[BradJudy]

I'm a tea drinker and while I enjoy chai in its various forms, I have only made it at home from a mix until now.  Encouraged by the fact that a local market carries a wide variety of spices at cheap prices, I picked a chai recipe from online and gave it a spin:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kathleen-daelemans/chai-tea-recipe/index.html

Since the comments noted that it wasn't very spicy, I doubled all of the spices.  I also don't like chai as sweet as a typical coffee shop makes it (I prefer it more like an Indian restaurant makes it), I also cut the sugar in half. 

The result was pretty good.  Not as spicy as some I've had, but it also wasn't at all bitter.  I finished the first batch and have since made a double-batch that I keep in the fridge so I can quickly reheat it and add milk.

Anyone have a chai brewing recipe they like? 

[Cacophonix]

I am a heavy tea ("chai") drinker as well. And i make it in the normal indian style which is - milk/tea/sugar. If i want a bit more flavor, i add some caradamom pods and ginger. The recipe that you posted is quite exotic. I will give it a try today 

[BradJudy]

If nothing else, that recipe makes the kitchen smell nice when you're brewing the spices. 

[mjosef]

My Indian friends make theirs this way...
Bring water to a boil in a pan, add grated fresh ginger,  a teaspoon of fennel-seeds and the teabag...allow to simmer for a couple minutes, then add milk...bring to a quick boil, turn off and let sit for a minute before straining into a cup and adding sugar to taste.
They hail from the Punjab part of India.

[Folsom]

Best to cook in the milk/soy milk after bringing to the other ingredients to a boil. The tea however will be best not at a boil, so it is ok to add it after the boiling of the other spices. If possible only leave the tea in 3-5 minutes, then remove. Then put in milk/soy and bring to boil (or close too, 15 minutes cooking) and remove, then strain.

Peppercorn? Ew through in a bit more ginger.

[Cacophonix]

i'm enjoying a cup of chai as i'm typing this ... hmmm .. 

I add milk at the very end. Boil the spices/tea/water for 10-15 mins and then add milk. Allow it to simmer for a few mins, and then after straining it into a cup, add sugar to taste.

I don't have half the spices listed in the recipe at foodnetwork  I only add ginger/cardamom and at times a couple of cloves.

Say, what brand of tea do you guys buy? All along i used to buy tea from the indian grocery stores. Brands like Taj Mahal/Red label/Yellow label are the popular ones in india....so i stuck to them for most parts. Lately, i've been buying twinnings (irish breakfast/classic) and they are really really good  

[Folsom]

You loose flavor from the tea when it goes over 4-5 minutes (depending on the tea) and it turns acidic, so if you want to really push the flavor you can only let it simmer in so long between boiling the flavorful brew and adding milk.

Add all the spices but the peppercorn, especially ginger. The spice is one of the best things. A strong cup of chai can make you sweat!

A little bit of mint helps too.

I use to work at a place that made chai so good that the restaurant went under and the chai business is doing good.

[BradJudy]

I have only been adding the milk as a last step before drinking.  

If you liked this recipe, I would recommend trying it with the fennel seed as well.  I have seen some recipes that use star anise instead of fennel seed, so you can try that, but I think it's less common and more expensive.

I buy bulk tea from the local international market (same place where I get my spices).  It's not a particular brand.  They have a variety of green teas from China (their jasmine is very nice and the closest to what I had in China of anything I've tried in the states so far - I use it for both hot and iced teas) and black teas from Sri Lanka.  For this chai recipe, I used their darjeeling from Sri Lanka.  

While in Colorado, I would sometimes buy bulk tea from the Dushanbe Teahouse.  I particularly liked their Ti Kuan Yin.  You can order from their website: http://www.boulderteahouse.com/  The house chai was the spiciest I've had - it had a kick to it.    It was one of our favorite places to eat in town as well.  

If I buy packaged tea, it's usually from the Republic of Tea (http://www.republicoftea.com/) or Peets Tea/Coffee (http://www.peets.com/)  One of the bakeries/coffee places in Boulder, CO had Peets and I would often get some Earl Grey with bergamot when I stopped in for a cinnamon roll for breakfast.  I normally don't drink Earl Grey, but that was pretty tasty.  My wife likes mint "tea", so we always have some of that around too, but I rarely drink it.  

[BobM]

About once a year or so I venture into Chinatown (NYC), walk into a random tea house market and pick up about 4-5 different loose teas. Usually a Jasmine, definitely a green, and two or three others. Mostly I really don't know what I am buying, so I like to go with a Chinese friend who canpoint out some favorites.

After doing this for many years now I can say that I have never been disappointed with anything I have bought. These loose teas have been far better than anything that comes in a bag or that can be bought in a regular supermarket. I haven't had any luck with pre-made Chai's that I've tried, so I'll definitely be checking out some of these ideas int he near future.

Thanks,
Bob

[BradJudy]

Of the pre-made chais, Third Street Chai (http://www.3rdstreetchai.com/) was by far my favorite over others like the popular Oregon Chai.  I lived in the town it was made, so I could get it at the local stores, but you can order it from the website too.  Not as good as fresh, but a viable alternative. 

While at the local market, I noticed they also had a pre-mixed loose-leaf chai tea in bulk that I might have to try as well.  From what I could tell, it was loose leaf black tea mixed with ground spices. 

[raov1]

I regularly have the "Tea India Masala Chai" which is one of the best tasting chai out there.

http://www.amazon.com/Tea-India-Masala-Chai-Bags/dp/B000JSSO38
http://store.asianfoodcompany.com/tit002.html

The only tea that blew me away was the Kashmiri Chai
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/faqs/chaikash.html


Looks like someone wikied masala chai already

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai