trai my chai

when i worked at the garden street cafe we would make our own chai tea. it was so delicious and i had to have the recipe. when i went back to skidmore i took the recipe with me and made it on a semi-often basis [the spices were a bit pricey considering i had to get most of them from four seasons, and we all know how ridiculously over priced local health food stores can be..]

anyway.
the last time i made this drink was when i was in london in the fall of 2007. i made it for one of the students' study breaks. i had found a bangladeshi grocery store on brick lane, and i got these amazing spices [cardamom seeds, whole star anise] for SO cheap. they were 2 pounds or less. and when you are being paid in pounds, there is no need to think about the conversion. so these were a steal. i bought a whole bunch and made my 38 students a big batch of chai.

anyway - that's the last time i made it. 2 years ago.
i talk about making it every once in awhile, but it is a bit of a production, and to be honest, it's hard to be inspired to make a traditionally warm and cozy drink when it's 80 degrees out.
but the weather here has been getting a bit chillier, and when i was at Jon's last night [international supermarket] i happened upon their middle eastern spice section. the prices for these spices [rhyme!] were quite reasonable, and in front of me was basically everything i needed. i have some left over from london, but don't quite have the heart to finish them off [sentimental pack rat that i am]. so i splurged and bought my supplies and went home and made myself a batch. and now i would like to share it with you. :)

CHAI!
1 gallon H20
.5 cup sugar [i would even go less next time. this batch came out super sweet, and while the milk calms it down a bit, i bet you could afford to go with 1/3 cup of sugar..though i haven't tried that yet, so don't quote me]
.5 cup honey
1 oz fresh ginger, thinly sliced
5 cardamom pods, broken open
2/3 T ground cardamom [i cut this recipe down from a much larger one, so disregard the strange measurements]
1/2 T ground nutmeg
3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1/2 T ground cinnamon
1/24 oz [maybe about 2 T?] cloves
3 peppercorns
2 star anise
1.125 oz black tea, loose [assam and darjeeling work well if you can't find straight up black tea. also, if you can't find loose tea, you can always buy bags and cut them open. this is sometimes easier, math-wise, as you can figure out the weight based on the number of bags, total weight, etc.]


-Combine sugar, honey, water and spices in a large pot [now you can do this one of two ways. you can either throw the spices right into the pot and strain them afterwards, or you can make a bouquet garni with a bit of cheesecloth and throw the little package right in].
-Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes
-Turn off burner
-Add in tea [again, in a cheese cloth or straight into the pot. i find that the tea diffuses much better if you pour it straight into the pot and then strain using a very fine strainer or a strainer + cheese cloth..or very carefully with paper towels like i used to do before i invested in a $3 package of cheese cloth].
-ONLY KEEP TEA IN FOR 6 MINUTES. this is very important. if you leave the tea in for too long you will end up with bitter chai. black tea is strong - so be careful!
-strain tea and/or spices if you have floaters
-pour yourself a mug of hot tea, add milk, and ENJOY.

:)