How to make chai in a chai-challenged office:
(i.e. with a mug and a microwave)
What:
- Tea-bags (Black tea only, try Brooke Bond Red Label or Brooke Bond Taj Mahal available at your neighborhood Indian store. If you can't get those, try Twinings English Breakfast)
- Sugar
- Water
- Milk (Vitamin D is the best, you can make do with 1% or 2%.)
How:
- Fill half your average coffee mug with water. (Yes, half.)
- Add two teaspoons of sugar (You can add more or less depending upon your nationality.)
- Add the tea-bag (The stapler pin hasn't sparked in my microwave. It could in yours. This is not my problem or responsibility.)
- Microwave on high for 45 seconds. The water will boil. The resultant brew will be very dark and very aromatic.
- Let the tea-bag steep for about 45 - 60 seconds more.
- Add enough milk to fill slightly less than three quarters the mug and stir. (Yes, three quarters. Only barbarians drink a mug full of tea. The only reason I even use a mug is because I don't have a tea-cup at work and mugs are easier to handle with my huge hands.) Update: Slightly less milk than that even. You'll know it's right when the taste of milk does not overpower the tea. I wish I could say what color, but browns are hard to do on the web.
- Microwave for 15 more seconds.
- Chai is ready. Be careful, it will be very very hot! (Serves one.)
Things to notice:
- Notice how I haven't added any extra spices to the chai. This is basic chai as served and enjoyed by millions (billions?) of Indians everyday.
- You could try adding some cardamom during brewing. Very little, very very little. What most Indians actually add are the skins of some shelled green cardamom pods. Of course, only wimps do this sort of thing. Real men only drink real chai, not some wimpy brew containing strange spices. You want strange spices, go eat some curry.
- As you drink it, notice how those taste buds wake up from the coma that your daily coffee has put them in. Notice how your nose remembers that it's alive and starts sending signals to your brain again.
- Drinking tea regularly will dramatically improve your sex life. (Why else would India and China, the largest tea consumers, also have the largest populations?)
whatever!!! .. discover masala chai at a local chai tapri in mumbai. It's got the spices and it has that extra zing ...
ReplyDeleteI'm lactose intolerant you insensitive clod!
ReplyDeleteGreat recipe! Absolutely perfect, I would say. Being an Indian, I've suffered quite intolerably at what passes for chai in many places.
ReplyDeleteThanks. And enjoy!
That is not the only intolerance you have.
ReplyDeleteI don't really get this... isn't this just milky black tea? Does making it this way make it taste different to the usual "boiling water on top of tea, let brew, add sugar and milk" way?
ReplyDeleteYou know when the sum total of all human knowledge can be found on the internet when a man blogs about how he makes his cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteGotta agree with the previous comment, this is just normal tea. Perhaps I'm missing something here, but I really don't see anything amazing here.
ReplyDeleteAlso abhijit - can "add water and heat" really be called a recipe?
Yes, it can - if no one can seem to figure out how to make a decent cup of "milky black tea" without a recipe.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of a**hole snob know-it-all are you? Heating water for tea in a microwave? What the f***???!!!?
ReplyDeleteNo water melted from Himalayan snow?
ReplyDeleteIt's that he puts things like slightly less than three quarters in italics that makes it a recipe.
ReplyDelete...that's just "tea" as the British have it! (not chai unless it contains the spices)
ReplyDeleteEh, masala chai is much more interesting, and it's not like it's unheard of in India.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster who mentioned China, you're wrong. "Red tea" in Chinese means what English speakers call "black tea;" it's just a different way of describing the color (which is neither black nor red).
I was told that chai was just a generic word for tea in many parts of Asia (and Cha is tea in Japan).
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that the "chai explosion" in the states can be attributed to some marketing fellow who decided that masala chai was too long and chai would do just fine.
Oddly, I've been drinking that yogi tea for about 20 years which I consider pretty much a mass-consumer version of masala chai but without all that pre-sweetened gook.
I've never been fond of the Brit Empire way of drinking tea with milk in it ... except when it comes to a masala chai.
