Chai tea is a warm herbal drink from India, Nepal and the surrounding area. The Starbucks coffee chain has been serving the tea in its range for a while. Chai is increasingly popular in Europe. And in the Netherlands you see more and more (hip) coffee shops serving the spicy tea drink with warm milk. Chai tea is tasty and thirst-quenching in both summer and winter. And the hot milk drink is a caffeine-free alternative to cappuccino. You can also easily make the tea yourself at home.
Chai literally means “tea” in India. What we call Chai tea is called Masala Chai in India. There are many varieties of this tea. Every region in India has its own mixture, sometimes even several. The tea mixture almost always consists of Indian black tea, milk and a mixture of all kinds of herbs and spices.
Not only is it a nice hot drink, but Chai was also used as a medicine in natural science for its warming and purifying properties. It is also said that the tea is good for digestion, keeping your blood sugar stable and increasing your resistance.
The variants:
- Chai with a tea mix
- Chai with loose tea
- Make chai yourself
- Foam layer
Chai with a tea mix
Making chai with tea powder is a quick and easy way to enjoy the warm milk drink. If you add another dollop of milk foam, the experience will be complete. A disadvantage of this is that tea mix is often already sweetened. If you want to determine the sweetness yourself, it is better to use loose tea or start with herbs and spices. A ready-made mix is also more expensive than the other variants.
Necessities:
- Chai latte mix (e.g. Drink me)
- A desired amount of milk
Recipe
- Put a few teaspoons of Chai powder in a mug. Check the packaging for the correct ratio.
- Mix the mix with a little bit of hot water and stir it into a lump-free paste.
- Make milk hot in the microwave or in a saucepan.
- Pour the milk over the mix and stir well.
Chai with loose tea
Making chai with loose leaf tea is an easy way to enjoy the tea. The taste largely corresponds to the tea drink from the major coffee chains. You can spice up the flavor by adding some ginger or cardamom. Milk foam and a dash of cinnamon are also a good addition.
Necessities:
- Fresh Chai latte tea
- Half a glass of water
- Half a glass of milk
- Sugar or honey to taste (about 2-3 teaspoons)
Recipe
- Bring the water to a boil. Put a teaspoon of Chai fresh tea in a tea bag or tea infuser. When the water has boiled, add the tea and let it stand for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat milk in the pan.
- Finally, pour the tea and milk into a glass.
Make chai yourself
You can make the tastiest Chai yourself, because you can experiment with the ratio of spices. The herbs in this recipe are an example. You can adjust the amounts of herbs to your own taste. There are many ingredients possible to make your own variant of Chai. Also try aniseed, for a more licorice flavor, or a whole peppercorn for a little extra spice.
Necessities:
- Saucepan
- Strainer
- 500 ml of water
- 500 ml of milk
- A quarter tablespoon of ginger powder or 3 inches of ginger
- 1/4 tablespoon of cardamom
- A clove
- A stick of cinnamon
- 2 bags of black tea
- Sugar or honey to taste (about 2-3 tablespoons)
Recipe:
- Pour the water into the saucepan.
- Add the tea bags and herbs and bring to the boil.
- Let the drink boil for 5 minutes.
- Then add the milk and the desired amount of honey or sugar.
- Let the drink boil for a while.
- Pour the chai through a strainer to remove the residue and serve in a mug.
Foam layer
To add a luxurious foam layer, just like with the coffee chains, you can make your own milk foam. This can be done in many ways. There are electric milk frothers, steam pipes on coffee makers and cups for the microwave. If you use a pan and a small whisk, the preparation goes as follows:
- Heat a little bit of milk. If the milk starts to sizzle at the edges, the temperature is right.
- Remove the pan from the heat and beat the milk well with the whisk. This may take some time, so feel free to continue.
- Tap the pan on a flat surface so that the largest air bubbles are out.
- Turn around slowly, so that the foam becomes nice and thick.
- Fill the rest of your mug with milk foam. Optionally add some cinnamon powder as a finishing touch.