Spiced Chai Concentrate Food

AWESOME (AND ECONOMICAL) CHAI CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• Pour condensed milk and spices into the blender and blend on high speed for a few seconds until the milk looks evenly "flecked" with spices.
• Pour mixture into a clean jar or container with a lid.
• Refrigerate at least 24 hours.
• Alternatively, pour mix into ice cube trays and freeze.
• To use concentrate: Brew a strong black tea or strong herbal tea of your choice.
• Stir in 1 frozen concentrate cube or 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of chai concentrate mix per cup of freshly steeped tea.
• Frozen cubes will keep up to one year in the freezer if you pop them out of the trays and store in a freezer bag.
• Concentrate will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

SPICED CHAI CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• Prepare the spices and the tea; set aside. Bring the water to a boil and remove from heat. Add the spices and the tea bags then allow the mixture to steep for 15 minutes.
• Strain the mixture into a 4-cup glass measuring cup or large bowl, discarding the spices. Add the sugar, honey and the vanilla and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the mixture into a jar and store in the refrigerator.
• To serve, mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk or half-and-half. Heat for a warm beverage or pour over ice to enjoy cold.

SPICED CHAI

Steps:

• Mix together water and milk in large saucepan; bring to a boil.
• Add cardamom pods, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, anise, nutmeg, ginger root, and tea.
• Remove from heat and steep for 15-20 minutes, according to how strong you like your tea.
• Carefully strain tea through strainer into another pot to remove spices.
• Stir in honey, mixing well to dissolve; mix in vanilla extract.
• Pour into cups and serve warm, or chill and serve cold.

WARM SPICED CHAI

Steps:

• In a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle, combine cardamom pods and peppercorns; grind until aromas are released., In a large saucepan, bring water to boil. Add cardamom mixture, honey, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and ginger; simmer 5 minutes or according to taste. Remove from heat. Add tea bags; cover and steep 5 minutes., Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat milk. Strain tea, discarding spices and tea bags. Stir in hot milk and vanilla. Pour into mugs. If desired, sprinkle with nutmeg.

CHAI TEA CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil in a saucepan; add cloves and boil for 1 minute. Add cinnamon sticks, ginger, cardamom pods, peppercorns, and tea. Allow tea to steep for 6 minutes; strain into a container. Stir brown sugar and vanilla extract into tea and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

ICED CHAI

Steps:

• Coarsely crush cardamom pods with a mortar and pestle, then partially grind seeds. Transfer to a plate. Grind peppercorns with mortar and pestle until about medium-coarse; transfer to same plate.
• Rinse a medium pot (about 9" diameter) with water (this helps keep the milk from scorching). Combine milk, cardamom pods and seeds, pepper, and ginger in pot and bring to a rolling boil over medium heat, scraping sides and bottom of pot occasionally with a heatproof rubber spatula. When foam starts to rise, cook 20 seconds, scraping spices from sides of pot (some plant-based milks won't foam; simply cook 30 seconds from boiling). Reduce heat to low to allow foam to die down, then increase heat to medium-low and simmer, scraping bottom and sides of pot occasionally and adjusting heat as need to keep foam from rising, until milk is light tan in color from spices, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in tea and simmer, scraping pot occasionally and adjusting heat as needed, until milk is deep tan and reduced by one third, about 4 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring glass, pressing on solids with spatula. (Soak pot in hot water immediately to help with cleaning.) You should have 2 cups chai concentrate; return chai to pot and simmer another minute to reduce further if needed. Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
• Place ice in a large heatproof bowl with a spout or a large heatproof pitcher. Immediately pour hot chai over ice. Stir until ice is almost completely melted (larger cubes may take longer), about 2 minutes. Taste chai and add up to 2 Tbsp. cold water or 1 Tbsp. simple syrup (dissolve 2-4 tsp. sugar in 2 tsp. warm water) if needed. Serve in glasses filled with fresh ice if desired.
• Do ahead: Chai can be made 3 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container; cover and chill.