Interesting perspective, thanks for the post.
I enjoyed your recipe, thanks.
ReplyDeleteHeat the water in a microwave?!?! Don't you americans have water-boiling devices? (kettles?)
ReplyDeleteThis is how you make proper tea:
1. You are supposed to first boil the water
2. Pour the water in a tea pot (if you really want to be fancy, pre-heat the pot with hot water from the tap.)
3. Add tea leaves to the water (1 teaspoon per mug and 1 for the pot)
4. Let it steep for 2-4 minutes. The time varies a lot depending on the kind of tea you are preparing. You have to figure the correct time by trial and error. If you let it steep too long, the tea leaves will produce acid which will make the tea taste bitter.
5. Take out the leaves (they are usually placed in a sort of pod with lots of small holes.) Do not leave the leaves in the pot or all the mugs after the first one will taste bitter.
I find that best tea comes from not using tea bags. I think the tea leaves are chopped/ground into too small bits before they are placed in the bag. This makes them steep too fast and start producing the acid too soon.
Milk is really optional. To really enjoy the taste of the tea you should not use milk. And I don't understand why would you use the 50% tea - 50% milk ratio, it is supposed to be tea, right?
My Wife: Drinking "chai" at some coffee shop.
ReplyDeleteMe: Drinking coffee... "That smells like pumpkin pie."
Her: "It does not smell like pumpkin pie."
Yes, yes it does. Now that I know what real chai is, I'll have to let her know.
My friend is Indian. He learned how to make chai from his parents. They're from India. There's cardamom and ginger and cinnamon in it. And it's delicious.
ReplyDeleteUmm.. thanks for the 'recipe' for milky tea. Now how about a recipe for toast with jam.
ReplyDeleteHaving tried several places' versions of chai, I have to say that, unless the cardamon is strong and other spices aren't present, I refuse to call it 'chai'. Twinnings tea? After the displeasure of having that vile thing for breakfast on a week long visit to London, all I can say is: bleargh.
ReplyDeleteYou people are mostly idiots. It is next to impossible to get a decent cup of tea [yes, tea can be made poorly]. This is a highly specific recipe, which produces perfect results. Thank you Hob.
ReplyDeleteI think many people have missed the point here. Lets review:
ReplyDelete1. This is a recipe for chai AT THE OFFICE, therefore fancy stuff like kettles and spices are too involved for such an endeavor
2. chai is indeed a generic word for tea in India, and since India is a very large country there are bound to be ten trillion ways to make tea. milk, spices, teas, etc.
3. Its tea for chissakes, drink it how you like it, dogma not necessary.
I can only say what the fuck?!
ReplyDeleteThis, as the others have said, is simply milky tea. Made in a bloody microwave.
Now milky tea is nice, don't get me wrong. But if you want chai, add spices - cardamom, ginger, etc, and use honey instead of sugar.
All of the detractors be da*ned, I found this recipe very informative and look forward to trying it out. Thanks for sharing the secret to office-friendly libido-augmenting chai.
ReplyDeleteohmigod ... indian chai being raped on your blog thus? alas .. if only they could understand what you want to achieve is different from what they know of to be tea.
ReplyDeletespices or not .. chai here is not about brewing tea leaves in a sieve with boiling water in a cup. it's a ritual, an experience .. i could go on and on but i have a flight to catch ;-)
bestaluc ... Hob! even if you don't like masala chai ...
tea in the office.. this is exactly how we 'prepare' tea in 'what is tea?' country of US Of A.
ReplyDeleteAnd never mind the "what the fuck" comments - they just dont know what you are talking about... :(
You want anal? You should try this guy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.suspectpaki.com/2004/11/perfect-cappuccino
And by the way - if you microwave just the water and add the teabag when the water has boiled, instead of zapping the teabag, the tea will taste better. IMHO of course. As the original poster says, it's not dogma!
oh my. seems like a lotta ppl have commented on this one.
