Homemade Chai Tea Recipe

By Lauren Howland, Planet Green

I love drinking chai and have gotten into a bad habit of stopping at Starbucks on my way out to grab one. Although having something made on the run can be convenient, it leaves out the fun of learning to make something new, and also making it exactly how you want it (less sweetened, more spice, etc). The fun part is trying and tasting different mixtures of spice to find the perfect blend for your pallet. And, if you have extra, you can put it in the fridge and enjoy it on ice later on.

For at home chai follow these simple steps:

Ingredients
-Loose black tea or a few tea bags
-Milk
-Water
-Fresh Ginger
-Clove or Cinnamon sticks
-Cardamom seeds
-Sugar or alternative sweetener

I like my chai to be pretty milky. So usually, I take a small boiling pot and fill it with 2 cups milk, or a milk alternative (I’ve tried with unsweetened coconut milk and almond milk and both work well), and one cup water. Traditionally, milk, water and black tea are boiled together. But, milk can be added after or not used at all.

1.First Let the milk and water come to a slow boil

2.Turn down the heat to a simmer and add:
-1 small piece of ginger, chopped up into small pieces
-5-7 crushed, or opened, cardamom seeds
-2 cinnamon sticks broken up, or a few pieces of clove.
-2-3 black tea bags or approximately 6 teaspoons of loose black tea (If you like stronger tea add more).

3. Let the mixture brew for about 30 seconds to a minute (longer if you want stronger flavors) and then remove it from the heat. Allow time to cool and the flavors to blend.

If you like your tea sweet, then add sugar or an alternative sweetener to taste. Enjoy!

Related:
5 Types of Tea from Around the World
How to Make Kombucha Tea
3 Super Healing Iced Teas