Looking for good chai recipes

[San Rainbow]

Hey all, can any one suggest a good chai recipe?

I have been playing around with a night chai, (caffeine free) but cant nail it... I heard rooibos is caffeine free, never tried it, dose any one have any experience with this?

at the moment I am using (two cup recipe, I want to make a nice size jar once I perfect it)

2 peppercorns

4 cloves

1 star anais

2 cardamon pods

half cinnamon stick

2 tsp licorice root

couple of thin slices of ginger

1/4 vanilla pod

cant quite nail it...

And been playing around with black tea chai... most of the ozzy organic tea I try is quite bitter, any recommend a good tea?

be great to see some other recipes.

thanks in advance

[kindness]

Rooibos is caffiene/thebaine free. What you are using sounds pretty good... how long are you cooking it for and what type of milk are you using? IME the best chai's have been cooked for a long period of time....

I really like Madura for black tea... the one in the Maroon colour striped box - can't remember what it's called but is good ;0

Here is a video of a dude making some in India, (edit: can't work out how to embed it) you'll have to click the link

 

Edited June 20, 2010 by meanies

[San Rainbow]

Hey,cheers for reply!

using 50/50 soy and water mix probably simmered for 10 / 15 minutes, maybe not long enough then?

cheers for link will check it out now...

[San Rainbow]

wow, pro chai guru!

[Quill]

I like Rainbow chai.

I think you could make a pretty nice roasted yerba mate chai as well.

[mu!]

my mull chai recipe:

honey

vanilla sticks

cinnamon sticks

good cracking of pepper

ginger (fresh is best)

nutmeg

bit of brown sugar

honey

full cream milk (straight off a dairy farm if you can, none of this watered down shite (ala the simpsons "MALK")

trim/leaves from your favourite sticky homegrow

a little bit of butter

i never used measured amounts, just feel. cant really go wrong with all them tasty ingredients anyway.

nyummy nyum nyums!

[San Rainbow]

my mate swears by yerba mate, the kit looks cool http://www.yerbamateaustralia.com.au/store/categories.php?cat=5

mull chai eh

[Quill]

my mate swears by yerba mate, the kit looks cool http://www.yerbamateaustralia.com.au/store/categories.php?cat=5

 

Whoa never had it like that. Must get meselves a kit.

[kindness]

Could always buy a chai mix from a wholefoods near where you live, (if ya got one) boil it for a while so the flavours of the spices get into the water good n proper, then reduce heat, add your tea (if there isn't any in the chai mix - hopefully not) let it steep for a bit, then add your milk and keep adding it till you can taste it is a nice creamy latte style brew - then honey it up to taste

or not.

Chai's are a bit like minestrone soup or spag bol' everyones got a version

Anyone want a chai?

[San Rainbow]

Anyone want a chai?

Just had one, but if your offering

I thought I could save myself a small fortune by making it myself, bought a beautiful caffeine free one the other day from a organic shop, it was called "love chai" (http://lovechai.com.au/), ozzy made and organic, tasted beautiful! though it was a little pricey...

[kindness]

forgot to say - buy chai mix and then work out whats in it that you like.

[psili sausage]

been getting into making chai myself lately... what I've been using aprox. per serve:

1/2 cinnamon stick

4 cardamom pods

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

1 star anise

2 peppercorns

1 tsp. finely diced ginger

4 cloves

I grind these in a mortar and pestle (except the ginger, of course, and cinnamon which I break up by hand) and put them in a pot of simmering water and boil down till there's about 50mL of fluid per serve. It's hard to gauge this in the saucepan, so I usually just go by colour and consistency. The result is dark orange-brown and thick but still fluid... almost a syrup I guess... Once close to the concentration I'm after I add a couple of teaspoons of assam tea and simmer for another ~5 min.

I use it like an espresso shot to make chai lattes. And, about 2 sugars per serve is good, or honey/agave nectar/stevia etc.

This may sound quite specific but, as kindness has mentioned, there are many variations of chai, especially since its adoption into the western world.

[coin]

try to find Indian black cardamom and Indian bay leaf (actually a cassia leaf, called "tej patta")

I include ajwain, but some people probably won't like that taste

adding some dried tulsi is sometimes nice for a change, or you can use tulsi instead of tea, but I would omit the milk

i'd rather use almond milk than soy (if not using milk)

in summer you'd tend to use less black pepper, nutmeg/mace, cloves, etc. and use more fennel & cardamom

some people will prefer the taste of cassia instead of cinnamon, which is usually what a desi would use ("dalchini")

assam tea will give the malty taste

there's an older thread somewhere with chai recipes/suggestions

[Hyphal]

Everyone loves a chai!! Good to hear some ideas!

My recipe consists of:

- 4 cups of water

- Half a cinnamon quill

- 1-2 Star Anise

- 4 or 5 cloves

- 10 or more cardomom pods, bruised (split open)

- 5-6 slices fresh ginger

- A few small chunks of dried orange peel, maybe 4 or 5 (completely changes the dynamic, awesome addition)

- Pinch of cracked black pepper corns

- Tea Bags

- Good quality honey, or raw sugar.

- Milk or Soy

Optional -

- Pinch of chilli flakes (great when tripping!)

Method:

First Simmer all spices for 15 - 20 minutes.

Secondly Bring to rolling boil for a few seconds (this is to get the water to the desired temp for brewing the tea).

Turn off heat, and then add 2 or 3 Tea Bags. Brew to desired strength, but no longer than 6 or so minutes (tea goes bitter).

Remove tea bags.

Strain into cups.

Add milk/soy and sugar/honey to desired taste.

NOTE!! It is very important to keep the spices, you can re-use them for another brew!! I reckon the 2nd and 3rd brew's are even better than the first, I keep them in a small sealed container in the fridge and do up to 5 or 6 brews with the same lot of spices.

You can add small amounts of the original spices to a used spice mix to extend its life even further, eg a few extra slices of ginger and a couple of cardomon pods etc etc....

Lastly! To be able to re-use the spices, can cannot mix loose leaf tea with them when cooking, as the tea goes very bitter the second time you use it. If using loose leaf tea, put it in a bag or a little tea strainer thingy.

Good with ginger nuts!

[kindness]

[Zen Peddler]

ALl i can say is that it has to have cloves in it. And those canned 'chai latte' thingies are usually full of gums and other nasties.

[San Rainbow]

Double

Edited November 27, 2010 by San Rainbow

[San Rainbow]

I have been cheating lately, I have been using a 50/50 mix of rainbow chai spice and rainbow chai organic blends, beautiful!

Would love to master my own recipe, cant get my experiments to come close to that quality...