Is the recent increase in people saying “chai” just some sort of pretentious affectation, or is there a difference between tea and chai?
Hi, Opal.
Chai is East Indian spiced tea, brewed in milk or a milk-and-water mixture, then sweetened. I have a box here. The ingredients (well, of this blend) are: Darjeeling tea, cinnamon, cardamom, giner, star anise, and cloves. IMO, the star anise and cloves dominate the flavor.
I love the stuff. 
- s.e.
Giner… um… that sounds dirty. :eek: Ginger, I meant.
Chai is a food of the Gods(whichever one or ones of your liking)! It is, as Scott posted, tea latte.
There used to be this great little hole in the wall coffee shop down the street from me(right next to the university), who made the best Chai, ever, but…unfortunately, a shopping center went in across the street, and the evil empire of Starbucks moved in, and alas, said hole in the wall coffee shop is now gone. 
For the record, Starbucks chai sucks major ass.
~V
Chai is Indian for tea. Cha is Chinese for tea.
However, what we’re all raving about is masala chai, which is tea mixed with spices, milk (usually), and sweetener. I call it sex in a cup – good chai is so incredible it’s hard to describe. I have a book of recipes, but I haven’t gotten around to trying to make any of them.
I have to say I’ve never been able to make Chai as good as the Chai I order in Indian restaurants. The first time I had it was in the early 90s, at the suggestion of a friend, and I’ve loved it ever since. The spices - particularly the anise and cloves - make your tongue feel all… I can’t describe it.
It also freshens your breath after eating curry.
Some don’t like it, though. I know matt_mcl and my mother don’t. It wasn’t an acquired taste for me, as I said above, but for some, it may be.
BTW is there much caffeine in Darjeeling tea, if at all? I often want to have Chai before bed, because of the hot milk thing, but I don’t because I’m not sure of the caffeine content of Darjeeling.
I got some after hearing everyone rave about. It tasted like dirty dishwater after someone washed the pan that cinnamon rolls were baked in.
It’s possible I didn’t get a good brand.
It smelled good though.
Ok so it IS tea, but they use the ‘chai’ designation to differentiate a particular style? Am I getting that right?
Chai is Indian for tea. The way in which it is brewed in India ordinarily has recently become a Western affectation and is referred to by its Indian name. Most Indians that I know have always made chai as your run of the mill cup of tea, long before the trend in Australia. Nearly everyone has their own recipe.
This site has plenty.
A Pakistani restaurant that I go to has a recipe that takes 25 minutes to brew and you have to delay your meal if you order it.
TEA.
PG Tips.
Typhoo.
TEA.
A bag of tea. With hot water and milk in the morning. None of this “chai” stuff.
Wake up. Turn on kettle. Put tea bag in cup. Fall asleep until kettle boils. Pour water onto tea bag into cup. Wander aimlessly, possibly turn Channel 4 on. Stir cup. Poke at teabag in mug. Wait until liquid in cup turns brown. Turn teabag into disposal unit. Sip tentatively at brown liquid. Consider Work Vrs Shower. Decide work = money. Turn on shower. Drink shower. Then, wash in shower, remember drink != shower. Laugh at Jade on BB.
Dress. Go to work.
I had chai tea once (I love oolong tea with a passion, someone convinced me to try this instead of getting my usual). Unfortunately, that experience turned me off of Chai Tea forever.
Whoever made it put FAR too much sugar in it, and about five times as much spice as I would have expected. The resulting concoction was so overpoweringly sweet/spicy that it would have been good in (literally) a shotglass sized container. But I had a large coffee cup of it, and damned if I’m gonna waste $4 by throwing it away! By the time I managed (forced) myself to finish it, I felt sick to my stomach from all the sugar and whatnot.
Someday, someday, I’ll bring myself to try it again.
Not TEA. CHAI.
Pour water and milk into saucepan. Add tea leaves. Add ginger. Add cardamom. Leave to boil, stirring occasionally. Turn down heat a bit. Stir. Add cloves. Add nutmeg. Add vanilla. Add sugar and/or honey. Stir. Add cinnamon. Add bay leaf. Add Garam Masala mix (which has black pepper, cardamom, fennel, cinnamon and cloves; just not in the ratio I like). Keep on heat. Stir. Smell lovely scent wafting from saucepan.
Take off heat, strain and serve.
Though I think I’ll try anise too next time. It sounds good.
I’m a chai devotee, but so far to only one brand (Chai Baba Chai, which I think is just local to the Bay Area, more’s the pity). Much more widespread is Oregon Chai, which is, IMHO, nasty. Most people seem to make it far too sweet for my liking. Chai Baba is a lovely spicy drink - extremely yummy iced!
A local currytorium sells chai mix-$5.00 for a 1/3 cup of dried tea and spices. Mmmm mmmmmm! That amount makes about 20 batches of 2 cups each so per cup, not so pricey. I’ve seen Indian ladies make it by bubbling up a pot of water and milk, adding a half dozen Orange Pekoe bags, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks. My box of Stash Chai Spice lists ingredients as “blended black teas, ginger, cinnamon,allspice, nutmeg, cloves”. It’s a decent substitute for the real thing, unless you are an Indian lady, then of course you will scoff at us white chicks trying to replicate the nectar of your homelands.
I love masala chai! Especially with fresh spices I grind myself, quite tasty. I prefer a good Assam black tea as a base. I’ve never tried the commercially produced stuff though. If anyone is interested, I recently bought a great book describing the history of masala chai and it has a lot of interesting recipes as well.
That’s the book I have. A librarian friend of mine got it from her branch – it went from stacks to for-sale to “who wants this thing?”
I make it every few nights or so.
Make sure you use whole milk - skim doesn’t cut it, even though I typically never drink it for anything else…
I meant to say I make chai every few nights or so, and like dwyr, I grind my own spices. But I only use cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.
Indian for tea? What the heck is Indian? I always thought there were multiple languages FAMILIES in India… gods and goddesses only know how many individual languages and dialects…
Oh my god. I think I’m going to turn into a cup of chai! I’ve been drinking it left and right lately. 
It’s just yuminous. As others have said, chai is definitely tea. I’ve seen green tea chai and black tea chai, and I imagine there’s a recipe for just herbal chai minus the black or green tea. I find I don’t need or want sugar in my chai, but I do find that just a splash of milk really enhances the flavors of the tea.
scott evil, I don’t know how much caffeine’s in Darjeeling tea, but I do know that if you’re inclined to make your own chai from scratch, you can get decaffeinated Darjeeling. There are brands of chai on the market that are decaffeinated as well. Enjoy, hon.
[celestina off to go get herself a cup of decaf chai :D]