I love tea, and I love coffee. To me, chai is sort of a hybrid beverage. Although it doesn't have coffee in it, it's a more robust, spicier beverage that reminds me of coffee. I drink chai when I want a treat, or when I need something with more of a kick than coffee, but not as strong. I like that chai has spices in it, because it feels like a healthy alternative to some other drinks available these days. Occasionally, I will treat myself to a chai tea latte at Starbucks, but I don't go to Starbucks very often, and I've been drinking chai longer than I've been going to Starbucks. I usually will make it at home from scratch, but sometimes I'll buy the powder mix or even the liquid concentrate. One thing I've found with powders and concentrates is that they're often too sweet for my taste, so I prefer making my own at home. Here's a recipe that I like. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chai-tea-recipe.html
Oh, you got my attention Diane! Just love chai tea, but I don't go to Starbucks for mine. I buy this stuff all the time ... @Diane Lane ... might try making my own from that recipe. Thanks.
I've never heard of that company, @Bonnie Thomas. If I run across it, I'm going to buy one, just so I can see if I like it. Where do you purchase it? I mainly buy the Oregon brand, which is decent, but somewhat sweet and perfumy. I recently tried the Archer Farms, which was about comparable, but one of the versions I bought was Coconut Chai Tea Latte, and I really like it, but I have to dilute it quite a bit with milk, so it's not quite as cloyingly sweet. I guess I prefer mine more spicy and less sweet, which is why it's nice to make it at home, so I can adjust the ingredients accordingly.
Grocery stores like Kroger, WalMart carry it .. made by a company in California. For my taste it is the perfect balance of spicy/sweet. http://www.bolthouse.com/
I'll be going to Kroger soon, and will look for it. I was going to go to Walmart, but thankfully, I think I can put that off for another week or two. One of these days, I'm going to make it back over to HEB, which isn't that close to the house. They're the only store in this area that has bins of things like cardamom pods , which I need to make the chai.
HEB might carry it. I'm not sure. Their website that I posted above, as an after thought ..might show locations
I won't get there for a while. I try not to go over that way very often, and even that will decrease, once they start the elaborate construction project on Hwy 146. Parts of Bay Area Boulevard (where the closest HEB is) are already closed off/under construction/diverted, which is a pain. I might end up ordering some online. I'll look around when I get some time, and see where I can get some. I have enough of everything on hand for now, but need to replenish my supplies soon, before the major construction begins.
I don't like tea itself at all, but chai because it's spicy and doesn't taste of tea I do like, especially when travelling around India where it's everywhere on the streets. It's often given out freely in the shops you visit as well. There are chai wallahs who take it around in glasses stacked in crates I have never tried making it myself may try it when I next feel like doing something new. Tea is India's most popular drink - the country consumes 837,000 tonnes of it every year. The ritual of drinking chai transcends all boundaries, and roadsides are dotted with chai wallahs who serve it boiled up with spices, sugar and milk.
I've seen it only in Thai restaurants. When visiting my sister in NJ, we go to a Thai restaurant there and its a favorite of my nieces and nephew. That might be made with coconut milk but I'm not sure. I tasted it and did not like it at all. It's a texture thing, don't like smoothies or milkshakes or kefir either.
Yes I see, that is iced tea not Chai which is the Indian word for tea, but is not tea as we know it lol