Chai Concentrate

Wow, I'm blogging a lot lately! I'm also cooking a lot. Been working from home, so I have more time and energy to putz around the kitchen. FINALLY found a recipe for chai concentrate. I love chai, but I refuse to pay for the overpriced concentrate at the store, and splurging on it at a coffee shop is just an occasional thing (plus, it's always caffeinated at a coffee shop).

Here's the link to the original recipe, but I'm going to post my changes, and I'll probably continually refine this as I refine the recipe. So this is really for my reference, but you're welcome to it.

Homemade Chai Concentrate
Yields: 1 batch of concentrate, approximately 4 cups


4 1/2 cups water
8 bags black tea – (I used lipton)
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup sugar (IF you're planning on using this as a cold chai. If hot, I would use much much less. I found this amount of sugar much too sweet this morning, and you can always you can add more sugar in a hot drink)
1 – 3-inch section of fresh ginger, cut into pieces
10 whole cloves
 10 cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
generous 1/2 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
1 tsp vanilla (optional) (I didn't especially care for it today, but tomorrow is another day)

Add the water and sugar to a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil over a medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and put in the tea bags, spices, and cinnamon sticks. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Take out the tea bags and the big chunks of stuff, and let it cool for a bit. Add the vanilla now if you're using. Strain the concentrate through a sieve into a 1-qt mason jar. May need to use a funnel.

Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To serve, mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk of your choice. Heat for a warm beverage or serve over ice for a cold drink.