ReplyDeletebut really......boiling water in a microwave is really bizarre! also you never mentioned the fresh ginger, or cloves or cinnamon we add to the tea bag or tea leaves - to give each cup of chai an authentic flavor!
"Milky Tea" that is how tea is made in India if you call that Milky tea then yup that is Chai straight from India
ReplyDeleteI'll agree that, yes, masala chai is different from regular chai.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, you're just heating water (with the tea-bag inside it) in a microwave.
A better "recipe" (if you can call heating black-tea in a microwave that) would be to add in the steps to aerate the water.
* Useing two coffee mugs, pour the water from one to the other three or four times
Microwave heated water has an unpleasant taste, which, if you're a serious tea drinker, taste is everything.
your recipe is rude... and so are you!
ReplyDeletehmmff!!
Twinnings Breakfast tea rocks!
ReplyDeleteBut I'm one of the lucky guys who have everything to make tea without the need of using a microwave ;)
:D
Why, exactly, is boiling water in a microwave bizarre?
ReplyDeleteMicrowave ovens were made specifically *to* boil water. They boil the water that's present in your food. And they're *quite* good at it.
Why would it matter (assuming you're just boiling the water itself, and not something *in* the water) whether you use a flame to the bottom of a kettle, or microwaves - the point is to get the water boiling, right?
Or is there something I'm missing?
put water half the volume you intend to drink as chai in glass or stainless steel.
ReplyDeleteadd grated--or sliced with a peeler-- ginger, cloves, crushed cinnamon, cardamom, mixed colour peppercorns, dried orange peel, all to taste. i use 1 2 inch approx. cinnamon stick, about 5 cloves, a thumb of ginger, peel from half a valencia orange, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 4 crushed cardamom pods, all organic when possible.
simmer this very low for 10 minutes. this will reduce the volume of liquid by about half.
add tea. i use a variety. sometimes assam, sometimes darjeeling, sometimes even green. i sometimes use as much as 3 teaspoons depending on the level of resuscitation required.
bring the flame up a bit for 3 or 4 minutes. then add what will amount to a doubling of volume of milk or half milk and half cream. heat to drinking temperature.
this recipe is intended for a large mug. a nice beer stein works nicely. put in a dash of vanilla, and honey to taste. strain your chai into it, stir and enjoy.
I sometimes cut up an inch or so of vanilla bean and add it to the simmered ingredients, as opposed to using vanilla extract at the end.
you can call this what you like. i call it a delicious way to start the day.
Chai is tea. Masala is a mixture of spices (i.e. garam masala). Masala chai is chai plus a mixture of spices, which is what is mass-marketed in America as "chai".
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is for chai. Masala chai is a different experience altogether, and is not merely chai with cardamom skins.
something i forgot to mention, and it's important. be sure to cover while simmering, not entirely, some steam must escape. this greatly affects the flavour.
ReplyDeleteBetter to first heat the water and later milk with sugar seperately, add the tea bag to the water(you don't want it to boil, that drags out the tannin), let steep for 2-5 minutes, while that is happening, zap the milk. The microwave radiation destroys most of the bioflavinoids and subtle notes of flavor in tea. Twinnings is too expensive for such rough treatment, an inexpensive black tea like Red Rose or Tetley seems to yield as good of results, the quantity of milk overrides some of the flavors that you pay extra for. You won't need as much sugar if you don't step on it with all that tannin. Honey is an option, and gives it a complexity you would get with some spices. I like sagebrush honey for this. Chai in a box is what anyone who frequents Starbux deserves.
ReplyDeleteCrank some black pepper in that brew for gods sake.
ReplyDeleteIt would be better if you fly to England and ask anybody to make you a cup of tea. The way you've made it will not give the best results. Also I suggest you try Earl Grey...
ReplyDeletelike .. ohhhhhhh maaaaaaaaai gaaaaaaaawwwwwd!!!
ReplyDeletesomeone tell these peopleskis to gets a lifie?
