How to make Masala Chai (Chai Tea!)

Today I want to talk about tea! Tea is the most popular beverage, after water, throughout the world. I am a huge Chai Tea fan. Every time I stop at a coffee shop or anything I always try to order an Iced Chai, But the thing that irked me is that barely anywhere makes their own chai teas. The places that I go that I know DO make their own chai are always out because they say that it is a hassle to make it doesn't keep for that long, so today was the day to try my hand at making it!

"Chai" is a literal translation for the word tea is both the Hindi and Urdu language. The world "Masala" is a Hindi word for spiced. So together "spiced tea" or "Masala Chai".

The ingredients were rather expensive, just because the spices that are used are not as common in the States so they tend to be on the pricey side, but I'm gunna do some bulk shopping around and see if there is anywhere where I can get them cheaper. I was pretty happy with how my Chai turned out in the end.

• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger root; grated
• 1 whole star anise; broken up
• 1 teaspoon orange peel; grated
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 10 whole cloves
• 5 whole peppercorns
• 5 cups water
• 1/4 cup loose black tea leaves;
• (I used Darjeeling but I want to try making it with Green or white tea,
• also, I if you can't find large leaved, loose tea, then just go with
• using about 7 tea bags because it's hard to strain a lot of the smaller ground loose tea)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 cups milk

The first step is to take those first seven ingredients and put them into cheese cloth and tie it up so the ingredients are contained. I actually found a Spice pouch made of organic materials at the grocery store which was convenient. the pouch I used was made by the Organic Coffee Co. which was perfect! Place the pouch into the water and put it on hi on the stove. I tied the string to a wooden spoon and placed it out of the pan like a big tea bag. This is helpful because it makes it easier to fish out the bag out later on.

As soon as you bring the water down to a simmer you can add the tea. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.

I made the mistake of using a finely ground loose tea and it really made a mess with straining. Also I find that loose tea ends up being more bitter for whatever reason… dunno why.

I read a tip somewhere that said if you like strong tea, try increasing the amount of tea you use, instead of increasing the amount of time you cook the tea.

After 15 minutes of simmering has passed. Remove the spice pouch and strain the tea into another container. Here add the vanilla and honey. You can also add the milk at this time, but I decided to leave it out so that my friends and family could add the milk to taste.

I used my tea and spice pouch to make two batches. My first batch was much too strong and

bitter but the second batch was great. I used maple syrup to sweeten the second batch.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions or would like to tell about how their Chai turns out, I would l

ove to here form ya'll!