# Chai tea **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900 "2004-08-15T03:32:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/1 "2004-08-15T03:32:27Z")
Our neighbor, whom we visited this afternoon, gave us something called Chai Tea. It tasted great, but my stomach hurt for hours afterward. Any clues? I’d never heard of this before. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/2 "2004-08-15T03:48:47Z")
Chai tea is ordinary tea made with milk (usually) and spices, usually cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, and ginger. Do any of those disagree with you? ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/3 "2004-08-15T03:49:57Z")
In case you’re curious, here’s a [recipe](http://busycooks.about.com/library/recipes/blchaitea.htm). It was probably one of the milk products. ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/4 "2004-08-15T03:51:45Z")
Foiled again by the Manduck! ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/5 "2004-08-15T03:56:10Z")
I find that if the particular type of Chai I’m drinking has too much cardamon, I get a headache. Perhaps your system wasn’t expecting that particular combination of spices, or there was just a wee bit too much of one spice for your stomach to handle? * * * \<\< Oh, no, not another learning experience! \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/6 "2004-08-15T04:01:58Z")
I’d suspect ginger or milk. Was it peppery? Some varieties are very peppery and that can give you ulcer like pains if you don’t do black pepper very much. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/7 "2004-08-15T04:09:01Z")
I may not have had cardamon or cloves before. I wasn’t expecting that. It didn’t affect my son. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/8 "2004-08-15T19:56:22Z")
I love the stuff, it gave my galpal a tummyache tho. I suspect the spices. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/9 "2004-08-15T19:57:46Z")
Btw, Necro R, thanks for the recipe site! I love the stuff but hate the cost of the mixes PLUS the fact that I can’t find any low-fat, sugar-free mixes. ---
**Author:** ![saramamalana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@saramamalana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saramamalana)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/10 "2004-08-15T20:34:55Z")
I looooove chai, it’s so good. And just so you know, saying “chai tea” is redundant, as chai _means_ tea (in Hindi, I think). ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/11 "2004-08-15T21:22:30Z")
> [@saramamalana](#): > > chai _means_ tea (in Hindi, I think). Yup, chai=tea in Hindi, Gujerati, Kutchhi, and probably most of the languages of hte Indian Sub-Continent. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/12 "2004-08-15T21:27:29Z")
Chai=tea in most slavic dialects as well. The reason has been explained before, but I still think that is cool/odd. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/13 "2004-08-16T01:39:11Z")
Ginger is actually good for an upset stomach and nausea. Even though it’s somewhat spicy I don’t think there’d be enough in Chai to cause stomach upset. I’ve been drinking this for the past few days to keep me going without the upset stomach too much coffee gives me. I love it but I understand how the spices are not everyone’s cup of tea. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ChordedZither](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/14 "2004-08-16T02:27:31Z")
> [@Tiramisu](#): > > Ginger is actually good for an upset stomach and nausea. Even though it’s somewhat spicy I don’t think there’d be enough in Chai to cause stomach upset. > I’ve been drinking this for the past few days to keep me going without the upset stomach too much coffee gives me. I love it but I understand how the spices are not everyone’s cup of tea. 😉 Although ginger is good for many people’s upset stomachs (my family often used flat ginger ale as a nausea remedy), I do find that it upsets my stomach. I \love\ ginger beer and used to make a mean ginger cheesecake, but my stomach makes me pay for it afterwards. Even a couple of ginger snap cookies leaves me with a burning sensation. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/15 "2004-08-16T03:11:11Z")
I have eaten ginger snaps many a time. How do you pronounce it? My neighbor calls it chai as in choo I’d thought it was sounded like Kai. ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/16 "2004-08-16T03:34:55Z")
> [@](#): > > I’d thought it was sounded like Kai. This is the only way I’ve heard it pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/17 "2004-08-16T03:41:49Z")
I’ve always heard it pronounced _chye_. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/18 "2004-08-16T03:58:54Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I’ve always heard it pronounced _chye_. Same here. And I buy my chai at a tea shop where they pronounce it that way too. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/19 "2004-08-16T04:38:02Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Yup, chai=tea in Hindi, Gujerati, Kutchhi, and probably most of the languages of hte Indian Sub-Continent. In Gujarati, it’s ‘cha’. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900/20 "2004-08-16T08:23:20Z")
> [@II Gyan II](#): > > In Gujarati, it’s ‘cha’. Oh. I can honestly say I’ve never noticed, and I’ve had enough opportunity to – my mother’s family is from Kutch, and hence speak Kutchhi, and my father’s fmily’s Gujerati. You’d have thought I’d have noticed this! :wally [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chai-tea/259900.md?page=2)