1. Twinings Irish Breakfast has a bit more oomph to it than the wimpy English one.
ReplyDelete2. Microwaved water tastes terrible -- boil it for goodness sake. Then add ingedients & simmer until it is hot and strong enough to suit
3. Mangal's tea masala is must. Two generous pinches per cup (level teaspoon for two cups)
Worst cup of chai anywhere: Starbucks.
ReplyDeleteWorst cup of chai in India: truck stop between Srinagar and Manali (made with infant formula!)
Here's a handy tip from an expat Brit in the USA. Buy an electric kettle. And a proper tea pot. It's quite easy to find both. (If your officemates steal them, keep buying replacements until they stop)
ReplyDeleteNo more messing with microwave ovens, and now you can make tea the One True Way.
LOL @ starbucks being worse than the infant formula
ReplyDeleteSome points....
ReplyDeletefrom a Londoner who drinks coffee.
You seem to be making english tea.
But....
A.tea is best drunk from a teacup and you slurp it to take in a tea/air mix(something you can't do with a coffee mug and yes teaslurping is regulation good manners).
B.microwaves are to be frowned upon....something very important is to scold the pot or cup to brew in with boiling water before you add the bag/tealeaves then boil the water again.....i'll suggest that the temperature must be kept as high as possible to ensure good diffusion.Boiled tea is not the same.
C.Lemon is continental.
Life is good.
"Now how about a recipe for toast with jam."
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention that...
Clasic Toast
What I think is truly sad is that so many people think that a recipe has to be complex and have deep secrets to be good. Next you'll tell me I need a special medication to get over the flu.
ReplyDeletei love chai. chai chai chai. good recipe!
ReplyDeleteChai has given me gas. I am no happy
ReplyDeleteChai :Indian roadside vendor version
ReplyDeleteboil milk and sugar until it nearly solidifies. Pour from great height through tea leaves so it nearly takes on the taste of tea.
drink and see dentist immediately
For the lactose-intolerant, try chai with soy milk. I recommend Whole Foods store brand in a red carton (it's sold unrefrigerated, so don't look in the dairy case). ALl soy milk is NOT created equal, so you may have to try a few brands to find one you like.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm an expert, but that does just sound like milky tea. I thought spices were the ingredient that separates chai from regular old black tea.
ReplyDeleteWhy the hell is this #7 in the del. popular list, does no one know how to make tea?
ReplyDeleteN.B. Most US office pantries have microwaves, but not electric kettles, water filters/water coolers, and big nasty coffee filter machines, which often come with a 'boiling' water tap.
ReplyDeleteThere are very good reasons to make tea by boiling water in the microwave, the most significant being that you get to choose the water you boil. Here's an exercise in the gross: take two white cups, fill one with water from a filtered source (like the cooler) and one from either the sink faucet or the coffee machine 'boiling' water tap, then compare the colour. You will soon understand why many of us teadeviants boil filtered water in the microwave.
Thanks for the instruction's, Hob... if only because it prompted a nice looking recipe for massala chai from firq krumpl
Thanks for the post. I'ld like to point out to everyone that the difference between British and Indian tea is that the tea leaves are left to boil with the water (cooked?) with Indian tea while with British tea, the tea is just steeped in hot water.
ReplyDeleteHere is my slightly different method of making tea:
Mix 1 part milk and 1 part water, add tea leaves (I use premixed Red Label + Yellow Label in equal parts), crushed cardamom and a few filaments of Saffron (funny no one mentioned saffron so far). Heat this until it begins to boil over (should be able to use the microwave but I haven't tried this). Remove from heat, strain into a cup and slurp. Yes, slurping is not only acceptable but almost mandatory.
just one comment:
ReplyDeleteonce you add the milk, WATCH OUT for the tea to rise and overflow.....
The rise is an important finale in the making of the Chai.
Worst......recipe.......ever!
ReplyDeleteYou realize that you can buy an electric kettle for less than $10, right?
where are the morroccans busting in to start a subthread on north african tea?
ReplyDeleteAnd the japanese....tea ceremony....hellfire can you imagine the use of a microwave in that.
I'm with the $10 kettle battalion!
