Chai tea is a type of tea blend that has its origin in India. From India, it has spread to other Asian countries, one would find a lot of Asian countries drinking chai tea, with some countries having their own variation of chai tea or adding their own unique recipe or twist to the chai tea recipe.
Black tea was what was first used for making chai tea until some time in history especially in recent years that green tea is now also been used for chai tea, now there is green chai tea, and black chai tea, chai tea made with black tea is more common and popular.
One of the countries that drink the highest quantity of chai tea in the world is India, so much so that it has become a street drink that one would find people selling it everywhere and anywhere in India. In India, chai tea recipe is often an inclusion of milk in the recipe, although some Indians particularly at their homes exclude milk in the recipe, and one can certainly do without including milk.
India produces some of the best teas in the world which includes Assam tea that is particularly used for black chai tea blends in India, all round the world and international tea companies. Assam black tea makes a very strong brew, which is often stronger than a lot of Chinese black tea, which makes it perfect for chai tea blend, this creates a perfect blend of tea and spices, since some of the spices used for making chai tea are strong, nevertheless, other type of black teas from other countries can be used for example Ceylon tea and Kenyan tea which also makes a strong brew of tea.
Countries outside India have named chai tea according to their language and culture but the basics of the recipe regardless of whatever they might call it, is still from India. Some countries particularly countries outside Asia call Chai tea “Spice tea” or “Spicy tea”. What is a bit funny is that the name “Chai” in Indian language also means “Tea”, so it is like saying “Tea Tea” if one translate it in English, but to specifically correct, chai tea is also regarded as “Masala Chai”, so either Chai tea or masala Chai, one might be right.
A combination of various spices can be used in making chai tea, and different chai tea blends from spices can be created but I will mention the important spices for chai tea recipe.
Chai Tea Recipe
Ingredients
1. Loose black tea leaves.
2. Ginger.
3. Clove.
4. Cinnamon.
5. Nutmeg.
6. Cardamom.
7. Star anise.
8. Black pepper.
9. Milk (optional).
10. Sugar (optional).
Making Chai Tea
I like to use fresh spices but one can use already dried and grinded spices or already packaged masala chai mix; masala chai mix is a blend of all these spices or some of the spices I mentioned without the tea leaf, sugar or milk in it often times.
i. Grate your nutmeg & ginger.
ii. Grind the other spices. Or Grind all the ingredients together if you want. Some people just boil the spices in water without grinding or grating, particular spices like clove & cinnamon.
iii. Bring your desired quantity of water for the tea (not too little or too much for the spices) to a boil.
iv. Add in the spices to the boiled water, let it boil for some minutes, between 5 to 10 minutes.Add in your tea leaves. Let it boil together with the spices between 2 to 5 minutes, afterwards extract the tea leaves and spices from the water. If you don’t want milk or sugar, your chai tea is ready to be served.
V. Add in your sugar and milk to the spice & tea water mix if you so desire. Let it boil for some minutes. Your chai tea is ready to drink.
Chai tea particularly with milk is a very comforting drink, with some health benefits although one gets the most health benefits from chai tea without the addition of milk or sugar.
I wrote a tea book “Understanding Tea” which also talks about tea origin, tea origins in different counties, tea cultures and history from around the world, my tea book “Understanding Tea” is also available on Amazon kindle.
