Chai: What It Is and How to Make It

The word “chai” comes from the Chinese chá, which reached India through Persian, and in Hindi it means any tea. What Europe and America call chai is really masala chai, “spiced tea” (masala means a blend of spices): a robust black tea simmered with milk, sugar and spices such as ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

In India chai is drunk at any time of day: at breakfast, on work breaks, at railway stations, on street corners. It is made by the chaiwalas, the tea sellers, in big pots kept on the boil, and served piping hot in small glasses or clay cups. Every family has its own recipe, and none of them is “the right one”.

India has been drinking tea for far less time than you might think. The great plantations of Assam and Darjeeling were set up in the nineteenth century, under British rule, to grow tea for sale in Europe. Only in the twentieth century did tea become a popular drink in India itself, and it was the street sellers who transformed it: by adding milk, sugar and the spices already used in Indian cooking and traditional Ayurvedic medicine, they made a richer, tastier drink with fewer leaves.

Chai reached the West much later, mostly through coffee shops, where it became the chai latte: a sweeter, creamier version made with steamed milk.

The base is always a strong black tea that can stand up to milk: in India it is often a finely cut Assam, which gives a dark, full-bodied brew. The spices vary from family to family; the most common are:

• ginger: hot and warming, it is almost always there;
• cinnamon: sweet and rounded;
• cloves: intense, a few are enough;
• cardamom: fresh and aromatic, much used in northern India;
• black pepper, star anise, fennel or coriander seeds, depending on the recipe.

Our Indian Chai is a blend of Indian black tea, cloves, ginger pieces, coriander seeds and cinnamon: a warm, spicy chai, ready to brew. If you love cardamom, add a crushed pod while it simmers.

Indian chai is not left to steep: it is simmered, milk and all. For two cups:

1. In a small saucepan bring 200 ml of water to the boil with 2 heaped teaspoons of Indian Chai (about 6 g).
2. Lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the brew turns dark.
3. Add 200 ml of whole milk and bring it almost back to the boil: careful, milk rises fast.
4. Simmer for another 1-2 minutes and sweeten to taste with sugar, honey or, as in India, condensed milk.
5. Strain straight into the cups and serve at once.

The longer it simmers, the stronger and spicier the chai. In India it is often poured from a height, back and forth between two vessels, to make it frothy.

If you have no time for the saucepan, put one Indian Chai pyramid infuser in a cup with 150 ml of boiling water and let it steep for 5 minutes: chai needs a strong brew. Remove the infuser, add 100 ml of hot milk and sweeten. With milk frothed in a milk frother, you get a coffee-shop chai latte.

Chai latte: make a very strong chai with little water and top it up with plenty of steamed milk, with a dusting of cinnamon on the foam.

Iced chai: make the chai as usual, let it cool and serve it over ice. Lovely in summer.

With plant milk: oat milk works best, as it is creamy and copes well with simmering. Soy milk works well too, while almond milk tends to separate.

Caffeine-free: classic chai contains caffeine, because it is made with black tea. For an evening version, brew the same spices with rooibos, which is naturally caffeine-free: our Madagascar, with vanilla, pairs beautifully with cinnamon and ginger.