bagkitty: It’s Hindi. “Indian”, while inaccurate, is close enough for goverment work really, insomuch as it is the most widely disseminated lingua franca in India, even beyond English, spoken as a first or second language by well over two thirds ( possibly three quarters ) of the population.
OpalCat: Here you go:
Chai is just the subcontinent word for tea used to refer to the most popular hot drink in the subcontinent of india,pakistan,sri lanka,bangladesh etc.
Theres nothing mystical about it in those regions its just normal black tea with a little milk in it then theres doodpati chai which is basically tea prepared with milk instead of water and of course green tea is referred to as qahwa. In places like afghanistan and arab countries qahwa is a very popular drink and its green or yellow herbal tea…ussually with lemon in it and absolutely no milk. Its ussually sweet or with a lemony flavor.
Theres kashmiri tea too which is very good…its pink in color and sweet but a little salty and has a few pistachios in it for extra flavor.
The masala version is really more prevalent in the west and is an exoticised commercial version of the actually simpler subcontinent tea people in the subcontinent will look at you like this 
You know… I like to drink Chai Tea while doing my Tai Chi.
<chirp>
[sub]Well, Jessica thinks it’s funny.[/sub]
scott evil, Darjeeling is just a type of black tea, so like all black teas it has caffeine–roughly half as much in a cup of tea as in a cup of coffee (though that can be affected by many different factors.)
If you want low caffeine chai, try making it with green tea, which has quite a bit less caffeine than black (exactly how much varies) or a decaffinated black.
Another chai hint: you can make milkless masala-chai substitute by brewing a cuppa (or two) using a bag of yer favorite black tea, plus a bag of spicy herbal tea such as Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Spice or Republic of Tea’s Cinnamon Cardamon. Not nearly as good as the real stuff, but a nice pick-me-up at the office where one’s options are limited.
Which is what I’m going to do right now, because this thread is making me thirsty!
hillbilly despite the castigation of Starbucks above, it can make a good chai if you force them to do it right (although I’m not sure if there’s a Starbucks where you live although how could there not be?)
Chai-no water-whole milk–not too sweet with the appropriate spnnkling of nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamon (no anise–YUCK!)
The Cha/Chai pronunciation is just the Eastern Continent’s way of referring to tea. Being the ancient drink that it is, most of the major language groups hold similarities to it whether it be Indian Hindi languages, Chinese Cha, or whatnot. Even the Armenian word for tea is chai.
At the risk of sending the true chai lovers screaming into the streets, Dunkin’ Donuts has a very nice vanilla chai latte. Yum yum.
…or if you’re willing to completely substitute yumminess for authenticity, you can try the Chai Creme Frappucino at Starbucks.
Should I join in to say the same thing?
ÇAY - pr. tchai
is the turkish for tea as well.
I make chai masala with the same spices as Anthracite–cloves, cinnamon and cardamom–but I keep the spices whole. They steep in the tea, imparting yummy flavor and aroma. Plus there’s lots of milk and some sugar. Yum.
Well call me a heathen, but I love Dunkin Donuts Vanilla Chai, and Starbucks Chai Frap. (I know, I know, me, the coffee hater, loving a starbucks product, go figure.) The sweeter, the better.
Trader Joe’s has a decent powdered mix for when I don’t want to spend so much money. I actully made a pretty good lo-cal approximation of a chai frap with a cup of 1% milk, 8 ice cubes, a scoop of Trader Joe’s Chai latte mix, and a packet of equal. Puree in blender, top with Cool Whip Free, and sprinkle with cinnamon or cardamon.
I once made Chai from scratch with a net recipe. It was good, but way to time consuming. Perhaps if I had a real strainer instead of paper towels… 
I just bought the famous Oregon Chai but haven’t tried it yet.
I guess I’m an addict… oh well, what can you do?
I believe that Assam is a more genuine base tea than Darjeeling. My boss at the resturant I work at makes a fairly convincing Chai with half Celestial Seasonings Roasterama and half black tea, and some cinnamon and anise and milk.
On an unrelated note, my landlords are Tibetian, and lived in India for 20 years. Whenever I go to their house to talk about anything, they give me tea. (You can’t really refuse them…) They do make tea with milk and black tea, but otherwise unseasoned. It’s still sweet, because the milk is scalded, but no cinnamon. I’ll ask them about masala next time I see them.