Chai tea recipe

Little things add up, and it's our job to pay attention to what we are consuming. Someone shared this with me recently…

“I asked my little drive through coffee hut today how much sugar was in my daily morning chai tea latte… 30 grams!  I love my chai tea, but sheesh... 30 grams 5 days a week is bad bad bad...”

I also love chai but NEVER order in a shop anymore for this reason. In fact, now that I have a healthy relationship with sugar, I can’t even drink a whole cup of something like that. It’s TOO sweet to me! 

Now, I make it at home. Here is the traditional version and short cut version I use.


TRADITIONAL

Make your own chai from loose leaf tea in big batches and pour into single serve mason jars and heat up in the morning.

It's not worth it to make one cup at a time because it makes a mess. I usually make 8-12 cups at once and drink it all week. It's so good I have a hard time just drinking one cup per day J

Making chai from loose leaf tea can be time consuming, and honestly if you follow the traditional preparation you HAVE to add sugar - it's bitter as fuck because they brew it STRONG. When I make it at home I add ONLY enough sugar to make it taste good, but not actually taste sweet. Which is probably a quarter what most prepared chais have.

Here is the ratio:
2 tablespoons per 1 cup water, bring to boil.
Add 1 cup milk, bring to boil, turn off.
Add sugar or honey to taste, I try to do about 1/2 tablespoon ( = about 6 grams), but sometimes if I brew it too long it needs more.

Again, make a big batch. It's more of a mess than it seems.

Also, find a loose leaf chai you like, which can be tricky, look for places you can try a small amount in case you don't like it (health food stores may have it in bulk so you can get small portions). Chais vary a lot in flavor. I like Rishi brand but it's pricey and I have to make a special trip to get it, and also my local Sprouts has a loose leaf chai in bulk that I like, and it is very affordable.


QUICK VERSION

And here is my shortcut recipe when I'm lazy.

TAZO Chai Tea.
Boil 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of water, add TWO tea bags.
Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
Remove tea bags.
Top off with milk remainder of 1 cup (experiment with proportion to find your taste preference).
Heat again (this is important, it blends the flavors of the milk and tea), but don't boil (because it will make a mess in your microwave).

And of course… let me know how it goes if you try it!!!!