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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

DwellWellNW

Homebrewed Chai

 (Maggie Bullock)
(Maggie Bullock)

It’s been rainy and gray here, and to me, a gray day is best spent with a cup of hot tea, a good book, and/or a craft project. I’ve also been a bit under the weather, so I spent the day hunkered down with tea, movies, a friend, and a knitting project.

I love chai, but often find that commercial brands are too sweet and have an aftertaste that I don’t love. Several months ago I found some recipes for homemade chai and after trying several, I’ve put together a recipe for a tea that I love—and kind of can’t get enough of. It has a good balance and variety of spices and is just lightly sweetened.

Homemade Chai

  • 4 1/2 cups water
  • 1 stick cinnamon, broken
  • 1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
  • 9 whole cardamom pods, split open
  • 2 whole star anise
  • 10 whole cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest (sometimes I leave this out)
  • ½ vanilla bean, scraped and pod
  • 10 bags of black tea
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar*
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla

 

Prepare the spices and the tea and set aside. Bring the water to a boil in a sauce, pan and remove from heat. Add the spices and the tea bags, and allow the mixture to steep for 20 minutes.

Strain the mixture into a 4-cup glass measuring cup or large bowl, discarding the spices. Add the sugar, honey and the vanilla, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the mixture into a jar and store in the refrigerator.

To serve, mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk. I like this mix both hot and iced, but on a drizzly day, it’s my favorite hot drink.

*You can substitute honey for the brown sugar if you prefer an all-honey chai. To replace the brown sugar, substitute ¼ cup honey in addition to the tablespoon already called for.

Drink it yourself, or take some to a sick friend…it’s great for sore throats.


 



DwellWellNW

Artist and crafter Maggie Wolcott writes about craft events in and around Spokane, as well as her own adventures in creating and repurposing. Her DwellWellNW posts include project and decorating ideas, recipes, reviews of events, and interviews with local artists. Maggie spends her days as an English professor, and when she’s not grading papers, she can generally be found with a paintbrush or scissors in hand. She can be reached at mebullock@gmail.com.