This is a perfect example of what Chai should be, a blend of fine whole leaf Assam tea with cardamom pods, star anise, cloves, black pepper and cinnamon sticks. The resulting tea has a spicy flavour and sweet aroma.
When you order chai at the teahouse, it takes us about 8 minutes to get it ready for you. We prepare it in the traditional way by adding water and milk, and leaving to simmer until it takes that gorgeous golden brown colour. It is prepared unsweetened so that you can add honey or sugar yourself. When preparing this at home you can boil the tea blend for as long as you wish, and simmer to taste.
(As a note - the chai latte that is used at the teahouses is a concentrate made from the above ingredients - all very natural and pure. We add a very small amount of unrefined sugar into the concentrate, such as agave syrup. We would normally use a ratio of 1:3 of concentrate:milk when preparing a chai latte)