Reviewed: Nov. 25, 2009

Needed more sweetener - but thats also personal preference. Best Chai so far.

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ABoston

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Tifton, Georgia, USA

Living In: Manhattan Beach, California, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 3, 2009

Yum yum yum yum I am in love. I added on an extra cinnamon stick and some ground cinnamon, as well as fresh ginger root. Had to omit the cardamom because I didn't have any. Left out the milk because I was planning to use this as a chai concentrate that I can refrigerate for later use. Soo good. Thanks for the recipe. Also, some advice for optimum enjoyment: FIRST, boil the water, then steep the tea bags REMOVED FROM HEAT for about four minutes. Remove the bags, return to heat, add remaining ingredients, bring that to a boil, and then simmer for at least fifteen minutes. No need to ruin the tea by making it too bitter!

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Amanda Nicole

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: San Jose, California, USA

Living In: Bend, Oregon, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 2, 2009

Love it! I add a bit extra of each spice and use 5 (decaf) tea bags for more flavor. Since I live in the tropics, I need this iced - I add all the spices to the water and bring to a boil. I simmer w/ the teabags for 5 minutes, then drain and add sugar/honey. With 6 ice cubes and the cold milk, it's ready!

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PUNKYBREW82

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Reviewed: Aug. 27, 2009

Delicious! Use as many whole spices as possible as ground ones make a bit of "sludge" at the bottom. I like to make this in my little crockpot and let it cook on low for a couple of hours. Tastes so, so good.

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CAMILLEAWRIGHT

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Reviewed: Jul. 27, 2009

I've been using this recipe for over 4 years now. It's far superior to anything you can get from Starbucks or the like, and it tastes much closer to what you would get at an Indian restaurant. In fact, I made some for an Indian coworker a while back and he was amazed at how good *and* authentic it tasted. Easy to make, easy to adjust to your tastes. Super recipe.

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threefrognight

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Reviewed: May 30, 2009

This was delicious. A bit too sweet but otherwise very good. Will be making it again. Thanks Heather for sharing!

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Lilibeth

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, USA

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Reviewed: May 20, 2009

I followed the suggestions of one of the commenters, SKIDZ7 to create the dairy-free concentrate. I used Celestial Seasoning's Morning Thunder tea and orange blossom honey. To drink, I mixed equal amounts of the tea mixture and milk... I cant believe an entire box of Celestial Seasonings tea cost less than a large chai at Starbucks ... and the homemade version tastes better! (Would have ranked it a five, but the additional steps suggested by SKIDZ7 are essential!)

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100indecisions

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Boulder, Colorado, USA

Living In: Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 21, 2009

I loved this recipe!!! What a terrific flavor! I added soy milk instead of regular milk.

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michelle

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Reviewed: Apr. 1, 2009

Love this recipe - as good as from a coffee shop - and SO easy!! The only change to the recipe that I make is to not add the milk at the end of recipe. Instead, I take 1/2 cup of the syrup and add frothed milk from my coffee maker. I store the rest of the syrup in the fridge, and just heat some up when I want it, adding the frothed milk. Great!

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BradleysMum

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Reviewed: Feb. 12, 2009

It's a little strong, but maybe I boiled it too long and also I didn't use milk at all since I didn't feel like having milk at the time. It's great!

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windband

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Washington, D.C., USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 19, 2009

Great chai, the flavors really come together and pop. It has an authentic Indian flavor due to the cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon combination. As others have mentioned, be sure to simmer for 15-20 minutes. I added only a little over 1 cup of milk...else it would have been too diluted of a concentrate. Also beware that the drink can get bitter quickly. Keep tasting while simmering to make sure it is to taste. Other than that, this is a must try- especially on a cold, snowy day!

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Rima

Cooking Level: Beginning

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Reviewed: Jan. 6, 2009

I cut this in half for just me. Two servings fit very well in my extra large John Deere coffee mug. I doubled the spices, as I like my chai a little spicier. Very good.

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tat2whttrsh aka Lambchop's Mom

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 27, 2008

Love it, love it, love it! Almost perfect just as written. The only thing I changed was to not add the tea bags with the honey. I added them after the milk had come to a boil. I turned the heat off and steeped them for only 3 minutes. Otherwise you are releasing too many of the tea's tannins - resulting in a more bitter taste. Thank you so much for sharing!

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gerrijo

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Sep. 6, 2008

I've made the recipe as written and it's very good. And, like others, I made it again, following Skidz7's suggestions. It was really good, although a little bitter. The bitterness was easily fixed with the addition of a little more vanilla. I will follow the same suggestions again, with a few changes: do NOT boil the teabags. Add extra bags for stronger tea or just accept that it might be weak, but I've noticed that boiling teabags results in more bitter tea. Also, I won't add the vanilla until the end so the flavour will be more pronounced. I think I prefer the Chai Tea Mix by Jo, but this might be a good one to let sit in the crock pot on a cold day. :) Thanks for sharing, Heather!

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Duckball

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Living In: Boise, Idaho, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 12, 2008

This is a good chai recipe. I doubled the amount of spices though and I added less milk, otherwise I don't taste the spices.

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Isabelle

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Jun. 9, 2008

I LOVE the combination of spices in this recipe. That said, like many others, I followed SKIDZ7's advice in making a concentrate rather than an out-and-out tea. My changes-- Wanted more concentrate than the estimated 1.5 cups, so I doubled the whole thing. The first batch didn't come out as strong as I wanted it and 8 tea bags really overpower the spice with black tea aftertaste. In the second batch, I think I got it nearly perfect, knocking it down to 5 tea bags, tripling the spices (quadrupling in the case of cinnamon sticks and nutmeg) and adding 6 or 7 whole black peppercorns. I think I'll and up quadrupling everything the next time as it's WONDERFUL this way, but I like it fairly spicy. As a side note, I usually use the concentrate (and this is the same thing I do when I have the Tazo concentrate on hand, which I don't think I'll be buying anymore :D) in a one part concentrate to three parts milk ratio. A quarter of the mug, in other words.

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Aredendra

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: May 3, 2008

This chai is great. I love the Starbucks chai, but it doesn't come in decaf. I used decaf tea bags and added one anise star to the original recipe. YUM! My chai crazy neighbor loved it too.

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Cindy Baker

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Waltham, Massachusetts, USA

Living In: Dracut, Massachusetts, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 29, 2008

LOVE IT ! I follewed SKIDZ7 suggestions, but added 2 cardamon pods instead of the ground. Strained it with a coffee filter in a hand seive, cooled it and put it in the refrigerator. When I wanted a mug full, heated my 1 cup of milk and added enough mixture to taste. Great for a cold day here in Minnesota! Coffee houses watch out!

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