Spiced Chai Concentrate
I’ve been thinking a lot about the kinds of posts I’d like to share with you on my blog now that I’ve started up again. I’ve never been one to stick to a single topic, though I know I’d probably get more “engagement” that way, but I have to think about why I’m sharing what I’m sharing, and my strongest motivations are personal. I post because I want to remember moments in time, favorite recipes, garden projects, house projects, adventures we take as a family… I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reference my own blog to pull up an old standby recipe, or to try and figure out which plants did well in the garden in previous years. I mean, when it comes down to it, maybe I just blog because I have a really bad memory, and this helps me keep track of the things I’ve done in my life.
In any case, I know for sure that I want to share all the recipes I turn to again and again, and especially those that are seasonally inspired. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what I like to do with the food we harvest when I’ve got baskets and baskets of it staring me right in the face. It can get pretty overwhelming in those moments, so it helps to have a list of favorite recipes in a centralized location I can turn to.
Some of the recipes I’ll be sharing, like this recipe for spiced chai concentrate, are recipes I’ve already posted on my old blog, but I want to bring them here and perhaps talk about how they have evolved over time or how they’ve been used in our household.
For instance, this chai concentrate recipe is one I’ve made every year since discovering and posting about it back in 2011. I usually make it in fall when the weather turns cool because the transition between summer's heat and autumn's wind and rain can be abrupt here, so it’s nice to cup your hands around a cozy beverage for warmth. Plus, the warm spices that flavor the tea are very autumnal.
Over the years, I’ve tapered off my use of refined sugars, so I tend to use honey exclusively as my sweetener rather than a combination of honey and brown sugar. If I make this for guests, I still use the brown sugar, though, because I know most people aren’t as accustomed to the strong flavor that the honey gives off when it’s used on its own.
I also play around with different milks. You really need a rich, thick milk to cut the flavor of the concentrated tea to make this beverage really work, so I tend to stick with goat or cows milk, or I’ll use homemade almond milk because I can ensure that it’s nice and creamy. Soy milk would probably work, too, though I’ve never tried it.
Spiced Chai Concentrate
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 stick cinnamon, broken in pieces
- 1 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
- 7 whole cardamom pods
- 2 whole star anise pods
- 10 whole cloves
- 10 peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (or a couple strips of orange peel)
- 10 teabags or 3 tablespoons loose black tea
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (optional)