In the streets of Bombay or Calcutta, chai is prepared in a saucepan: spices and a little black tea are brought to a simmer together, and the scent of ginger fills the room. This Ombelle ginger chai keeps this principle, but reverses the proportions: here the spices dominate and the tea plays only a secondary role.

Ginger, the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, heads the list; it comes from China, Nigeria and Peru. Then come Egyptian and Turkish aniseed, cinnamon sticks from Indonesia and Viêt-Nam, star anise, the star-shaped fruit with its aniseed scent, Ceylon cinnamon, crushed cacao beans, Darjeeling black tea second flush, ground cardamom, rose petals, guarana and chilli. All ingredients are organic.

Earthy and woody, it smells of a fine food shop. The liquor is a deep amber. The ginger attacks with a clean heat, the star anise adds its aniseed note, the cacao brings a toasted depth, and the Darjeeling, picked at the start of summer, slips in a thread of light muscat elegance. The chilli leaves a discreet warmth on the finish.

The black tea and the guarana give it caffeine: it is best reserved for the morning and the day. Use 20 g per litre, or 4 g for a single cup: pour water at 100°C and wait six to ten minutes. It is drunk pure, or lengthened with hot frothy milk for a chai latte with character.

It goes with a banana cake, cardamom biscuits or a toasted brioche. Keep it dry, in a tightly closed tin.