Chai Me Up, Buttercup

Ingredients:

Organic Assam tea
Organic cinnamon
Organic roasted cardamom
Organic ginger root
Organic cloves
Organic star anise
Organic allspice
Organic coriander

What’s in the tea?

This chai brings layers of spice to a base of bold black Assam tea. Named after its birthplace, the Assam region of northeastern India, Assam tea has a rich, malty feel. It is wonderful all by itself, but it also holds up well to the addition of chai spices.

In this blend, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, allspice, and a small amount of anise lay the groundwork for traditional chai flavor. I chose to bring in coriander instead of the standard black pepper. Coriander is known to help with anxiety and stomach tension, and its cooling energy balances the fiery energy of the other spices.

Steeping Guidelines:

2 teaspoons tea to 8 ounces water
Water temp: 212
Steep time: 5-7 minutes 

A note on steeping guidelines: Personally, I always give my chai a second steep for a second cuppa. The flavors hold up well.

Tea Story:

I’ve always loved chai. Plain, sweetened, frothed with milk, whisked with pumpkin, hot or iced – it didn’t matter. There are many good chai blends out there. You really can’t go wrong with this combination of spices. But as tea took over my life more and more, I couldn’t resist dabbling in chai blending. Eventually, I settled on this one. This one is named in honor of a dear friend of mine who had come for a visit. I asked her what tea I could make for her. “Chai me up!” was her reply.

“In this universe, we are given two gifts:
the ability to love, and the ability to ask questions;
which are, at the same time,
the fires that warm us
and the fires that scorch us.”

-Mary Oliver