Chai havarti? Gouda.

A few weeks ago, on what I thought was a hot day (but was actually about 15 degrees less than today)  B and I went on a walking garden tour of historic downtown Hillsborough.

We ducked into a coffee shop to get something cool to sip on and I ordered an iced chai. I've never been big on chai but it sounded so great at the time. It was delicious and didn't have too much cardamom.

Since then I've been drinking chai from store bought concentrate in the afternoons when I would normally start to crave coffee. I kept putting off learning how to make my own but I knew I had all the things I would need.

This weekend we had brunch with our friend Melania and she served some delicious home made chai. When I asked for the recipe she said, "Well, it's really more of a technique than a recipe."

That started my gears turning...I could make chai that didn't have the spices I didn't like in it! (I mean, duh, Julie.)

Here's a secret about my recipes, they are not for you. They are for me to not forget them because I almost always tweak the recipes that I make...assuming that I don't all out invent them. I also like to write them on small bits of scrap paper and leave them all over the place.

However, just in case you've always wanted to make some chai concentrate at home here's my easy recipe made from mashing together a bunch of internet recipes and techniques. This makes nine one cup servings.

You'll need:
2 pitcher sized Black tea bags (I used decaf)
1 Cinnamon stick
1/2 t Nutmeg
1/2 t Cloves
pinch Cardamom
pinch Black pepper      < YES.
1/2 a cup of Brown sugar
and Water.

1. Bring 4.5 cups of water to boil.
2. Remove from heat and add spices and tea bags and steep for 20 minutes. Remove the tea bags and the cinnamon stick.
3. Add in the sugar and mix until it is dissolved.  Your tea should still be warm enough to make this happen.

When you're ready for a cup of hot or cold tea mix equal parts concentrate and milk. Any kind of milk will do but I've really been digging almond milk.



Linking up at Savvy Southern Style!