WITH PRACTICE, BREWING SUPERB CHAI CAN BECOME SECOND NATURE.
THE KEY IS TO STICK TO UNDERSTAND THE BASICS, & THEN EXPERIMENT A LITTLE (OR A LOT) TO DISCOVER YOUR OWN PREFERENCES.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
The secret to great cooking is in the subtle details. Do not be afraid to trust your own judgment ..
ORIGINAL CHAI, TURMERIC CHAI, ROOIBOS CHAI :
All work with the same basic technique, which is – “add chai to your milk and heat, or heat milk (the hotter the better), pour on to chai (sweetening does make the spices come thru), and enjoy”.
The hotter the milk, the greater the flavour. There is a secondary extraction of flavour from the spices when heated again.
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Another way to say this;
OR - add chai to milk and bring to 90 deg celsius or the boil.
OR - steam chai in jug with the milk.
OR - or heat milk, and add to chai in the cup.
OR - You can alternatively, add the chai concentrate to milk & heat (& reheat anytime). A mix will keep in the fridge for as long as your milk will keep.
That’s it really.
Almost simple.
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In our experience, EVERY milk makes a different chai.
Our favorites for a balanced outcome are Vitasoy Oat milk ( can you believe it haha , and it uses sunflower oil instead of canola ), Boring Oat milk, Cilantro goat milk & Puhoi blue top.
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MORE IDEAS: (Assuming 2 - 4 teaspoons of our concentrate to 225ml milk) .
Turmeric chai upgrade -add grated fresh turmeric root to your milk before heating.
Rooibos chai upgrade – add rooibos tea to your milk before heating.
SWEETENING :
We make an UNSWEETENED chai so you can add your own sugar if you wish to. Seems sensible to us ;)
But you can add sweetener at any stage .
In India it is often added after brewing and NOT stirred in. This gives a sweet finish which is like a little dessert , and personally, I find the character of the sweetener comes out matching the character of the chai in a better way.
Chai loves sweeteners, it is true. Especially in plant milks.
Adding coconut sugar or evaporated cane juice or jaggery to chai is one of those food things you just need to accept as intriguing and maillardesqe.
We (sometimes) do a SWEETENED CHAI concentrate because, apparently, these days people need that sort of thing. More later ...
GARNISH – also a thing in cafes, is killing the balance with a fistful of cinnamon sprinkled on top. No sprinkles ! … at least to start.
Then if you insist, try any spice you like on top – just ¼ to ½ a pinch tho. Pepper works ... !
Less is more .
Balance balance balance.
TURMERIC CHAI LATTE:
Add fresh turmeric if you have it.
Add a fat - coconut oil , ghee or cocoa butter.. actually any oil will do .
Anti-Inflammatory etc etc
ROOIBOS LEAF , also known as RED BUSH is a caffeine free herb / bush, from South Africa.
It is full of anti-oxidants, digestible polyphenols and minerals.
It tastes good too – red notes, fruity, tea-esque .. y’know.
CHOCOLATE CHAI – top a chai with a sprinkle of hot chocolate powder. No matter what I try this is, for me, the definitive way to make Chocolate Chai. ..
SPICED HOT/COLD CHOCOLATE – add any one of our CHAI CONCENTRATES to a hot/cold chocolate.
IN SUMMARY:
If you have the idea by now that you can do whatever the heck you want to, you are correct.
Let the self-determined chai making begin.
