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You pride yourself on being adventurous when it comes to tasting the latest and greatest teas – so why not be the same when it comes to versions of more traditional blends? A product of intensive blending and sampling, this Herbal Spiced Chai is naturally caffeine-free and yet has the same complexity and richness of a black tea Chai. A great tasting experience without the jangled nerves!
Chai is the most famous of beverages from India (apart from Darjeeling) and is simply the generic word for "tea" in Hindi and Punjabi.The term was later adapted by the English to become the modern "tea." Chai wallahs (street side vendors of hot, steaming Chai) are commonly found throughout South Asia and make their Chai as tea with aromatic spices, which are simmered over long periods rather than infused.
Try the Master Blender's original black chai blend - the Masala Black Tea Chai. To enjoy chai in a convenient teabag, see our Monsoon Chai whole leaf pyramid teabags.
YIELD 50 cups
PRICE $18.95
YIELD 200 cups
PRICE $56.85
The traditional view of Chai blending has been to use sub-standard Assam cheap black tea with readily available market spices. Our blending philosophy is to use only high-quality spices with strong, aromatic character and to carefully balance the competitive notes of cardamom against the mouth-numbing cloves and strong cinnamon. This means we are not simply throwing a selection of old spices together with bad tea, but rather starting from quality and building out a complex, spicy chai with integrity.
To increase the difficulty in blending this Chai, we have made a naturally caffeine-free version that eschews black tea, unlike our Masala Chai Black Tea blend.
Steep using equal parts hot water and warm milk for a classic preparation. Or, try as a Chai tea latte – steep the tea in hot milk and add sugar. The Master Blender recommends a tasty variation of this Chai blend to serve with some condensed milk, thin slices of almond, and some saffron flowers. Adding some fragrant red rose petals and a spot of organic honey makes for a wonderful Indian experience.
INDIAN CHAIPUCCINO
01 Add 10 heaping teaspoons of chai spices in 1 quart of hot boiling water
02 Let steep at least 1 hour (if you are in a hurry, to make chai strong and fast, simmer gently for 20 minutes) - you can let the chai steep for hours – the longer, the stronger
03 Decant chai liquor and store in the fridge
04 In a stainless steel vessel, add 4 oz of chai liquor and 4 oz of whole milk
05 Using the espresso steam wand, steam the milk and tea until frothy
06 Serve in a cappuccino cup and float a whole star anise on the foam
07 Add a cinnamon stick and serve with brown rock sugar
FESTIVE EGGNOG CHAI
01 Follow the above steps using eggnog instead of milk
MOCHA CHAI
01 Follow the steps above
02 Add a drizzle of quality chocolate syrup and garnish with chocolate shavings (preferably dark or bittersweet chocolate)
DECADENT CHAI
01 Follow the steps above using half and half milk instead of whole milk
02 Garnish with whipped cream
Not recommended for the model types
SPIKED NAUGHTY CHAI
01 Follow the steps above
02 Add a generous shot of rum
03 Sweeten with brown sugar
04 Garnish with a cinnamon stick and float a whole star anise on top
