A popular tea that is world renowned, originates from India, and is called chai. It's actually very much like a spiced black tea. There are actually a number of recipes that vary for chai. Most of these Indian recipes include some blend of ginger, peppercorn, curry, cloves, rampe leaves, cardamom, lemon grass, and cumin seeds. Chai tea is also gaining popularity in western culture, offering another choice to English and Chinese tea varieties which many have grown used to. It has an exceptional and invigorating taste that is extremely familiar in India; more so than coffee is in the United States.
Among the well-liked chai tea recipes in India, the top of the list would have to be "massala chai". In Hindi, chai simply means tea as it does in several western languages as well. "Cha" does in other languages as well. "Massala Chai" in Hindi is "Spiced Tea". Hindi is a primary language in India for those that don't know.
The actual origin of the chai tea recipes isn't known or when it first became well-liked. It's all over India though, so the assumption is that it probably originated in that region of Asia. There is a lot of indication that it first gained acceptance during British colonization era of India's history. They exported many resources, including most of the tea. It was both consumed back in the British Isles, and traded. They exported nearly all but the poorest tea. The chai recipe could have been devised to cover the flavor of the inferior tea left for the Indian inhabitants of the time.
In modern times, there are plenty of quality teas globally as well as in India. Chai is often prepared using some of the finest black teas of the globe. A strong tea is favored; often using Ceylon or Darjeeling tea which doesn't get completely drowned out by the spices. Chai tea is often prepared with milk and sugar. It's common to make chai tea by boiling milk, sugar, the spices, water, and tea. This process is followed by straining. The result is a unique taste that is stimulating.
Wherever you are, you should be able to find chai tea, and you may want to give it a try. It might just be your next favorite hot drink. You will find it at most coffee shops in the United States, including Starbucks. In the far east on vacation, you can find chai tea even easier, as there are more than 2 billion drinkers of chai tea there.
If you aren't much for coffee shops, you might try your own hand at a chai tea recipe. Searching online you should find many options in this area, from ready to brew, to mixing all the individual ingredients.
You might even find some of these resources right here on this page, and when shopping you may want to try more than one variety to taste the little differences between and find your specific preferences as well. If all else fails, you can also plan a vacation in India and get a more hands-on chai tea experience.
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