I love chai tea. Love, love, love it.
I got totally addicted to it when I was working at my uncle’s coffee shop in high school and lately I have gone back to drinking tons of it. I have always been a coffee drinker (being from Washington originally) but since our move to Florida I haven’t been able to sleep so I switched to tea.
Which was sad and depressing until I remembered this recipe for this concentrate. It makes it so I can customize the flavors a bit to what I like, like extra cardamom…
While I really miss coffee, thanks to chai, I am really enjoying how much better I feel when I drink tea. I typically will throw in a bag of green tea, chamomile or red raspberry since (in my opinion) they don’t have much flavor and are quite well hidden behind all the chai spices. That way I get the added health benefits of those other teas.
- 2 cups water
- 3 or 4 cardamom pods or ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 star anise
- 14 whole cloves
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger
- 3 black peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons black tea
- ¼ cup honey (a little less if you prefer it not so sweet)
- Bring the water to a boil and add the spices.
- Once boiling remove from heat and allow to steep about 30 minutes.
- Then add the tea and allow to steep another 10 minutes.
- Add the honey and stir until it is dissolved.
- Next strain the solids out by pouring the mixture through a mesh sieve (I like mine super strong so I leave everything except the tea in the concentrate). At this point you can put it in a storage container and put it in the fridge until you want some or you can go ahead and add some milk.
- To serve fill mug or glass (depending on if you want it hot or cold) halfway with the chai and the rest of the way with milk.
- If you are having it hot, you can reheat it on the stove or in the microwave or if you have a frother then you can steam it until hot and foamy.
- If you are having it cold, add some ice and enjoy!
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