Strongest (spicy) Chai?
Can anyone suggest a really strong chai that stands up to soymilk or creamer? I am searching for a chai that screams (with scent and flavor) “I AM CHAI !!!!!!!!!”. Thanks!
The best I have found is making my own from scratch with whole spices, crushed slightly (just to break them open) with a mortar and pestle. The best place I’ve found for whole spices is an Indian grocery – they are inexpensive and good. You can find a recipe I’ve used here: http://steepster.com/teas/custom/14510-darjeeling-chai
You’ll probably need to adjust the spices and length of simmering to your tastes. For me, the longer the better! It’s best when I simmer it for 45 minutes to 1 hour before adding the tea. After everything is strained out, some small pieces of spice usually remain, so any leftover tea will get a bit spicier in the fridge.
It depends what you want in your chai. If you don’t mind chocolate and cayenne in your chai- hands down 52teas Mayan Chocolate Chai. If you’d rather the spice come from other things, Tipu’s instant is amazing. Their slowbrew is darn good as well, I just prefer the instant. Back to flavored… if you’re looking for flavored chais that are both strong in flavor and spice, I’d go w/ Twinings (yes, they’re bagged). The spiced apple and the pumpkin spice are killer. I; however, would not suggest the French vanilla. If you’re looking for a strong decaf chai, their decaf chai is really solid to the point where it shocked me. Twinings also has an extra spiced chai that I feel save recommending based on my Twinings experience even though I haven’t had that particular one.
I really like republic chai from republic of tea – the red version is better than the regular. It is really spicy and leaves you with a nice warm and toasty feeling
We brew our masala chai the traditional indian way (with almost 90% milk) and the flavor still is CHAI in your face!
We can’t say ours is the best, but it’s pretty damn good!
I also am on boat on making your own chai, the spices need to steep longer than the tea. I have yet to find a real good chai anywhere that compares to making your own. I simmer my spices for 10-20 minutes, but I’ll try to do it for an hour like veg tea. I also recommend using fresh ginger, that to me makes it authentic and tastes better.
Wow thanks for all the responses! I would love to try making it myself, I will see if I can hunt down the ingredients in the next couple weeks, maybe I can buy them in bulk online? I think that the Tipu chai will be first on the list to try as far as the instant chai goes. So far Tazo chai is the best that I have tried, when I use 2 bags to 8 oz and a splash of soymilk. I will be very happy when I find that perfect chai!
You mention soymilk so I thought I’d throw this out- I have a recipe for instant chai latte mix (the kind w/ powdered milk) so if you like that kind of chai as well I’m thinking you could mix a scoop (one is normally provided w/ the can) of soy powder w/ 1 level tsp instant chai mix then add to the liquid of your choice. I’m gonna try that since I have yet to find a soy based chai mix.
IF you don’t want to make your own, I highly recommend buying from The Spice House. Their chai mix is very fresh and very strong and my husband and our two friends are pretty much addicted. They have added vanilla and sugar to the standard chai spices, all super fresh http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/chai-spice-mix
Seriously we buy it by the pound now.
Franklin Tea
http://www.franklintea.com/
blends their own “Spicy Chai”, “Masala Chai”, “Spicy Cinnamon Chai” and “Green Tea Chai” – all brimming with whole spices.
They also sell “Chai spices” by the ounce. I do not know if this is some of the whole spices they use to blend with, or powdered. Might be worth a phone call as they obviously are experienced.
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