It’s the Yogi Tea time of year again. And, true, I suppose its real name is Chai Tea, given that’s what everyone calls it anymore — but I first learned it as Yogi Tea, or Yoga Tea, one of the two. I was taught to make it by a totally stoned hippie dude who worked as a dishwasher/rabblerouser/hangabout.
I posted the recipe first as part of the old What’s for Dinner? series way back in January of 2007. Here it is:
Chai Tea a la cookiebear
Big pot of boiling water
Lots of cinnamon, both ground and stick
Lots of ginger, ideally finely grated fresh — but this recipe is also an excellent way to get rid of all that danged ginger powder you have lurking in the back of the cabinet
Black pepper, a fair amount
Cardamon, some — be careful, though. I put in a bit at a time until it begins to smell absolutely fabulous
Whole clovesPut all ingredients into boiling water. Allow to simmer for as long as you like. Warm some milk with some honey or other sweetener of your choice. Fill a cup or glass about 1/4 of the way up with milk and honey mix. Add tea from pot, being sure to strain while pouring. Let cool a moment and serve.
18 Comments
Back to caulking and spackling …
By the way, these days, I buy cinnamon chips wholesale by the pound. If you can get them, they add *much* more flavor than cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon. You can add them whole or grind them immediately before adding them to the pot. Also, some dried hot pepper or a dash of cayenne is rocking in this! I can’t believe I forgot to add that when i originally posted the recipe.
Wow! That sounds great as it will snow tonight here. Have you ever tried Saigon Cinnamon or Black Cardamon? They are both very aromatic. We have a lovely little herb and spice shop downtown and I was just there this week. I even got some whole nutmeg and crushed cacao beans for dark chocolate expresso bark candy!
My mother had a nutmeg grater that was her pride and joy. One of my brothers made off with it.
Your candy sounds great. Did you see Barefoot Contessa some time in the last day or so? She was making chocolate bark with cashews (yay!) and apricots (ew – love apricots, but not with chocolate).
My family claims my chai tea knocks the socks off any storebought. You do realize, though, that the recipe is highly adaptable, as is pretty much everything i cook?
if you make it and think something’s missing, add it. I like really sharp, hot, sweet flavors, so mine always has lots of ginger and black pepper and cinnamon and clove.
I also cannot find my really old nutmeg grater, I’ll probably just use the plane grater. I love BC, but have given up the cable-not DYI or HGTV or Food channel. I’ve made dark chocolate bark with Giradelli chips and crushed espresso beans and it was easy and really good. This year I am trying that with the cacao beans and another one with layers of dark and white chocolate with lemon zest and candied lemon stirred in and on top the white chocolate for our solstice ritual at church. Out with the old Sun God in with the new Sun God.
Oh honey, here’s a website that will keep the drooling tool going! This particular page is all about Saigon Cinnamon!
http://whiteonricecouple.com/b.....-cinnamon/
God, that post is a treat! I’ve got to try some!
I keep sticking my nose in the jar and just inhaling the fragrance. It is that good!
Oh, I can believe it. Discovering cinnamon was a total revelation for me, and these days, I use it in almost *everything.* Who knew that sickly sweet stuff I knew as a kid – well, except for Red Hots – was so good?
If Vietnamese cinnamon has more heat and bite than alll the others, I have got to try it!
I may have to try the home-made brew, as all the “chai” I have tasted from coffee shops seems to taste like watered-down Cinnabon tincture. I could not understand its appeal to so many.
This recipe strikes me as being robust enough to stand up to milk and honey.
One of the best things about it is, you can adapt it to your tastes. Eg, I really like things hot enough to sting, but just a bit. So I alter it accordingly.
If you make a strong batch, then mix with a healthy dose of hot milk and honey, you’ll know what the fuss is all about.
I’ll make a suggestion, try one of the Vietnamese sweetened condensed milks like “Longevity Brand” with the old man on the label. It might do the trick of sweeten and add a deep milk flavor. I use it in my Vietnamese iced coffee and tiramisu.
Saigon cinnamon has a hot, sweet taste not unlike REALLY GOOD red hots!
If it’s the same stuff they use in Vietnamese coffee, oh yea! Gigantic yum!
Oh, yeah, basically the same stuff. Really wonderful and really deep flavors.
Of course, you must use the wonderful gourmet Vietnamese coffee in a cup or in tiramisu.
Chai sounds wonderful with this in it. I love honey, but…..
Oddly, I’m not absolutely wild about honey, but I like it when mixed with warm milk and this tea. About the only other ways I like it are on heavily buttered toast (omg!) or some kind of – not yogurt – but cream cheesey stuff and nuts – or roasting nuts with some honey on them.
O/w, not so crazy about honey. Odd, eh?
Try ripe figs quartered with greek yogurt and feta crumbled and good honey drizzled on top after a wonderful meal or by itself when the figs are ripe. I bet you can ask a neighbor if you can have some figs from their tree/bush around your place. They are all over down there.
We have “Pixie Honey” here. They make blackberry honey, rasberry honey, marionberry honey, and mixtures, and a really nice clover honey. All really good. I actually use honey in my whole wheat mini muffins and pancakes and on french toast and on the buttermilk baking powder biscuits and the beer bread and, well, you get the idea. It’s got to be fresh!
Scotia, that sounds sooo good!
I’ll tell you my deepest darkest secret from last night. I bought a couple of pears the other day – D’Anjou, I could smell them across the aisle, so I had to have them. And last night, I warmed them, then snuck into the blue cheese dressing and fished out the largest chunks – and had a spectacular late night snack of warm sliced pears with blue cheese. One of my absolute favorite treats, and this time around was just as good even though i had to do some improvising.
Your treat sounds like it could easily replace it.
Scotia and biscuit – oh, my! The tales of food you tell. Your late night snack, dearest biscuit, I can see why you confess it only in this intimate company. It sounds better than keeping a lover!
You know I’m saving up all these little secrest for when my appetite comes back…
:purple: :dots: :puff: :purple: :dots: :puff:
All you needed was some wonderful sherry and it would have been complete. I love pear, blue cheese and sherry for desert. So good.
I can smell the pears I bought today at the Farmer’s Market to make into a Turkish Pear Jam. Yum!
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