Slow Brew Original Chai

My neighbor swears by this stuff so she made me a big jug of it. As directed, except she didn’t sweeten it. I admit I’m a bit nervous, only because this isn’t my prefered water:milk ratio- but here it goes. My fears of it tasting like massively watery spiced milk are instantly gone as soon as it hits my tounge. It’s thick, spicy, and oh so good. It still won’t damage my relationship w/ Mayan Chocolate Chai though.

Tea of the afternoon. I fixed this one according to the package directions. (2 cups water and 1 heaping tsp, simmer for 3 minutes. Add 2/3 cup milk, simmer for 3 minutes, strain.) Sweeten to taste.

This is a spicey one, but it is good. I can taste the cloves and maybe even pepper. I do find this one a little messy to strain, too. The mix itself comes in a ground up state and makes me miss the ease of straining full leaf chai. Not likely a good one for me, though, once this package is gone.

love, love, love. local missoula business. best chai around. add cream and agave.

I’m a chai lover, but have never been a fan of instant chai or chai mixes. But, after reading about this one, I just had to try it! Prior to brewing, this mixture resembles coffee grounds which I presume is the black tea ground with a myriad of spices. And, it smells strongly of cinnamon and cardamom. Following the directions, I dumped a scoop of this into two cups of water and boiled for 3 minutes. The aroma remained the same and permeated the house with a nice potpourri scent. I then added the milk, but threw in a little ground cardamom (couldn’t find my pods) and fresh ground ginger. Boiled 3 more minutes, strained and added my brown sugar. Resembling coffee with cream, the taste is prevalent but not quite what I expected, especially compared to chai I make per an ex-Pakistani husband’s instructions. It tasted mostly of cardamom, ginger and cinnamon. The black tea seemed to get lost and the consistency of the liquor was rather thin. I’ll probably finish my bag of Tipu at some point, but will stick to what I know when it comes to making chai. I wouldn’t say this is actual chai, but rather a chai mix although the best chai mix I’ve ever tried.

made this today by brewing it like regular tea, in a teapot with infuser basket. 5 min. Was weaker than when I simmered it on the stove for 6 min – so clearly the simmering is the way to go – but it was quite drinkable nonetheless.