If you follow me on Twitter, you know that ever since our vacation, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make Chai at home. I’m still busy experimenting, but the following recipe is what I’ve been using for the moment. I found it on All Recipes, but it’s also on RecipeZaar, and in some other places on the web, so I’m not entirely sure where to give credit!
This recipe makes tea that is pretty tasty, but it’s still not quite as good as those Oregon Chai mix packets that I had on vacation. I’m hoping to try some non-mix Chai recipes (where you heat milk, tea, spices, and sugar on a stovetop or in the crock pot) next. I think that sort of Chai would be a bit healthier, as a mix requires things that aren’t particularly natural, like coffee creamer. I’ll keep you posted if I happen upon a really good recipe of that sort.
For now, though, here’s how to make a Chai tea mix (ingredients are at the bottom of the post.) It’s really easy to do.
Dump all the ingredients into a large bowl.
Mix them together. You could use the tea mix this way, but it won’t dissolve all that well, and it does look kind of funky.
So, in two batches, process the mixture in your food processor until it’s smooth and fine. Much better.
Chai tea mix makes a good homemade Christmas gift if you package it appropriately. It looks lovely in a glass jar (this one is from Goodwill).
And of course, a canning jar is always a good packaging idea too (especially if you procure lids that are not all bent and rusted like mine are!).
Chai Latte Mix
Ingredients
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Working with about half the mixture at a time, process in a food processor until fine and smooth. Store in a cool, dry place, in an airtight container.
To use, stir two heaping tablespoons into 6-8 ounces of hot water.
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I’ve been pondering how to make a chai tea “mix” that still uses real ingredients but makes the whole thing less of a production. My sister is a chai latte addict and I thought it would be a nice stocking stuffer.
I’m thinking it should be possible to pre-measure the spices in a little cheesecloth bag (+ maybe loose tea? or just pair it with a teabag) or something & steep that with the tea, but I suspect that steeping it in milk (rather than water) is what brings out a lot of the flavour. I think some testing is in order….I’ll get back to you on that.
the Oregon Chai mix is indeed delicious. I think you’re right that brewing it on the stove with fresh ingredients is going to taste better. Chai, which actually just means “tea”, is just black tea with spices, brewed in milk. I’ve never tried this, so I’m not sure how it would taste, but you could try to combine the dry spices, process them into a fine powder, put them in a small bag with loose-leaf black tea (or black tea taken from tea bags, I guess) and brew it in hot milk in a cup like you would with hot chocolate.
I’ve only ever made it from the mix or from Good Earth tea bags.
…or totally from scratch. I’ve never tried to make a mix.
A couple of tea makers (Stash, Celestial Seasonings) make chai tea bags. Make some of that and then I bet you won’t want the mix any more! It is so much better. I bet the ingredient list would tell you what to add to some black tea if you wanted a more DIY approach. But brewed chai with milk and sugar added is worlds beyond the mix. It’s like the difference between chamomile tea bags and the whole flower stuff — hard to believe it is the same thing!
Mmm…I love chai tea! This just made me go scrounging around the kitchen at work looking for a canister of mix I thought I’d seen a few weeks back…
This would be a nice Christmas gift idea for the extended family!
I, too, am a huge Oregon Chai Tea fan. Walmart sells the individual packets, but unless they are on sale I think they are too pricey. Anyway, my homemade version isn’t as thick and heavy as the Oregaon Chai Tea, instead I buy the Chai Tea Bags at the market, and then just add a little milk and a tspn of sugar for taste. The taste is great, and pretty cheap, depending on how much the tea bags were that I was able to purchase.
I love your blog. The posts are grounding, and serve as a great reminder that mothers and wives share the same frustrations…it’s all how you perceive it.
Heather
My sister makes a homemade chai of tea, spices, and honey (instead of sugar) brewed in hot milk. I don’t know the ratios (actually, I’m not sure she does, either – she always eyeballs everything!), but I wonder if adding crystallized honey to the mix instead of sugar would help with the flavor.
I just read through a bunch of the comments on All Recipes, and many people said that they reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 c. rather than the 2 1/2 c. Also, many people said that they omitted the instant tea and just added the mix to a cup of brewed black tea.
I love All Recipes for the commentary!
Mmm, yum! Thanks for posting this.
Oh, I can’t wait to try this. I love chai tea, but can’t fork out the money for the cost of the Oregon Chai mix. Thanks for doing all the experimenting for us. I never would have thought to try to make my own mix, but of course, now I am going to! Thanks!!
My sister-in-law makes this. My brother lived in Nepal for 2 years and he says it’s the closest to “authentic” that he’s found in the US. It’s pretty similar to yours, but just enough different that I thought I’d send you the recipe.
Mix together: [no food processor blending needed]
1 cup instant tea
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup dry creamer
1 cup powdered milk
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
I like to use less brown sugar and only 1/2 cup powdered milk, and I double the spices, so feel free to experiment with it!
Ooh! Ooh! I found the greatest chai tea mix ever a few years ago in some magazine. You use all natural spices and dried orange slices and then simmer them on the stove with milk and sugar. I thought you might like to know what it is. It is seriously good, and it looks very pretty too, so it would make a nice gift. (That’s what my family members are getting for Christmas this year!)
