Chai Chai Chai!
Hey! I am new to Steepster and I joined it because I am on my great quest for the perfect chai. Well! I have to say that I am very impressed with it.
Coming back to the point, my girlfriend is obsessed with chai and I am not much of a black tea drinker. I really want to find her the best chai out there. She does not like hers too spicy!
Also, does anyone know if you can get sweetened chai?
Please recommend!
Unfortunately my favorite chai (Mayan Chocolate Chai by 52teas) is very spicy because it has cayenne in it.:(
I personally do not sweeten my chai. I think the only chai you will find that is sweetened is either in powdered mix or concentrate form- not loose leaf. Even if you do sweeten your chai, I personally think it would be best to purchase an unsweetened chai. That way you can chose what kind and how much sweetener to use.
That is good advice! I will be on the lookout for my non spicy, non sweetened chai.
Try Golden Moon’s Kashmiri chai -
http://steepster.com/teas/golden-moon-tea/4395-kashmiri-chai
It’s a blend of black and green teas, not too spicy, and I think it tastes incredibly delicious sweetened with honey.
Sounds good…though someone once told me that honey and milk should not be mixed. What do you think?
Jayscar, why is that? I don’t sweeten my chai, but people here add honey and chai all the time.
I love milk and honey mixed! I use honey on my yogurt too. Give it a try and see what you think :)
I forgot the honey and yogurt combo. It often comes right in the yogurt so it can’t be bad. Someone told me that you shouldn’t mix citrus and dairy either cuz it spoils the milk, but I mix OJ and milk.
Another option would be to find a tea you really love (flavored or non) and add a chai spice mix to it. That way you could get the exact base you want w/ the exact base/spice ratio you want… and you can even get the exact spice ratio you want in the mix by making your own.
That’s brilliant. I am going to try and figure that out for my girl.
Hmmm Tazo chai concentrate is about medium spice (if that) IMO and is sweet and can be found in grocery stores. Then there is Big Train chai mix that is in powdered form and it is pretty sweet with a very light spice… this can be found at some stores, but is a bit harder to find. Both make good chai lattes and the Big Train one comes in a vanilla chai which is pretty good and very smooth.
Of course, you can always MAKE your own chai as others mentioned above… I suggest you playing around with it first before giving it to your girlfriend, but that would be an awesome “from the heart” kind of gift that you made with your own two hands! =)~
“but that would be an awesome “from the heart” kind of gift that you made with your own two hands! =)~” Awww! Yes it would!
I know. But I am curious about this Big Train chai mix. Is it available in all grocery stores. Any stores you know?
I’ve seen at Hastings music/video/book store and I’ve seen it in large quanities at Sam’s before, but you could just try this website: http://www.seriouschai.com/sbtchai.asp I noticed it is also sold on Amazon.com, but at least at the above site you can see all of their products.
If you were interested in making something at home, Strand makes a chai spice mix that you can add to a tea base. I’ve used it with a few different black tea bases and the mix isn’t overly spicy.
http://steepster.com/teas/strand-tea-company/8074-indian-spices
Also, 52teas has a Chai with Chocolate which is the same blend as the Mayan Chocolate Chai that Cofftea mentioned, but without the cayenne.
Culinary Teas also has a ready made spice mix (sans tea). Or just do a search for “chai spice mix” and you’ll find several recipes to make your own that you can alter to your tastes.
There are also recipes out there (I’ve personally done it) to make your own instant chai mix. If you want a prepared instant chai mix, I strongly suggest Trader Joe’s.
I am a hardcore Karma Blends fan and their Chai is definitely the best I have tasted. It is supposed to be very authentic. You can smell the aroma from a mile away!
Another thing you can do is dig up the recipe of chai with fresh herbs – Apparently thats how Indians do it with fresh ginger, mint etc and surprise your girl by making it for her. But make sure you get someone to try it first.
Vanilla chai from bigelow is awesome, cheap and sweet. I also love love love red chai from republic of tea but that tea is quite spicy, I think the spicy taste is mostly cinnamon though.
If you’re gonna go bagged, I would agree that Bigelow’s Vanilla Chai is pretty good. But I think there are better loose teas out there.
For the Bigelow Vanilla Chai, make it the traditional method (on the box), you will not be sorry. Very, very good. I do cut open teabag and free the leaf! You have to strain, but well worth the effort:)
If you’re looking for a chai that’s a little different, MarketSpice Chai has orange in it. I especially think it would make a good iced chai w/ milk.
I have not had any of them, but another place to look for out of the ordinary chais would be http://www.yogicchai.com/catalog/yogicchai/index.php
A chai you may both like is Kashmiri chai which is a green based chai. Golden Moon’s Kashmiri Chai really isn’t a Kashmiri chai since it’s a black/green blend. I suggest Adagio’s green chai or spiced green- which taste the same. Spiced green even comes in a decaf version. Actually, all of Adagio’s chais are very good.
Kashmir actually has two different types of chai, a Kahva Chai that is green based with almonds and a Sheer Chai which has a base of black tea and served with salt. You are correct on the fact Kashmiri Chai is not authentic to either of these, but rather a mixture of the green and black tea bases.
Now that I think of it creating a traditional version of both of these may be a good idea, even though Sheer Chai is an acquired taste unless you are Tibetan.
Green based chai is called Kahva. Hm. Learned something new today:) What is it called when there are no almonds? Just a poorly made Kahva? lol
Good question. Maybe then it is just Kashmiri Chai without the black tea :)
Another ingredient they use is saffron. Every time I use saffron I feel like I am in a sci-fi movie transporting some crucial DNA or something. That saffron also just upped the cost per cup by about $1.
I am going to try the green tea chai for sure…may be I will then be able to relate to my girl’s chai obsession!
It’s odd Jayscar- there are only 2 non flavored black teas that I like (well one is a flavored but I don’t really taste the flavoring in it), and I like very few non dessert flavored teas… but I LOVE black based chais.
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