Life is good.
Making proper tea at the office isn't that hard.
ReplyDeleteFirst you must climb the tallest peak (or iceberg) and collect only the freshest snow cast just b4 dawn. Melt the snow in a silver pot gently warmed by a fire of ONLY young sandlewood branches. then transfer to a stainless pot brought to a boil on a fire made of Teak (yes it must be Teak don't ask why), then you take the leaves that have been harvested only by malaysian virgins before there first moon and put it in a ceramic pot and transfer the water in quickly before the demons of heat have left and immediatley pour into an old beer can and chug
ReplyDeletethere's an expresso machine at my office. I just put in the tea grinds from tea bags and out comes tea.
ReplyDeleteI guess anything can be called a recipe, but I was expecting some secret fomula or a not so common technique.
At least the comments are funny.
ha ha people's comments are sooo funny... it's not like you said that this is a perfect recipe for perfect tea for god's sake. It's for tea-challenged people at typical offices in the U.S.!! Not tea snobs! ! Any good tea drinker knows that tea is an art. And each person has very specific tastes and preferences. Anyway, it's basic and good and easy to do at the office. Thanks :) !!!
ReplyDeleteIn case that stapler pin does spark in your microwave, you can simply boil the water in the mug and later add the tea bag into it... it would taste the same.
ReplyDeleteBut make sure you put a wooden spoon in the mug or it will hyperboil and explode in your face
ReplyDeleteMan, Arthur Dent shut down the freakin' SUPER COMPUTER on board the Heart of Gold for hours trying to get it to make a cup of tea. You think you can just post some exercise in boiling water bombs on your blog and expect your average American to get it right without burning their face off? Sheesh... Sounds like a perfect setup for one of those All-American "I am a Class A-1 dumb fuck so you owe me a bajillion dollars" lawsuits that any red-blooded jury would happily cram up your tea kettle.
ReplyDeleteFor those in the crowd who can't boil water, the question is: "How many seconds can you safely nuke a half-mug of water?"
The answer is, of course, 42.
before we know there will be a "Malaysian Virgin Chaicuppa Microwave" specifically built for the US office tea consumption logistic.
ReplyDeleteLife is good
Great recipe! Too bad it taste like ass.
ReplyDeleteHey Sami I guess the recipe was for "Indian" tea and not "weak and mild black English" tea. But I guess as the author said...this is for "real" men.................
ReplyDeleteFor all the lactose intolerant unfortunate lesser mortals - try soya milk people! Use your intellect and creativity to think beyond the obvious! You lazy clods
ReplyDeleteSo Mr. Hob, is this what you are paid for at work? Wish I had an employer who paid me for trying to outdo Starbucks! Do you work for a competitor by the way
ReplyDeletecan I just say that I can't believe how many people left mean and nasty comments on this? How is it that they don't have anything better to do that say mean things to a stranger? Someone wrote something on a personal blog about how he likes to make tea, and everyone seems to want to say something mean. Get over it! It's how he likes tea! I think it's really, really sad that people felt the need to mock and / or more derogatory comments.
ReplyDeleteI'll side with those who say you really must boil your water before infusing it with tea. Also, it would be best if you use a loose tea in bigger leafy chunks. That stuff they put in teabags is not top notch. (In Russia, they call it "Postman's Tea", because it comes in envelopes).
ReplyDeleteHe made tea......................
ReplyDeleteOh for petes sake people;
get
a
life!
@The Big Kahuna
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, don't forget, we also wrote the Kama Sutra ;-)
@Hob: Loved the Malaysian virgin full moon comment :P
A lil late in the day, but you posted a recipe on how to make chai, and you ended up brewing a storm in a tea cup ....tsk tsk :P
Here's an authentic recipe for making chai masala for those so inclined to imbibe the spicy beverage:
ReplyDeleteThis makes quite a lot, so you might want to scale down proportions:
Two teaspoons each:
Black Pepper
Whole Cloves
Dried Ginger Powder
1 inch piece of cinnamon
8 teaspoons cardamom powder or ground cardamom seeds.
