Tea Journal

This recipe, an altered version of my basic chai, incorporates flavors and aromas of Fall. The smokiness of Lapsang Souchong black tea, traditionally smoke-dried over pinewood, brings out a fragrance reminiscent of campfires and time spent in the woods. Replacing cardamom powder with cracked black cardamom pods adds a savory, more complex spice flavor that balances the sweetness of the maple syrup. The pepper and ginger round out the recipe with the warmth of their heat, which lingers after each sip.
Smoky Maple Chai - serves two

Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 black cardamom pods, crushed
- 1/16 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp Lapsang Souchong
- 1-2 tbsp maple syrup

Directions:
1, Heat water and milk over medium heat until simmering.
2. Turn off heat and add the cinnamon stick, cloves, ginger, and cardamom pods. Cover and steep for 20 minutes.
3. Return mixture to medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally.
4. Add tea, stir, and steep for 5 minutes while simmering 5. Remove from heat. Strain chai and add maple syrup to taste.

Make a batch, grab a friend, and enjoy the season!
Steph

My current favorite summer drink is homemade chai with coffee cubes. The combination of the sweet chai and the strong coffee makes for a very dynamic drinking experience. At first, the creamy chai is the overwhelming flavor. Slowly, the coffee cubes melt into the milky tea, mellowing out the sweetness and bringing out a new flavor combination. This particular recipe combines iced caramel chai and coffee ice cubes made with Counter Culture's Nueva Llusta.

I discovered the chai recipe earlier this year on Not Without Salt and savored every warm sip of it during the Winter months. So glad to have found a way to enjoy it during the hot Atlanta summer!

Caramel Chai
adapted from Not Without Salt's recipe

2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup raw sugar
6 peppercorns
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp loose leaf black tea
pinch of salt

1.  Add the raw sugar to a small saucepan and set over medium high heat. I always use a secondhand saucepan for this recipe as caramelizing sugar has ruined one of my nice pots in the past. Caramelize the sugar by letting it melt evenly until it's a dark caramel color. Make sure to watch it closely during this stage as burning the caramel even slightly will give the chai a bitter, harsh flavor rather than a lingering sweetness.
2. Once the sugar has caramelized, remove the pan from heat and slowly pour the milk into the saucepan. This will harden the caramel and stop the caramelization process.
3. Next, heat the pan over medium low heat while adding all of the ingredients except the tea, stirring occasionally as the caramel melts into the milk.
4. Once the caramel has melted fully, increase the temperature to medium high, stirring often.
5. Once it is just about boiling, remove the mix from the heat and let the spices steep in the hot milk for twenty minutes.
6. Return the pan to medium high heat until almost boiling, remove from heat and add the tea. Allow the tea to steep for five minutes.
7. Strain the chai through a fine mess strainer into a lidded container. I use a 16 oz mason jar.
8. If you are making iced chai with coffee cubes, leave the chai to cool in the refrigerator until cold. Otherwise, it is ready to enjoy hot!

Coffee Cubes
1. Simply make a cup of your favorite coffee and freeze in an ice cube tray.
2. Once the coffee is frozen and the chai has cooled, combine the two and enjoy!

This recipe takes a bit of time and attention but it's well worth it. Let me know if  you try it!
Steph

Last week I made my first attempt at vanilla chai. Pretty good for a first try but the recipe needs some tweaking. I loved the flavor combination of the cardamom and vanilla but it wasn't quite as spicy as I would have liked. Next time I'll add more pepper, possibly some ginger, and will even out the milk to water ratio. --- I recently left my job at the asian-style tea shop where I worked for a year to take two new positions that I am quite ecstatic about. I've started an internship with a local organization that provides scholarships for young women in India and began training at a new coffee shop, as well. The coffee shop uses a portion of it's annual proceeds to support international aid projects and job creation programs. These jobs require different skill sets from me but they feel very intertwined. They are similar in that they both exist to empower and support humanity on a global scale as well as to foster community and growth here in Atlanta. I'm looking forward to getting into the swing of things with both positions. It's been a hectic weekend trying to get my schedule and specific responsibilities ironed out but the final details are coming together! Here's to a smooth + productive week! Steph

Lately I've been experimenting with homemade spiced chai recipes. I've made a handful of small batches, adding and subtracting different spices, testing different kinds of milk, and playing around with steeping methods. This weekend, I made a fresh batch and I think I'm quite close to perfecting the recipe! I'll post my version as soon as I nail it down.