This Iced Masala Chai concentrate is spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger.
Growing up my friend's mum used to make the best traditional chai—like seriously THE best. It became somewhat of a thing in our group of teenagers—a cure-all for when we stayed up all night or partied a little too hard. It was our medicine, our reset. I never found out what she put in her chai—it was such a safeguarded secret that I don't even think her kids knew, but this is my attempt to recreate it.
While traditional chai is brewed in milk, this chai is made into a super spiced concentrate that you keep on hand and mix with milk. Common masala chai spices include cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, star anise, and fennel. I know a lot of people have a dislike for fennel, so I left it out of this recipe, but if you're like me and love fennel feel free to add some to your concentrate for deeper flavours.
While I made iced masala chai with this concentrate, you can also use it to make traditional hot chai. Just be sure to keep the 50/50 tea to milk ratio.
Ingredients
- star anise
- allspice berries
- cloves
- peppercorns
- green cardamom pods
- cinnamon sticks
- fresh ginger
- 4 cups of water
- loose leaf black tea (we like Assam and Darjeeling)
- vanilla extract
- maple syrup or honey
- milk
Method
To make this concentrate, simply boil the spices for 20 minutes, then steep the tea so that it is nice and strong. Once the tea has steeped you can sieved the tea, add the sweetener, and then store it in the fridge a week. When you are ready to make a iced masala chai, all you have to do is mix some of the concentrate with milk and ice !
Substitutions
- if you don't eat honey, feel free to use maple syrup
- if you want a caffeine-free tea, use a rooibos
- teabags can be used in place of the loose tea
More Iced Masala Chai
Iced Masala Chai
This Iced Masala Chai concentrate is spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger.
Ingredients
- 4 star anise
- 4 allspice berries
- 8 cloves
- 8 peppercorns
- 8 green cardamom pods, crushed
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/4 cup sliced ginger (about 2 thumb-sized pieces)
- 4 cups of water
- 3 Tbsp. loose leaf black tea (we like Assam and Darjeeling)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey (more or less to taste)
- Milk and ice to serve
Instructions
- Place the spices, water, ginger, and tea together in a pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down as low as possible to simmer. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the tea mixture from the heat. Strain the tea (composting solids), add vanilla and honey/maple syrup to the concentration. Store the concentrate in the fridge for up to a week.
- To serve, mix roughly equal parts milk and tea concentrate and top with ice.
Notes
You can make a warm version by mixing the tea concentrate with milk and then heat it to your liking.
Alicia says
I'm obsessed with chai, and always looking for a new recipe to try! Can't wait to try it! Always love your recipes!