Spiced Chai Tea

Here are the ingredients you’ll need: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, star anise, cloves, black pepper, nutmeg, orange zest, tea bags, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla.

Start by bringing 4 1/2 cups water to the boil on the stove.

The recipe says to use a piece of ginger. For us that meant three large coins which we smashed to release more flavor.

Then add your cinnamon sticks (we only add two—it just looks like we’re using four because we broke them in half).

Then add the rest of the spices: the whole cloves, freshly ground pepper, zest (or peel), smashed ginger, and freshly grated nutmeg. Stir the pot to mix all the ingredients. This is the point at which Mom said, “This is starting to look like a witch’s brew.” I concurred.

Add sugar, vanilla and honey and then let this steep for 15-20 minutes. Our family likes our chai concentrate like we like our tea and coffee, strong and dark. So we let it go the full 20 minutes.

Now you are left with delicious, homemade chai concentrate.

All I know is that I will never pay $3.25 for an overly-sweet chai again.

Description

All the flavor of a mix, with no funky additives or preservatives! The benefits to making your own mix are obvious: you can customize it all you want, you know exactly what’s in it, and if you buy them in bulk, the spices can be dirt cheap!

Preparation Instructions

Bring the water to a boil. Add the spices and tea, remove from heat and let steep 15-20 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. Strain and add the brown sugar, honey, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk, heat and enjoy or pour over ice.

For a stronger flavor, mix 2 parts concentrate with 1 part milk or half-and-half (if you’re like me).

This concentrate will keep in the fridge for around 2 weeks. Freeze it in an icecube tray and add to smoothies!

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Three Many Cooks is the always-entertaining food blog of Pam Anderson and her two daughters, Maggy and Sharon. Pam is a well-known and much-respected food writer and author, Maggy is a “hippy adventurer meets 1950s housewife, ” and Sharon refers to herself as a recovering food snob learning to survive on a graduate student’s budget. Theirs is a strong relationship both inside and outside the kitchen, and it shows in the food they create and the stories they tell.