Easy Chai Tea

I got this from a Real Simple magazine someone left on the break table at work. The March 2010 issue, I believe.

Makes 4 cups
Hands-On Time: 05m
Total Time: 20m

Ingredients
* 8 cardamom seeds
* 8 cloves
* 4 black peppercorns
* 2 cinnamon sticks
* 1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
* 2 cups whole milk
* 4 bags black tea (such as Darjeeling)
* 8 teaspoons sugar or more, to taste

Directions
1. Place the cardamom, cloves, and peppercorns in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a heavy skillet.
2. Place the crushed spices in a medium saucepan, along with the cinnamon sticks, ginger, milk, and 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add the tea bags, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.
3. Strain into cups. To each cup, add 2 teaspoons sugar or more, to taste.

You can make this tea and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Reheat in a saucepan or a microwave.

Results:
I like this recipe because you can adjust the spices to how you like it. So, for example, I can make it with decaf tea and add more cloves, whereas Bethie can make it with her crazy lactose-free milk. Crushing the spices in the bag didn't work so well; the spices are sort of pointy, and they ripped holes in the plastic. I think one of those mortar and pestles would work great, or a spice grinder. This might turn out to be reason enough for me to finally invest in one of those.