chai tea?
so i'm sure you're familiar with chai tea lattes...at work, we use a brand called Oregon Chai; it's a liquid concentrate, diluted about half and half with milk and steamed or iced. and it's pretty awesome, really. so awesome that i'd love to keep a bit of it at home, but i can't find any stores that stock it or anything like it.
the question, then is: does anyone know how to go about making a chai tea concentrate? i know it's going to use some kind of black tea, vanilla, and honey, but i'm unsure as to the rest of the spices, the quantities or the technique. any help would be appreciated, thanks.
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16 Comments:
I don't know how to make the concentrate, but I do know that Tazo (used by Starbucks) makes them and is sold in stores in tetra-pak style containers. It'll likely be found in the organic section of your grocery store with the organic teas and coffee. Good luck!
thinkingincrayons at 10:38PM on 05/11/09
cost plus world market carried it. you can also order it online http://www.oregonchai.com.
evilchefmom at 10:45PM on 05/11/09
I heard this from an Indian lady;
simmer loose black tea with cardamon pods, cloves, and cinnamon sticks. add milk and honey and heat until warm. I think you can pretty much adjust spices as you like. use more tea than you'd normally make regular tea, since you will be diluting it with milk.
hmw0029 at 10:51PM on 05/11/09
oh oops I forgot ginger
hmw0029 at 10:52PM on 05/11/09
The Whole Foods by me has Oregon concentrates - so yummy. Also in caffeine free!
MaeMae at 10:55PM on 05/11/09
evilchefmom--i know--that's where i used to get it, and the awesome green tea chai, too!
sadly, my local World Market has(like all the shops around here), gone a bit south in the service and stocking departments, and no longer stocks those products(or really anything out of the ordinary, or which does not simply fly off the shelves).
rasellers0 at 11:09PM on 05/11/09
"Chai tea" is redundant. Chai is tea.
It's kind of like saying "ATM machine" or "PIN number".
Yes, I'm being a bit of a bitch by saying it but redundant statements are a pet peeve.
CanadianFoodieGirl at 12:32AM on 05/12/09
The following recipe is similar to the Tazo concentrate. I has a spicy kick.
From "From the Cook's Garden" by Ellen Ecker Ogden
Chai
2 cinnamon sticks
4 slices fresh ginger
10 cardamom pods
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp whole black pepper corns
1/2 tsp whole cloves
2 tsp black tea
1/4 cup honey
1 cupmilk warmed if serving hot
Bring 4 cups water, cinnamon, ginger , cardamom, coriander, peppercorns and cloves to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with the lid askew and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add the tea and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Strain into a pitcher. Stir in sugar to taste. If serving hot, stir in warm milk. If serving cold, cool to room temperature and refrigerate.
LearP at 2:07AM on 05/12/09
@CanadianFoodieGirl - I feel your pain. The correct term is Masala Chai (spiced tea). Chai is just plain tea. I've always been irritated by this. I guess I'm a stickler for precision and generally no fun. But I refuse to get worked up about it. I reserve my outrage for when people use High Tea when they really mean Afternoon Tea.
SqueezeBottle at 8:46AM on 05/12/09
@CanadianFoodieGirl - Exactly what I came into this topic to write. Same pet peeve wavelength! Let's be pet peeve buddies. I'll cringe when someone scrapes their knife across a plate, and you can roll your eyes when someone leaves the toilet seat up. I think it's going to be great.
maxcriden at 10:49AM on 05/12/09
@chai tea redundancy: "tuna fish", "soba noodles"... I know there are more.
hmw0029 at 10:56AM on 05/12/09
@CanadianFoodieGirl--you may have a point, but in my head I tend to make a distinction between native english words and "imported" words--thusly i'll almost always end up using that kind of redundant phrasing...it probably comes from working in restaurants wayyy too long(where you have to dumb it down for customers).
rasellers0 at 11:15AM on 05/12/09
I've tried this recipe because it's meant to taste just like Oregon Chai. And, it does! http://www.chai-tea.org/rec/rec110.html
plantainsandkimchi at 11:38AM on 05/12/09
Here's a recipe I've used with great success. It's delicious!
Ingredients:
-1 tsp. ground cardamom
-1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. ground cloves
-1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg or grated nutmeg
-1 (14 oz.) can condensed milk (sweetened or unsweetened)
-strong black tea or herbal tea (regular or decaf)
Directions:
1. Pour condensed milk and spices into the blender and blend on high speed for a few seconds until the milk looks evenly "flecked" with spices.
2. Pour mixture into a clean jar or container with a lid.
3. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
4. Alternatively, pour mix into ice cube trays and freeze.
5. To use concentrate: Brew a strong black tea or strong herbal tea of your choice.
6. Stir in 1 frozen concentrate cube or 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of chai concentrate mix per cup of freshly steeped tea.
7. Frozen cubes will keep up to one year in the freezer if you pop them out of the trays and store in freezer bags.
8. Concentrate will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
KatomRS at 2:08PM on 05/12/09
I started out drinking the Oregan chai years ago but now I don't like it, too sweet. I like the Tazo or Sun something I can't remember the name, it has a wonderful spicy bite to them. Love them. When you make some chai please let us know how it turns out.
pjracz10 at 4:16PM on 05/13/09
Okay it came to me, the other Chai that I love is called Morningstar, great chai.
pjracz10 at 4:21PM on 05/13/09