Brewing Chai Tea requires a little more instruction than we should be fitting into our Chai Tea product pages, so we've created a mini-guide here that is linked to from each entry in our Chai collection.
Let's take a quick look at the two main ways to make Chai Tea...
Two Main Chai Tea Recipes
1. Add Water to Chai and Serve
Time for Infusion
With Chai, you've really got a lot of different things going on at once in there.
For that reason, we'd like to you spend a bit longer infusing than usual - at perhaps around 5-7 minutes. Whilst doing so, try to keep the water as hot as possible by either covering the top of the cup or placing a larger amount within a larger teapot.
Teaspoons of Chai
The rule of thumb is around one teaspoon per 250 ml of water, but I would say around 2 teaspoons is optimal. Experiment and see what works best for you.
Adding Honey or Milk
After infusing, many people would be adding honey and/or milk.
Some people prefer to leave the chai bits in! But it can be a little annoying.
This method is a very different taste to the following perpetration methods coming below, as the chai is initially infused with the water and not the milk. You'll probably notice the milk does not absorb or take away from the spices at all in this perpetration method, which in this case isn't always a good thing. But again, this is all down to personal preference.
2. Stovetop Chai
Chai isn't picky about which kind of milk you use with it. If you love a particular type of milk (and that's so many these days!), go ahead and try.
Time for Infusion
Pour some milk into your pot and add your Chai Tea. Once boiling, bring this back down to a simmer to start the real infusion process for about ten minutes. This is the time where the milk really starts to absorb the spices.
Stirring is Important
Please be careful to keep stirring! This not only helps with the infusion process but helps to stop the milk from hardening at the top and also sticking to the pot at the bottom.
Who wants to be cleaning instead of enjoying their Chai?
Using a Stainer
Once infused, just pour through your strainer into a cup or jug! It's actually not too hard or long of a process, it's just not quite as fast as a normal cup of tea.
