Homemade chai: the spiced winter recipe, and its variations

What chai is

In India, “chai” simply means tea. What we call chai is masala chai, spiced tea: a robust black tea, often from Assam, simmered with milk, sugar and a blend of spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, clove, black pepper). Every family has its own recipe; the method, however, never changes: the spices steep for a long time, the tea briefly, and the milk goes in last.

The recipe for two cups

• 250 ml of water and 250 ml of whole milk (or a plant-based oat drink, which heats without curdling)
• 2 level teaspoons of robust black tea, about 5 g
• 1 cinnamon stick, 4 crushed cardamom pods, 2 cloves, 3 black peppercorns
• 3 thin slices of fresh ginger
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar, brown sugar or honey, to taste

1. Bring the water to a simmer with the spices and ginger. Let it simmer for 5 minutes: the spices need time to release their aromas.
2. Add the tea and let it steep for 3 minutes over a low heat. No longer: beyond that, the tea turns harsh.
3. Pour in the milk and sugar, and heat until the chai gently rises. Do not let it come to a rolling boil.
4. Strain into the cups through a fine sieve, and serve at once.

Which tea for chai

You need a black tea with body, so that it does not vanish beneath the milk and spices: an Assam or a full-bodied black tea from China. The simplest way is to start from a ready-blended chai. At Mariage Frères, two chais are its finest ambassadors. Chaï Chandernagor (€17 per 100 g), a black tea with imperial spices (pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, clove), makes the boldest chai, warm and well spiced. Chaï Parisien (€15 per 100 g) keeps these spices and softens them with gourmand fruit: with milk, it gives a round, creamy cup, and it can also be enjoyed iced.

Ombelle's Chai Impérial Thé Noir Assam (€7.60 per 100 g) combines an Assam with its spices (cinnamon, fennel, ginger, anise, clove, cardamom): simply simmer it with the milk, with no spices to add. Mariage Frères' Alexandra David-Néel (100 g tin, €20), a black tea with black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove, makes a more delicate chai that can also be drunk plain.

For winter, Ombelle's Chai d'Hiver Cannelle Gingembre (€10.70 per 100 g) adds star anise and cocoa bean to a Darjeeling. For a lighter chai, Chai Thé Vert Sencha Épicé (€7.80 per 100 g) steeps for just 2 to 3 minutes, and Mariage Frères' Chaï Matchaï pairs a sencha, matcha from Japan and spices, at 85 °C for 3 minutes.

Chai latte

The chai latte of cafés is a milkier, frothier chai. Make a concentrated chai with half the water, strain it, then top up the cup with hot milk frothed with a milk frother or whisk. A pinch of cinnamon on the foam, and your chai latte is ready.

A caffeine-free chai

In the evening, or for a child, replace the tea with a spice blend: Ombelle's Chai Épices de Vin Chaud (€8.40 per 100 g) contains no tea (fennel, anise, liquorice, ginger, cinnamon, clove, cardamom). Simmer it for 7 to 10 minutes in the water, then add the milk. A rooibos also makes a very good caffeine-free chai, rounder in character.

Mistakes to avoid

• Boiling the tea: it becomes bitter. The tea steeps over a low heat, for 3 minutes.
• Adding the milk too early: spices infuse poorly in milk. Water and spices first.
• Using ground spices: they cloud the chai and leave a sediment. Choose whole spices, lightly crushed.
• A tea that is too delicate: a white tea or a spring Darjeeling vanishes beneath the milk. Keep them for drinking plain.