how do you like your Chai?

Cardamom, fennel seed, ginger, coriander seed and peppercorns are my favourite flavours in chai.

Cardamom, ginger, cinnamon.

Caradamom, ginger, cinnamon, a little coriander. No anise of any kind.

Green cardamon, cloves, a little cinnamon, and a dried chile stored in the dry masala chai. Brewed boiled with milk, water, sugar and fresh ginger. All milk if I have guests – I find it a little too rich.

For milky chai, I love noon chai which is oolong tea simmered (not steeped) with star anise, cinnamon, cardamom. A pinch of baking soda and salt are added along with milk. Sometimes I’ll garnish with crushed pistachios and almonds. The finished chai has a beautiful pink color as you can see: https://frontiertreksindia.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/noon-chai-img_4088.jpg?w=600&h=45

The milk free version, called kahwa not chai, I make by simmering cardamom, clove, cinnamon, and saffron with green tea. This is sweetened with a little honey.
http://emperorakbar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/kashmiri_kahwa.jpg

I’m going to diverge a little. I know that when most people think of chai, they think of masala chai, and I do like those. The chai I order at one of my favorite Indian restaurant always tastes like pumpkin pie. I do want to experiment with fresh ginger and cardamom, but I feel like clove really gives masala chai its kick. I do like peppercorn as well.

Do you guys like trying different flavors in your chai tea like lemongrass or vanilla? Japanese Royal Milk tea and Thai tea are similar in some ways to Indian Chai. Thai tea is flavored with star anise, cinnamon, and vanilla, then served chilled with cream or condensed milk. Royal Milk tea isn’t seasoned, but you boil the tea in water, then add milk while brewing the tea.

I actually am not really a fan of Cardamom. I like my chai with ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper. I do like to try flavored chais as well. It makes for a fun change of pace. I like vanilla, pumpkin, and I tried a rum flavored chai once that was quite good as well.

I like a LOT of cardamom, ginder and black pepper, but most importantly, I like a really good base.

I like having typical ingredients – cardamon, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and peppercorns. Trying blends from different companies is fun because some include unique ingredients, such as tulsi, goji berries, or pepper flakes.

I like ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and lots of nutmeg.

I hate cardamon and not into licorice fennel and anise either.