snacks:

homemade chai tea

Published 21st June 2017

A chai tea made from spices runs rings around a chai latte any day. Not only are the chai lattes that you buy normally packed with sugar, but they also really don’t compare to a real chai, and once you try a real chai, you will be converted….do chai it!

Aaron has always been a tea aficionado, and up until Claire was a couple of months old, he hated coffee. Now, he’s a coffee snob and will turn his nose up at coffee that’s too weak! He does still love his tea though and we would regularly buy chai tea from T2 until a couple of years ago where we got experimental and started making our own mix. Not only did it mean that we can play around with the flavour to suit our tastes, but it also works out to be a lot cheaper and it only takes about 15 minutes to make a batch.

 
 
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This chai tea can be brewed with boiling water, as per a normal tea and then a dash of milk and honey added at the end or it can be brewed with milk (soy or cow’s milk) on the stovetop. Adding honey to a chai tea will enhance the flavours of the spice, so even if you just add a little bit, you will notice the difference.

Once you have prepared the dry mix, weigh it and add an equal amount of tea leaves to chai mix. ie. if you have 100g of chai mix, add 100g of tea leaves.

Enjoy xx

 
 
 
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Ingredients:

  • 12 cinnamon quills

  • 15g whole cloves

  • 2 tsp black peppercorns

  • 2 tsp white peppercorns

  • 1 tbs fennel seeds

  • 24 star anise

  • 60g green cardamom pods

  • 3 tbs ground ginger

  • Loose-leaf black tea (larger leaf works better)

 

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

  2. Weight out all spices and spread out on an oven tray, all except the ginger. Cook for 4-5 minutes until aromatic. Allow to cool slightly.

  3. In batches, place the spices into a mortar and pestle and gently break them up. Aim to break the cinnamon quills into 1cm pieces. Place into a medium sized bowl once done.

  4. Add the ginger to the rest of the spice mix. Weigh the mix and add the same weight of loose-leaf black tea. Mix well.

  5. Store in an airtight container and make sure you shake the container well before serving so you get a good mix of spices.

To make on the stove top for 2 people:

  1. Place 2-3 tbs of chai mix into a small saucepan, add 1/3 cup of boiling water and allow to soak for ~ 5 minutes.

  2. Turn the heat onto medium and add 2 cups of milk and 1 tbs of honey and heat until about to boil. Do not allow it to boil.

  3. Once hot, divide between two mugs, pouring tea through a strainer.

  4. Enjoy on a cold Winter’s afternoon.