Me, Myself & Chai

Let's talk about chai tea for like five seconds. Have you tried it? No? Then please leave this for later and go grab some. If yes, please continue. I hadn't tried chai tea ever before until a coworker turned me on to it. Starbucks' Iced Oprah Cinnamon Chai Tea Latte to be expact, although the vanilla one is equally as delicious. Like all things I fall in love with, I became invested in this tea. I found that at the grocery store they sell chai concentrate which you just mix with milk and serve hot or over ice. So I decided I should invest in this product. I found that it's only $2.99 at my local grocery store! That's less than what you would pay for a single latte at Starbucks. Out of the entire carton of concentrate I made five large (24 oz.) iced lattes, five for three bucks?! That's $0.60 a piece!
In my obsessive Pinterest searching on the topic I found that you can make your own chai tea concentrate right in your own kitchen. I was intrigued and completely willing to try it. So I went to the store in search of the necessary spices and tea.
I'm going to begin by saying when you're looking to buy spices and teas Target probably isn't the best place to look. I learned this by spending about twenty minutes in the tea and spice isle (conveniently together thank god) and probably still not getting what I really needed. The recipe called for roobois or darjeeling tea and from experience of drinking roobois I know I didn't want that flavorful tea in my chai because I believe the only thing roobois needs is a tiny bit of honey. With Target lacking anything with the name darjeeling on it I decided to go with a plain black tea (what another recipe had said to use). I got home and combined all my ingredients and and cracked the necessary ones placed it all in a pot with water and six of the tea bags and allowed for it to boil and then steep for 30 minutes. It smelled wonderful. After it steeped I strained it into a pitcher and allowed for it to cool before placing it in the fridge. My thoughts on this homemade chai: I could have used a lot less cinnamon. I don't like cinnamon that much so that's just my preference. But by no means am I giving up on the chai. I think next time I'm going to add some anise stars and cut back on the cinnamon sticks, maybe add more vanilla too. Another thing I want to fix is the straining. I don't know if my fine strainer is just not that fine or what but it almost seems like it needs to be strained through cloth, it has a sediment taste to it, but that also might be the cinnamon...
Anyway here is the recipe and I encourage you to try it and tweak it as you like. Let me know what changes you make and what you think of this!

Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate

6 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp allspice (original called for 15 allspice berries)

1 tsp cardamom (original called for 5 cardamom pods)

1 tsp cloves (original called for 15 whole cloves)

a few pinches of freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp ground ginger (original called for dried ginger)

1 tsp nutmeg

6 black tea bags (next time I'm going to get darjeeling)

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 sugar (you can use any sweetener)

Combine all the ingredients (excluding sugar and vanilla) in a pot with 6 cups of water. If you're using the berries/pods these need to be cracked before boiling. Bring the water to a boil and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, stronger if you like darker tea. Next strain your tea and add the vanilla and sweetener. Allow to cool before placing in the fridge. 

I suggest serving with equal parts milk. This can be served over ice or hot, both would be delightful. 

I will be sure to keep you updated on my future chai changes, the next one won't be anything but better! Also keep your eyes on the look out in the near future for a few new blog posts. I'm currently working on some homemade "goodies" and I have a review or two to still post! 

Sources:
The Elliot Homestead
Picture found on Gimme Some Oven