My Vision

What I like about Chai:

1. It's creamy
2. It can be made with or without milk (I prefer milk)
3. It's extremely flavorful
4. It's a perfect drink on a bitter cold winter day
5. It has a pretty cool name
6. The main, most important reason (the reason for my advertisement below)...it's a close second to coffee. I'll explain....

I know chai is a tea. But, for the longest time, I actually didn't really realize this because every time I ever drank it, it was creamy, like a coffee. I know tea is not coffee and never will be, but I envision some sort of mixture of the two (mostly the mixture of fun spices) and wonder how I could make it taste good. Could there be a chai/tea/coffee? Who knows. I mean, they make tofurkey. So why not Chatecofe? I'll let you decide how to pronounce that.

I see it being a do it yourself drink. We recently got a Keurig coffee machine, thanks to a friend who bought it for us as a "thank you" gift. Nice, huh? Well, after seeing how easy this machine works, I thought about creating my own pod of spices and coffee grounds and making some sort of coffee/tea creation. Adding whatever spices I want to my pod, then brewing it up, maybe adding milk, maybe adding honey. I could end up with a new drink that no one ever thought to mix up. Although, it could end up tasting pretty nasty, but that's the risk I'm willing to take. If I could combine two things I like, then what could be better? It's not exactly tea and it's not exactly coffee. It's my own Chatecofe creation!

hi chai

If my house always smelled like homemade chai, I would be one content girl.  The scents of cardamom and cinnamon and cloves are comfort smells for me.  A house that smells of such delightful things is a home, a home in which there is nothing more appropriate than cuddling up on the couch with a good book or a set of knitting needles or a sketchbook...all, of course, with a steaming cup of chai within arms reach.  Idyllic.

Of course, I went and made this chai recipe on the exact same night that I made an oniony, garlicky, cumin-y, polenta-topped casserole for dinner (which was equally as delicious as it was smelly).  So, that smell combined with the scent of sweetly-spiced chai resulted in an odd and altogether non-idyllic odor.  It made the whole chai experience a little less perfect.  But it was comforting nonetheless.  You see, my mug of chai and I still sat cuddled on the couch under a nice warm blanket. We bonded over our common love of sweet, spicy smells and despaired over the fact that such delicious and necessary ingredients as onions and garlic find the need to be oh-so lingeringly stinky.

Chai is just that sort of friend.  A sweet one.  But one with just enough spice to remind you that she is not a pushover.  She'll hold her own against the onions and garlics of this world any day...and she'll remind you lovingly but assertively that there really are worse things in this world than a smelly kitchen.  And as much as your grumpy side may fail to agree, deep down you know she's right.

The Recipe: Chai Tea

from "Feeding the Whole Family" by Cynthia Lair

4 cups water
10 whole cloves
12 whole cardamom pods
12 whole black peppercorns
2 cinnamon sticks
4 slices fresh ginger, 1/4 inch thick
1 cup milk
Honey to taste

Bring water, spices, and ginger to a boil in a pot.  Cover with a lid, lower heat, and simmer 30 to 45 minutes.  Add milk, bring to a boil again.  Turn heat off.  Strain into cup, and stir in sweetener.

Makes 4-5 cups