How To Make Tea

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You're here because you want to learn more about how to make tea, specifically, how to make a perfect Chai Latte! Before I share the delicious recipe with you, I have something to point out.

The Tea Connoisseur would say it better and he would probably say that "it's really more about choosing a good brand, a good quality tea rather than a recipe"

But here's the authentic way you would find it at an Indian restaurant with whatever Chai tea bag you can get a hold of, the tastier the better!

The ingredients to this amazing Chai Latte (2 cup serving):

Any kind of Chai Tea will do, 2 tea bags or the equielant in loose leaf, it goes without saying though that the better the tea, the tastier (though it also comes down to preference!)

2 full mugs of water

1 Whole Clove for added flavor

1/5 teaspoon of Ginger (you can go for a 1/4 tea spoon of each if you like, the difference is only slightly noticeable.)

1/4 tea spoon cardamom

1  cinnamon stick

1/4 cup of sugar

2 and a 1/2 Cups of Milk (or light cream for a fuller, creamier taste!)

Making The Chai Latte:

For the best result, you should use a sauce pan, and whatever you do, don't just plop everything into it, tea bags, spices, milk water etc then boil, that's the worst thing you can do and it will taste nothing like a real Chai Latte.

First thing to do is add the 2 mugs of water into the sauce pan and let it heat up a little, not close to boiling.

Then add the cinnamon and 1 clove first until it all starts boiling, leave to boil for half a minute or so.

Shut off the heat at this point, wait another 30seconds and then add the tea bags or loose tea leaves.

Let it sit a few minutes (2-3) 

While you're letting it sit, warm up the milk (or light cream) on the side adding the 1/4 cup of sugar to it (or with your choice of sweetener), stir well while doing this in the same direction. Be sure that it gets as close to boiling as possible, it'll start to make little bubbles before boiling point, right then remove it off the heat, don't just turn off the heat as it will continue to boil if you do this.

Add to the sauce pan which has your spices and tea then stir well.

If you're using tea bags, there is a possibility they'll break, if that happens don't worry about it.

Leave it all for 30 seconds and serve. Use a filter so that you don't end up pouring out the loose tea leaves or tea bag grains etc into the cup.

You're done! You're now a few seconds away from enjoying the most amazing homemade Chai Latte!

You're here because you want a raw, slightly bitter textured taste of earth mixed with gingery-sweet milk tea - you're after the taste of authentic Indian Chai Tea, the taste of India! You are here for one thing, you want to learn how to make authentic Indian chai tea, and I won't disappoint you!

This method is authentic (i overuse this word for a reason!), so authentic I asked my friend Vijay (or as I like to call him, vajayjay) to take a photo showing his approval of this all Indian Chai Tea Recipe! Seriously, this is the most authentic How to make Indian Chai tea recipe thing you will ever come across, brace yourselves, for your taste buds are about to be officially curryfied..umm, right.

On my trip to India last year, I spent my days taking public transportation to get around, and almost everywhere I went, I found open-air chai stalls, where chai was served in clay cups that were later traditionally smashed in the ground.

Now it's important to note that an important factor of authentic Indian chai comes from using these clay cups, that are hand spun out of river clay, where chai wallahs customarily tap the unglazed cup to dislodge any loose dirt particles before serving you the chai, and you inevitably digest a tiny amount of melted clay/dirt, it's not unhealthy, in fact the gritty taste enhances the character of the chai. So if you don't have the dirty clay cups handy, you'll have to settle for the next best most authentic taste!

Here is the quick, simple, light yet spicy super yummy Chai recipe for you!

The Ingredients (to make about 4 cups of chai):

4 cups of water

1/4 cup of grated fresh Ginger (loosely packed) - best if fresh but, not imperative.

1 cup of milk (full for best flavor, but go at it with skimmed or semi etc, your call)

3 Tbl spoons Sucanat. It's an evaporated cane juice (otherwise 3 tbl spoons of sugar will do)

5 tsp. of Darjeeling black tea (Sikkim Black Tea (Temi Estate) also harmonizes well with the flavor of ginger if you like. Going with regular tea bags, lipton or earl gray etc will work but you won't get the same wonderful taste.) Now, you can find Darjeeling black tea at your larger than average local supermarket, but you can also order it online from dozens of sites, including amazon (check seller rating before ordering)

How to make the Chai:

Simmer the 1/4 cup of ginger in water for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Add the milk and Sucanat (or sugar) and bring back to simmer.

Turn off the heat

Add the tea then cover the pot/kettle and let it steep for about 3-4 minutes.

Strain and serve.

Come back to thank me ;)

That's it ladies and fellas, that is the most authentic Indian gingery Chai Tea you will ever have the pleasure of tasting. Now, I owe it to you here to let you know that around India, there are other recipes for Chai tea, this is one of the more widely used recipe and most prominently in Darjeeling. On my next trip I will be sure to share other variations and recipes from India, but until then, ENJOY!

(big thanks to my friend the tea connoisseur for his assistance in perfecting this article.)

Tea Making Is A Science - The Tea Connoisseur

This blog will focus on how to make tea, you know, that perfect cup of tea! What tea to use, how to determine what tea is best for you, how to brew it, what amounts of this and that to add, what kettle you should use, what tea pots, then the amount of tea to use, the type of sugar to add, the amount of sugar, the temp at which to boil the water and brew the tea, the amount of water to go into the kettle for brewing, the time tea should be left to brew and how the differs from person to person, to the smallest detail.