a touch of spice

well folks, this post has been a long time coming. chai. oh, masala chai. words cannot express the love. all i know is that the first time i got a whiff of the spicy tea, my love affair with chai began. for a commercially available chai, celestial seasonings and tazo have to be my favourites. celestial seasonings has some hickory flavour added to it and it sometimes that bothers me. when it does, i just turn to tazo. i am one of those people who prefer their chai heavily spiced, and tazo does just that. plus they source their spices ethically and have several campaigns to give back to the communities where they get their tea. see their super cool website here. you all know that i can rarely resist a non-fat chai latte from starbucks. they use the tazo chai concentrate for their lattes. it doesn't have the same intensity as the teabags, but.. it's so rich and delicious that i'll take it!

spices are so prettttyyyyy

one thing i like about making my own masala chai is that i can adapt it to how i'm feeling at that moment. if i've got a sore throat, i'll generally add more peppercorns, or if i'm wanting something super sweet, i'll add more cinnamon. also, every batch you make comes out slightly different! the key is to play around with spices and see which combinations you like the best :)
the recipe below makes enough for 1 large, moderately spiced mug of chai

what you need:
1 stick of cinnamon
1 inch piece of ginger root
1 star anise
7 cloves
7 whole peppercorns
10 cardamom pods
1 or 2 teabags of plain black tea (or 2 tbsp loose)
2 cups water
1 cup milk
honey or sugar to taste

a cup of chai makes any study session a little more bearable!

step 1:
peel and thinly slice your ginger root. lightly crush your cardamom and cloves (peppercorns too if you want it spicyyy).
step 2: 
add water and milk to a pot with your spices and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and lightly simmer for 10-15 minutes.
step 3:
add in your teabags and let steep for 3-5 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. strain really, really well into a mug and enjoy!

oh, hey, look what mug came in the mail!  : )

i decided to make this juuust as it started to hail/rain outside, perfect timing! i also settled down to watch the movie a touch of spice/politiki kouzina, which also finally came in the mail! it was pretty much a perfectly spiced afternoon. for those of you who haven't heard of/seen the movie, come over right NOW so you can watch it! it's the story about a boy who lives in istanbul, who's grandfather is a spice vendor and teaches him that life and food both need and a touch of spice. cute and funny all in one movie. what else can you ask for?