients in the strainer a bit while simmering. The tea leaves will soak up water so you can add a bit to refill the pot, just allow it to simmer for awhile after you’ve done this. Once done, compost the spice & tea mixture. There’s often a bit of spice residue in the bottom of the pot, so you may need to strain the liquid mixture to remove the finer particles. I store my chai in the refrigerator in a half gallon “growler.”
The ratio of chai to milk (or soy milk) is 1:1. I prefer iced chai over warm, but move to warmed chai during the cold months. Mmmm… I think I need to go make another glass!
In the past couple of years, I’ve become a bit of a chai connoisseur. I’m always seeking out new brands to try and know where to go around town to find the good stuff. My favorite is Orcas Island’s Harmony Chai which is served at Stuart’s At The Market and sold in concentrated form at Terra Organica. I was just in Seattle for a few days and stopped by Chai House in Ballard where they serve Morning Glory Chai – which is also available at Lettered Streets Coffee House in Bellingham! Morning Glory is a very different recipe from mine and on this visit I decided to buy a package of their dry mix to try at home. Their recipe includes orange peel, coriander, galangal & vanilla beans and you can see just from the picture of the spices how different our recipes are!
If you decide to try your hand at making chai, feel free to ask me some questions and please do let me know how it turns out!
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