Basic Steps in Brewing Chai Tips and Notes Brewing Chai Illustrated

Basic Steps in Brewing Chai

1. Add spices to water, bring to a boil, cover and let simmer at a low temperature for 60 minutes.
2. Take off of heat, add black tea to the water, and let steep for 5 minutes.
3. Strain mixture into another pot.
4. Add sweetener (first) and milk, and bring to a boil. Take off of heat, and pour the chai into a container or teacups.

Tips and Notes

Chai Variations:
There are nearly as many chai recipes and variations as there are Indian households. Some recipes are passed down generation to generation. The basic recipe, above, is a good starting place to begin your own experimentation. The Tea Recipe Page has dozens of chai recipes to give you ideas to try. Once you settle upon your favorite variation, chai is easy to scale up to produce as many, or as few, cups as desired.

The Tea:
Chai is traditionally brewed from black tea. The most commonly used grade of black tea is "CTC" leaf grade, which stands for "Cut, Tear, Curl." It is a process that tends to turn tea leaves into small pellets very easy to brew because it is quite conducive to boiling. You can find a number of good CTC grade black teas from Assam and Darjeeling.

The Milk:
Chai is sometimes called Indian "milk" tea, because of the large quantities of milk that go into its making. The proportion of water to milk in the basic recipe, above, is about one part milk to four parts water. Other recipes call for a wide range of milk to water proportions; it is entirely up to an individual's taste to find just the right balance.

Cow's milk is commonly used to make chai. However, it is quite acceptable to use many different types of milk, including soy, almond and coconut milk. For extra rich brews, try whole milks, or even half and half. Conversely, if high calories are a concern, you can certainly use light or nonfat milks.

The Sweetener:
Another characteristic of chai is its sweetness, once again adjusted for an individual's taste. Almost any sweetener can be used, including cane sugar, honey, stevia, rice syrup and agave nectar. Artifical sweeteners are not recommend, due to health and taste reasons.

The Spices:
Chai is often called Indian "spice" or "masala" tea, and for good reason ("masala" is the Hindi word for "spice"). It is the basic blend of cardamom, cinnamon and clove that gives chai its zing. Fresh, organic spices will give the best results. You may note that in the basic recipe, above, some ground spices are used. Purists will only use whole spices while brewing chai. Other commonly used spices include ginger, black pepper corns, all spice, nutmeg and vanilla. Whatever combination you settle upon, the trick is to let these spices simmer for a full hour in order to bring out their full flavors.

How to Serve and Store Chai:
Chai can be served either as a hot or iced beverage. It refrigerates well, and can be reheated. You can even brew up a batch of chai, leave out the milk, and refrigerate. When you want a cup, you can simply add the milk and sweetener and reheat. For a frothy drink, try whipping it in a blender at a high speed and splashing a dash of nutmeg on top. Another fun variation is chai milk shakes. Simply blend your prepared chai with vanilla ice cream in a blender. Yummy!

Brewing Chai Illustrated

	The basic ingredients that go into making chai are: Water, spices, black tea, milk and sweetener.
	Step 1: Add spices to the water, bring to a boil, cover and let simmer at a low temperature for 60 minutes. Do not try to shortcut the simmer time, because it is needed to bring out the full flavors of the spices.
	Step 2: Take off of heat, add black tea to the water, and let steep for 5 minutes.
	Step 3: Strain mixture into another pot.
	Step 4: Add sweetener (first) and milk to taste, and bring to a boil. Take off of heat, and pour the chai into a container or teacups.
	Enjoy!