Chai

[chardgirl]

Chai

I love chai, and one winter I spent time tweaking the recipe to the place I liked it most. It's got plenty of cardamom (feel free to add a bit more), plenty of black pepper (add more or less or leave out, depending on your tastes) and ginger! I've since learned that one can add LOTS more FRESH ginger to give a great kick.

• 8 c water
  
• 1/4 c sugar, or less sucanat or honey, or to taste
  
• 2 T cardamom seedlets, smashed a little (much cheaper at health food stores....)
  
• 1 T dried ginger, smashed a little OR 3" knob of fresh ginger, cut into a few pieces
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
  
• 1 T dried orange peel, or 2 strips fresh orange zest
  
• 2 T black peppercorns, smashed a little
  
• 1 T cinnamon chips OR 2 1/2 inch sticks cinnamon
  
• 10 whole cloves
  
• 2 star anise, optional (well, any of this is optional!)
  
• 2 T or so of black tea, decaf or full strength, or 'red tea'
  

Boil everything together except the tea for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and add the tea and let steep for 5-6 minutes. You can then chill this concentrate and combine with milk hot or cold, I use half of this chai mixture with half milk. Soy milk works well if you don't have the cow kind around....

Keywords: Vegetarian, Non-Alcoholic Beverage

( RG1511 )