Chai with The Tea Collective
At The Tea Collective, we are lovers of all tea including Chai- for its gorgeous spice, flavour and versatility in creating a variety of beverages (and foods) sure to delight! We thought we would share a little about this beautiful tea and a few recipes to try at home.
What is Chai?
Chai translates to the word ‘tea’ in Hindi. Traditional recipes of chai vary, however the main ingredients include cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and peppercorns. The spiced tea mixture is then brewed with milk and sweetened with sugar or honey - making a beautiful sweet and spicy beverage.
Where did it originate?
Chai was originally created in India. It came out of British colonisation where the British East India Company was thriving with tea from Assam. This saw tea consumption growing in India and eventually, Indians took the British preparation of tea (black with milk and sugar) and added their own twist with the addition of spices such as ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
Chai Recipes
Iced Chai
Ingredients:
4 cups water
4 serves of TTC Bangalore Rose Chai
¼ cup pure maple syrup (or honey or agave syrup)
1 cup milk of choice Garnish of choice: cinnamon, star anise or rose petals
Method:
For the concentrate, place the water, tea and maple syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Once simmered for 10 minutes, remove it from the heat and rest until room temperature. Strain and store the concentrate in the fridge. To serve, combine ¾ cup chai concentrate and ¼ cup milk and pour over ice. Top with your choice of garnish
Chai Latte
Ingredients
2 cups almond milk or one of your choice
2 serves of TTC Chocolate Coconut Chai
¼ cup maple syrup or (honey or agave)
Garnish of choice: cinnamon, star anise or toasted coconut.
Method:
Heat up the almond milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat, until it begins to bubble around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat, and add the tea to the pot of hot milk. Wait 5 minutes for the tea to steep, then strain out the tea. Add your chosen sweetener and stir. Serve in a cup or mug and top with desired garnish. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can serve it chilled over ice, as well.
Chai Loaf
Ingredients:
3 serves of TTC Gingerbread Chai
60g soft dark brown sugar (or sweetener of choice)
2 large eggs, beaten 2
½ tsp baking powder
275g plain flour
1 tsp ground nutmeg and ginger
¼ tsp salt Topping of choice (cinnamon or nuts)
Method:
Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a loaf tin. Following instructions on the bottle, brew the TTC Gingerbread Chai and strain. Then add the sugar, stir until combined and leave to cool before adding the eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder, flour, spices and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the tea mixture and stir gently to combine.Spoon the mix into the loaf tin and add your preferred topping. Then bake for around 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Chai White Russian
Want to try a chai just for the adults and missed our tea cocktails blog? Make sure to read it here!