Chai Tea Mix
Makes about 36 servings
Ingredients:
1 orange
1/2 cup cardamom pods
12 cinnamon sticks, crushed
2 tablespoons whole cloves
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons allspice berries
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/4 cup whole star anise
1/2 cup loose Darjeeling tea
1. Dry the orange: Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the orange into 1/8-inch-thick rounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake, turning occasionally, until dry – 2 to 3 hours.
2. Make spice mix: Combine the dried orange and the rest of the ingredients except the tea in a large bowl and toss to combine. Store the spice blend and the tea in separate airtight containers for up to 6 months.
3. To make the tea: Simmer 2 tablespoons of the chai spices with 1 1/4 cups milk, 3/4 cup water, and 1 tablespoon sugar for 25 minutes. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of Darjeeling tea and steep for 3 minutes. Strain into 2 large mugs and serve immediately.
I can’t try this mix. At least not yet. I’m too busy being impressed at the nice pix you got from a recipe that is, essentially, “Mix these powders together.”
Please explain “instant tea”… I’m familiar with instant coffee, and tea bags, but what on earth is instant tea?
I found a great chai concentrate recipe online. It gives you a liquid concentrate that you can store in the refrigerator and add to milk, much like the boxes of Oregon chai concentrate. It doesn’t use any weird ingredients like instant tea or cofee creamer, just spices, regular tea, and honey. You might be able to find a similar recipe by searching the internet. I would be happy to share mine, but I am in the middle of an international move and it is currently in a container making its way across the Pacific ocean with the rest of my belongings.
William-I do manage to make recipes a lot longer than they need to be, don’t I?? lol Seriously, though, there is beauty almost everywhere, I think…you just need to be able to find it.
Franci-it’s powdered tea, really. You just add water to it. Mostly people use it for iced tea.
Jenessa, that sounds awesome. Shall do some poking around.
Oh man, there is little that compares to a fresh steaped cup of chai. Barely even needs milk it’s so good!
Has anyone tried this dry mix with Splenda? I’m need to do sugar free as often as possible. I bought the liquid sugar free Oregon chai tea and I’m ashamed to say I threw it away, it was terrible! What a waste. I might sub in some Splenda and see how it goes. Thanks as always to all!
Read some of the comments above. I reckon it’s all how you like your chai to be. If someone needs it, I can give you the authentic chai recipe that mom makes at home in India. In fact, I love my chai (I don’t understand what chai tea means because ‘chai’, which is a Hindi word, literally means tea. So this would mean tea tea, which doesn’t make sense, does it?).
In India, people drink chai by the cupfuls and it is the staple drink when guests come home.
So, step-by-step, here it is:
Boil 1 cup water. Put in 1.5 tsp chai mix (this can be pre-made or you can crush the spices instantly. This chai mix/ powder consists of 2 cardamom, 2-3 cloves and 2′ piece of cinnamon bark. If you want to pre-make a larger batch, just multiply the quantities). Then, grate a ½” piece of ginger in the boiling water. Add 1 tsp loose tea leaves. Let it brew on medium heat till it becomes totally black. Add 2-3 tsp sugar according to taste. Then add 4-5 tbsp milk, enough so that the chai gets a brownish-goldenish colour. Now let this chai come to a boil. Once its done, switch off the stove and let the chai sit in the hot vessel for about 2 minutes for it to absorb its flavour. Then sieve it into cups and serve with savoury Indian snacks.
If you want more easy Indian recipes or for any issue, you can visit my blog http://www.worldsismoioyster.blogspot.com.
Seems to me if you bought non lemon Iced tea powdr,you could just use it and reduce the white sugar? Also, mix iced tea mix, apple juice and some of these spices for hot apple cider, YUM!
Hi!
What about a recipe for Chai using Stevia or Truvia?
Thanks!
Janessa- I will be searching around for the liquid concentrate recipe later! I’ve worked at different coffee shops, and I have my own espresso machine now (about 2-3 months of latte’s paid for the machine) but the one thing I miss are those chai latte’s! i have tried several different powder mixes, and they taste nothing like the coffee shop kind. You can buy the liquid concentrate from various coffee shops, but it’s definitely not frugal to do so. If you’re going to go the powder mix route, I would advise to exclude any dry milk/creamer products, and instead add your mix to hot milk. Steamed milk would be the ideal choice (but not everyone has an espresso machine with a steamer). stove top would be next choice for heating the milk, last would be the microwave, although microwaved milk does not taste nearly as good as steamed, so you loose some of the flavor that way.
I was wondering if you have any pound cake recipes.
Well, that’s nice. But you really don’t have to use all that. Buy some chai tea (Republic of Tea or other folks), steep it in steamed or scalded milk, and sweeten it to your preference. No crap, no work.
Here is a great Chai recipe that I often make. It is from 1001 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra:
1.5 cups water
1 cardamom pod, broken open to release seeds
1.5 teaspoons fennel seeds
1.5 to 2 teaspoons loose black tea leaves
1 cup milk
sugar, to taste
Bring water, cardamom and fennel to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until water turns brown and reduces by a third. (You should have 1 cup of water in the pan.)
Add tea leaves and turn off heat. Let steep 2 minutes.
Add milk, bring to a boil again. Pour through fine mesh sieve into 2 teacups. Serve hot with sugar on the side.
Just wanted to let you know I just referenced you in my blog. Here’s a direct link to the entry: http://makeithappenmama.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-do-i-love-chai-let-me-count-ways.html