500 Mile Chai (organic)

Cooked on the stovetop.

I like this chai with honey. Some chais I find the molasses element of raw, turbinado sugar to be most complementary, but this one loves honey.

It isn’t the most ground-breaking of spice mixes, but it’s good. Let’s be honest here: chai is, unless it’s imbalanced, pretty standard in what it delivers. Most chai blends use the same Masala-like spices. Those that improvise on this formula succeed or fail but still retain something essentially chai-like, and fill the same niche as a beverage. Some of us will prefer chai that leans on one spice or another more heavily than the rest, because individual tastes vary, but most of us who like chai in a general way will be happy to drink these variations on a theme, too.

What I particularly like about this chai, aside from the way it makes delicious friends with honey, is that it is rocket fuel.

I am not even joking.

A double-cup-deep mug of this, and I am good to go all day long.

Some days, that isn’t necessary…

And some days, it really, really, really is.

Here’s hoping that I can actually manage to herd cats well enough to get my protagonists arrested today, shall we? They have been defying me for weeks.

LiberTEAs sent me some of this – thanks so much!!! This is a mighty fine chai! I really like this! The black tea is STRONG and the spices accompany it very well! The flavor is great! NomNomNom…

Yum! Chai!

I have enjoyed two cups of this today – the first was non-latte, the second, latte. I like it served either way but prefer this one as a latte. The milk makes it a creamy treat. This one is well spiced, but the tea is definitely the star of this chai. It is STRONG!

The spices in this blend are in good balance. It is not a raging rampage of ginger and cinnamon. The cardamom and cloves are also represented well here and it is a delicious combination.

One of the better Chai’s Ive tasted. Not overpowering, pretty close to what you get in India, except the big missing ingredient:Indian Cows Milk. Mmmmmm

This isn’t my very favorite chai blend, but it comes in at second place, nevertheless. The black tea is strong, but the proportion of spices is not very great, so I always add extra peppercorns, cardamom, and anything else I have on hand.

The best way to make this chai is on the stovetop, which is more time consuming but yields a stronger, more flavorful chai. If you know the ratio of water to milk you prefer (1:1, for instance), you can make a single serving or a large batch all at once. Start by heating your water to a boil in a pot (extra spices can be added to the water as it heats). Then, add a generous spoonful of tea per intended cup of chai, and allow to simmer for five minutes. Next, add the milk of your preference and allow to heat until it just returns to a simmer, at which point you should remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for another five minutes. Strain and serve. If honey is your sweetener of choice, add it after straining; otherwise, a spoonful of sugar per cup of liquid can be added at any point. Keep in mind that if you’re making only a single serving, some of the liquid will evaporate or be absorbed by the tea leaves, so you’ll end up with a very concentrated cup, so you may want to use a little extra water/milk; making a large batch makes this less noticeable.

As for me, I like using half milk and half water in my chai, so if I want to make two cups, I start with a cup of water, add two or three spoonfuls of tea, and then add the cup of milk. Voila.

This tea makes a fantastic chai. This tea is really to strong for me to drink without adding milk and sugar. This is how I prepare it –
Bring to a boil 2 cups of water and 8 tsp turbinado sugar (more or less, depending on your taste).
Add 2-4 teaspoons 500 mile chai and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Add two cups of milk and gently simmer for 5 minutes, or until the milk makes a bit of a skin.
Stir, strain and enjoy.

This is a note for a tea I’ve tried recently, while on the subject of chais. I thought this was really rough! Not so much the spices as the tea itself, which was strong and bitter. I tried it on the stovetop and in a pot. Both ways were undrinkable, no matter what I added. This tastes just how I imagine an Indian trucker’s tea might taste.

For a non-chai drinker, this tea was purchased largely for my steeping mug when I wanted to carry tea to a meeting without a teapot and the associated mess. It serves that purposes especially well as you can sweeten it to taste and it does not taste foul after steeping for a while. An almost floral smell, it has a bit of bite but pleasant tasting overall.