Chai Tea

One of the reasons I love the cold weather is because I can drink tea to my little heart's content! Last winter, in an effort to reduce my dependence on small cardboard boxes of little tea bags, I began searching for alternatives. I grew my own mint this summer, and dried out the leaves to save for tea. I also bought a ten pound bag of chamomile flowers from Mountain Rose Herbs after Lucy rolled over and killed my delicate chamomile seedlings. However, I've been tiring of my peppermint and chamomile teas, and not wanting to go back to Celestial Seasonings or even Tazo tea, I decided to try something new. This morning, I brewed my first cup of chai.


I started out with about a cup and a half of water, with a 1/2 t each of cinnamon, cardamom and whole cloves. I cut a few slices of fresh ginger root and added that to the mix, too. I boiled the water, and let it simmer for a few minutes, then added about a third of a cup of milk. After that simmered a few more minutes, I threw in a leftover bag of black tea (but will be buying a large amount in bulk this weekend at Good Health). Finally, I took the kettle off the burner, let sit for a few minutes to cool, and stirred in a heaping teaspoon of my favorite honey. I made sure that the tea wasn't too hot so that it didn't destroy the minerals and enzymes in the honey. I strained the tea into my thermos, and enjoyed warm chai tea all morning long! I'll likely amend this recipe after I shop this weekend. I'm going to get cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks, and may even crush a few peppercorns into the mix.