Spiced Chai

This centuries-old beverage has played an important role in many of the world's cultures.  Best known from India, Chai is a blend of black tea and exotic spices.  For an authentic Chai experience, add milk and sweetener.  50 tea sachets.

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Facts

Tea plants have grown wild in the Assam region since antiquity, but historically South Asians viewed tea as an herbal medicine rather than as a recreational beverage. Some of the chai masala spice mixtures still in current use are derived from Ayurvedic medical texts.

In the 1830s, the British East India Company became concerned about the Chinese monopoly on tea, and british colonists had recently noticed the existence of the Assamese tea plants and began to cultivate tea plantations locally. In 1870, over 90% of the tea consumed in Great Britain was still of Chinese origin, but by 1900 this had dropped to 10%, largely replaced by tea grown in India (50%) and Ceylon (33%).

However, consumption of tea within India remained low until an aggressive promotional campaign by the (British-owned) Indian Tea Association in the early 20th century, which encouraged factories, mines, and textile mills to provide tea breaks for their workers. It also supported many independent chai wallahs throughout the growing railway system.

The official promotion of tea was as served in the English mode, with small added amounts of milk and sugar. The Indian Tea Association initially disapproved of independent vendors' tendency to add spices and greatly increase the proportions of milk and sugar, thus reducing their usage (and thus purchase) of tea leaves per liquid volume.

The traditional masala chai is a bracing, strongly spiced beverage brewed with so-called "warm" spices. Most masala chai incorporates one or more of the following: cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, peppercorn, and cloves.

Traditionally, cardamom is a dominant note. Indian masala mixtures and cuisine also commonly use other spices such as cloves, ginger, or black pepper; the latter two add a pleasantly piquant flavour. In India, for example, fresh ginger is usually used.