Masala Chai spices

Hello,

Until now I have been drinking pre-mixed Masala Chai mixes, but have decided to make my own. I looked at the ingredients list of the Republic of Tea’s spicy chai mix and already have basically all the the whole spices they have listed:

Cardamom pods
Ginger (I am using crystalized ginger)
Coriander seeds
Dried orange peel
cinnamon sticks
whole cloves
Black peppercorns

Now, what I don’t know is what kind of general ratio to use for the spices. I am pretty sure that one would not use a 1:1 ratio for them all of the listed spices, and I know it may take some trial and error. But perhaps someone here can get me in the ballpark so I can start tweaking to my taste.

Thanks,
Brian

5 Replies
AnnaEA select said

For approx. 1 cup of chai mix I use 1 large cinnamon (thin bark cinnamon) stick broken up into pieces, about a tbs cloves and two or three green cardamon pods, broken up lightly in my mortar. I keep a small dried red chili in the chai tin, but don’t brew it. Black tea for the rest. Fresh ginger is added when I make the chai.

When using whole spices, you may find you need to steep the tea longer then with pre-made blends.

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Dustin said

I have never made it myself, but the cardamon and clove are going to be the two strongest flavors for the size of the spice. I’d go easy on them to start with.

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Dexter said

I’ve never made chai mix in bulk. I do it one batch at a time. This is what I do for about 12oz of chai latte. Fresh ginger slices, a few pepper corns, a few whole clove, a few cardamon pods, a piece of cinnamon.
http://instagram.com/p/uy8JhhOE6j/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/uy8T-fOE66/?modal=true

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Thanks folks, this gives me a good place to start. What I think I am going to do is break up the whole spices into a rough texture, sort of in-between whole and powdered. I don’t like doing actual powdered spices since they tend to leave the kind of floating “slick” on the top of the tea. It seems to be how the RoT mix is. But now at least I have a general idea of what kind of ratio to use.

AnnaEA select said

I generally try to make sure things are broken up in about whole clove sized pieces for single cup steeping. IF you’re cooking a a large batch of chai on the stovetop, you can leave them whole.

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