Blend all together in a mini blender.
The traditional way involves adding a pinch of masala to a 50/50 mix of water and whole milk, with one teaspoonful of loose black tea added (no teabags, you heathens! :P), and boiled until a rich brown color is acheived.
so mr. anon did you say you were making masala chai or spice(milk)shake! get a life dude or is this what you rlife is about.......silly spices and stinky trials.........
ReplyDeleteHob: What next? Lassi?
ReplyDeleteFunny, man...will try it in the office...only problem no milk in the office...and I am not carrying my personal stock of vitamin D milk...so might have to try half and half...lets see how that works...check out my chakma chak new blog space
ReplyDeleteexcellent recipe, though your delivery was a little... perfect?
ReplyDeletethe number of comments show you touched a nerve. we're passionate about tea, apparently.
ReplyDeleteJust to note that Indian teas are not the only ones bastardized by northamerican coffeeshops. Upon returning from Argentina, where I became accustomed to drinking a bitter tea-like drink called 'mate', I saw on State Street in madison a "Mate Late" (it rhymes). Needless to say it was not only nothing like the original but also disgusting.
hey, if we're talking authentic, try some sweetened condensed milk.
ReplyDeleteWasn't this guy in 'Office Space'. I could come up with a million ways to prepare stuff from scratch. Yet even if you find a way to hold a car together with ductape, dosn't mean you call it a chasis. Chai could roughly define any type of tea or tea blend. Sorry for the photocopy/coffee machine guy who blogged but I have to agree that you havn't done more than gave me a great laugh. Great blog! Lacking in fact, detail and erudition.
ReplyDeleteA nice cup of tea, by George Orwell
ReplyDeleteend of story.
Whoa. Drink tea and let drink tea, I say. I have a terrible habit of a powdered (gasp) chai latte mix that I add milk to quite easily in the office. Heat the milk in the microwave (double gasp) and then add two tablespoons of the mix. If you like the, err, swill of American spicy chai (and I really do), this is better than anything you can buy in a chain. And cheaper. And it makes me happy! But seriously guys. Settle down. It's just tea! Though I guess wars have been fought over less....
ReplyDeleteIt seems like this is milky, black office tea. Dude, where is the spice? I have had chai in Kashmir and it's got de spice-ginger, cardamon, black pepper are the main menage.
ReplyDeleteBack to the drawing board/microwave.
The right way to make chai in the office is to make it at home, put it in a thermos, and then heat it up in the office.
ReplyDeletechai is the hindi word for tea. In chinese it's cha. In serbian and Russian it's chai again. How anyone drinks their tea is their own preference. It's just that the word chai is now commonly used to described the spiced milk tea made by chai wallahs throughout India. However you can get good chai masala in India but I've also had a bad one. Same as in The USA and Australia. It's all down to personal taste.
ReplyDeleteI do have to say heating and boiling water in the microwave seems a bit strange - but if there was no other option, I'd do it too! Let's face it, a cup of tea is predominantly water so I'd want the best water possible.
Starbucks sucks...
ReplyDeleteIf it's Chai in the office that you want,why bother with real food ingredients?Just go to your next supermarket and buy a carton of ready made Chai and leave that kind of complicated "cooking" to those that actually have some class and culture.By the way,don't stand so close to the microwave next time...it might nuke the rest of your sad little brain
ReplyDeletefennydendron
i must try this black tea recipe
ReplyDeleteSuperb recipe for real chai (not masala chai) at the office, or home!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Use an Indian brand of tea, which means to stop by an Indian store. Buy a small bag of tea and try it then buy the huge bag that will last you two years!
really nice procedure . . I really love drinking tea. . the recipe for chai is really fantastic.
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ReplyDelete@ Hob: Good recipe for Indian Chai at the workplace... exactly what the article is about.
ReplyDelete@ all the losers who seem to have the attention span of a goldfish, this is a recipe for INDIAN CHAI AT THE WORKPLACE!!!
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Great recipe. :D Made well use of electric kettle.
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