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As you are reading this post today, I am happy to be snuggled up with a warm blanket at a blogging retreat in Park City, Utah. There is snow falling outside our door, good blogging friends are near, and I am happy to be nestling in for some much needed R&R.
I don’t know about you, but it seems like fall has gotten off to abusy start. Busy, busy, busy. Always a little more busy than I’d like. Always trying to work on that. I embarrassingly didn’t even realize that the leaves were changing in Kansas City until I saw it on Instagram!!
Still, the transition into fall is one of my absolute favorite times of the year, and I have been trying to take small moments during the day to pause and soak it up. I’ve learned that one of the small habits that seems to always help with this is to cozy up with a warm drink first thing in the morning or at the end of the day. There’s something about holding a steaming hot mug and then taking slow, thoughtful sips that is the essence of comfort and calm.
So today, I thought I would share with you a recipe for one of my favorite comfort drinks — homemade chai tea.
I first learned to love chai back in the day at — you guessed it — Starbucks. I instantly got hooked on the drink and all of those delicious spices, and began stopping by to order an iced chai almost every day for work. Then the $4 daily expense got a little ridiculous. So I learned to buy Tazo chai concentrate at the grocery store. Then (bonus!) I learned that it was sold even cheaper at Costco!
But after years of buying those mega 3-packs of concentrate, I began to get tired of theuber-sweetness of that brand of chai. I loved the spices, but the sugar was too much. So I finally learned how to make homemade chai.
My version is all based around making a chai concentrate so that you can refrigerate it and keep it around for multiple batches. All you need are a handful of spices and seasonings and about 20 minutes, and then you’ll have plenty of concentrate ready to make as much hot chai or iced chai as you’d like.
But the best part is that you can totally tweak the recipe according to your taste. If you really love the sweetness of the chai you get at Starbucks, by all means, add in more sugar and/or honey. If you like yours really peppery, add in more peppercorns. If you like yours really strong or really weak, that’s the joy of concentrate — you can control exactly how much flavor you get. Bottom line, everyone has their own preferences with chai, so with a homemade recipe you can make it your own!
With the holidays coming up, I’ll also add in that this is a perfect comfort food gift to jar up and give to your chai-loving friends.
Make homemade chai tea with this delicious and simple chai tea concentrate recipe.
Ingredients
Scale
12 cardamom pods, gently crushed
8 whole black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
4-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
4 cups water
4 cinnamon sticks
3 whole allspice (optional)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar (more or less to taste)
2 star anise
1 vanilla bean, sliced down the middle
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
4 black tea bags
Instructions
Bring all ingredients except tea bags together to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes. Pour mixture through a strainer and reserve the liquid for concentrate, and let cool to room temperature.
Mix equal parts concentrate with water or milk to make chai tea. Or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one week.
To Make Hot Chai Tea:
Combine 1 part chai tea concentrate with 1 part water or milk (cow’s milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc.), and stir to combine. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally. Or heat in the microwave until simmering.
To Make Iced Chai Tea:
1 part water or milk (cow’s milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc.), and stir to combine. Serve over ice.
Generally, this is somewhere between 200 and 212 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. If your chai has a green tea base, it should be steeped at a lower temperature, somewhere around 170 to 190 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 tsp loose leaf Chico Chai (any blend) for every cup of water in the container.Put the lid on and place it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, strain out the tea and enjoy!
A tip from my mom: fresh spices make the best chai. Always try and start with the purest version of each spice—like cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and cardamom pods. Plain white sugar is the most common sweetener for chai.
It's often low in calories, making it a healthy substitute for sugary beverages such as hot cocoa or apple cider. Other potential benefits include: Lower blood pressure. The cinnamon in chai tea may prevent hypertension, especially in people with diabetes.
The critical difference between iced chai and iced chai latte is that the former is a tea-infused beverage without milk, while the latter combines tea with milk, usually steamed milk or foam. The type of chai used also varies, with some containing spices like cinnamon, cloves, and star anise.
The best way to check if it is done is to watch for the color. The tea should turn a nice brown color. If it's pale, it's not done. But make sure it doesn't boil for too long, or it might become too concentrated and taste bitter.
Bring 250ml of fresh spring water to the boil and add 4tsp of chai tea, brew for 4 minutes. On the stove, heat 250ml of milk of your choice (I use the Oatley Oat milk Barista blend) on low heat. Once brewed, add your tea infused water to the milk (tea leaves and all) and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Bacterial growth: Germs like fungus and bacteria thrive in leftover tea, leading to potential health hazards. 2. Food poisoning risks: Bacteria in tea, particularly milk tea, multiply rapidly between 41 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Reheating won't eliminate them, and milk tea may taste unpleasant with a grainy texture.
You can find their products in most grocery stores. This is the tea that Starbucks uses for its tea lattes and other beverages. Starbucks uses a special (and more concentrated) version of the Tazo Chai Concentrate that is not sold commercially.
It's actually preferable to introduce air into Chai either by whisking or pulling (pouring from high back and forth between containers). If your milk is curdling though, you either have too much (like 100%) or too high milkfat, cooked to long (there really is no need to boil the tea and spices in milk).
While whole milk is traditional for chai, you can really use any milk you like. Switch it up with non-dairy milk like almond, oat, or soy, or make your chai a little lighter with skim.
According to general guidelines, 3 grams of loose-leaf tea should be used per 8 ounces of water. Using too much tea can result in an imbalanced taste with excessive bitterness due to the over-extraction of tannins. On the other hand, using too little tea can lead to a weak and watery flavor.
Its higher fat content provides the perfect level of creaminess to balance out the soft yet spicy aroma of the fragrant masala chai mix. Masala chai is often traditionally made with full cream or sweet condensed milk – so this is an authentic and tasty way to enjoy a sweet, spicy chai.
Remove tea bag and stir in milk and honey or sugar.Allow the chai to just return to a boil, then pour into a mug and serve. Note that if you let chai sit for too long, it will form a "skin." This is normal, but if you'd rather not have it, periodically stir your chai while you enjoy it.
Chai is traditionally served hot and is made from a blend of spices and tea with milk and sugar. The spices used in Chai are traditionally thought to improve the health of the person drinking it.
Since chai was originally developed for its healing purposes, it makes sense that one cup is often used as a remedy for mild ailments as an all-purpose health boost. It's traditionally served hot, though Western drinkers have recently taken to drinking iced chai.
When I'm ready to enjoy it, I mix this concentrate with either fresh steamed milk or, for an iced chai latte, cold milk, and add in a bit of homemade vanilla simple syrup. You can also add in honey or raw sugar for added sweetness. In no way can you go wrong!
Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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