Chai Tea

I came across a recipe for Chai Tea several years back. Played with it a bit and came up with this formula. Last year following the holidays, I decided to do a cleanse. One of the requirements of the de-tox cleanse was "no coffee". In an effort to wean myself off of coffee, but still wanting something with a small hit of caffeine, I started making a batch of this weekly. The following recipe makes 64 oz after brewing and steeping and lasts me a week. Top it off with a bit of almond milk or rice milk after warming it up. Fact - I don't miss coffee at all and I like this as much as "Oregon Chai".

Chatty’s Chai Tea Recipe

• 12 cups of filtered water
• 8 tablespoons of loose black tea
(I use a blend of Assam, Lapsang Soouchong and Black Jasmine)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar, date sugar or raw cane sugar
• 2 vanilla beans, split in half to expose the beans
• 25 whole cloves
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 25 cardamom pods
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (or a piece of fresh)
• 4-5 whole star anise pods
• 1/2 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
• 1 inch (or more depending on your taste) of fresh ginger, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon of orange zest ( I use 2- 4 fresh orange slices)
• 1 -2 tablespoons of raw honey (use to your taste)

Place cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and peppercorns in a tea ball. Place loose tea in a tea ball.

Bring water to a boil in a 4 quart sauce pan; add sugar to a medium sized sauce, add the tea balls, vanilla bean, anise pods, cinnamon sticks, boil for 5 minutes; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, remove tea and continue to steep with spices to desired flavor. Remove large spices (vanilla etc) and pour through strainer/sieve. Keep in the refrigerator for one week max. If you want to stretch your vanilla bean, star anise and cinnamon sticks, reserve them for the next use. I put them in a small mason jar and let them air dry. This can help cut back on costs, but still achieve the spicy flavor of this recipe.