Tea or chai originated in India around the 19th century when the first tea plant was planted alongside Darjeeling and some parts of North East India. The British Raj in India introduced tea, and during this time, India adopted tea into its culture as one of the staple drinks everyone knows about. Tea was transported everywhere worldwide, and even in India, Indian people started drinking tea regularly, and the spread of this beverage into the hearts of millions of citizens began.
Chai is a simple and sober drink to kick start the morning. The tea leaves can be derived fresh or dried according to preference. One needs to boil up some water and then add some sugar or honey according to taste while adding tea leaves. One can add milk once the tea leaves release colour into boiling water. After adding the milk, When everything comes to a boil, one should add spices and cook it for 2 to 3 minutes. Straining the tea leaves and all these spices, one can get hot, soul-touching tea in front of them.
What spices can you add to make your chai as refreshing as ever? Read along to find out more!
1. Cardamom Cinnamon Mix
Cardamom and cinnamon powder mix can add a kick to your morning tea ensuring that you are rejuvenated with the spices along with the smoothness of the milk. If someone is making the spice powder they can also roast the spices a little bit to make the spice flavours more strong.
One can also add honey to accentuate the taste more. Cardamom taste in the chai warms the soul while cinnamon adds a nice kick to the chai that soothes up the throat when drinking warm making a perfect combination. Rest assured with perfect balance the drink is very addictive.
2. Ginger Cinnamon Mix
A perfect combination which can be very easy to make. One needs to smash the ginger after peeling it and then boil it in the tea with other spices, or one can also buy ginger powder or ready made ginger cinnamon mix to add to the tea for the perfect cup.
Ginger, together with honey or sugar, adds a sweet kick, making the body warm on a cold winter day. Adding Ginger to tea is very common in every household. Together with Cinnamon, it creates the perfect blend of tea ever made. Give it a try and we are sure you won’t regret it.
3. Clove Ginger Mix
Ginger can be strong when added to tea; hence, it can be balanced up with cloves. Cloves can help tame the kicking taste of ginger in the tea, making it more creamy and scented. The smell of chai after adding cloves to it is powerful, and when infused with ginger, it makes the perfect drink in terms of taste and aroma.
If you are adding cloves and ginger to your tea, make sure that your tea is milk-based, which means that the proportion of milk in the tea should be more than water, making the chai more Kadak or thicker than usual.
4. Black Pepper Honey Mix
Black pepper and honey are very unusual to add to the tea, but if someone is not willing to add or drink milk tea, then it is one of the most optimal flavours to opt for. Black pepper adds a kick to your chai similar to ginger but is more coarse and heavy, and with the help of honey, it is balanced elegantly.
If you are adding black pepper and honey to your chai, then you have to make sure that your chai is not milk-based, but instead, it is liquor-based. Adding water and tea with black pepper and honey will create a delicious drink for your morning kick-start.
5. Chilli Ginger Mix
Adding chilli flakes to your Chai will help soothe your tonsils when you want something strong and kicking for your taste buds mixed with sweet milk-based tea. If you love ginger, but the kick is not enough to start your day, you can always use some chilli flakes to enhance your Chai's kick and coarseness. The spice mix is very unusual, but it benefits people who need to drink something strong to kick start their morning and cut off their sleep from the night before.
6. Tulsi Ginger Mix
Tulsi ginger mix is one of the best chai spice blends you can find on the list with herb, as it is one of the most versatile spice blends you can add in various proportions to suit your taste. Dried or powdered Tulsi leaves can be found in stores, and one can also use the Tulsi leaves directly from the plant as their taste will not change a bit.
The taste of Tulsi is very soothing on the throat, feeling like a warm hug on winter days. Mixing it with ginger creates a beautiful, strong tea that defines the emotion of many Indians and their love for tea. It is truly remarkable to add these two together to create a soulful beverage.
7. Ginger White Pepper Mix
The white pepper is lighter than the black pepper but has a much stronger kick to the taste. It also gives a little bit of bitterness. The sugar should be higher when adding the tea to cut out the bitterness. This kind of spiced drink should only be used when someone is looking for a powerful milk-based tea.
The kick from ginger and white paper together can be a little harsh on some people, but the taste is flawless. If you like Kadak Chai with lots of kicks, this is the one you should try.
8. All Spice Tea Mix
All Spice tea mixes have different kinds of spices together, such as ginger, black pepper, Honey crystals, cloves, cardamom and many more. This kind of blend can be found in supermarkets where the tea bags are infused with a spice mixture, or one can also buy a readymade powder version of it to add to the tea.
These spice blends are primarily served in milk-based tea. It has a robust and familiar taste with hints of cardamom and saffron. It is highly customisable, and according to the liking, one can make it in their home by simply blending different spices they like together to create a tea mix.
9. Clove Cardamom Cinnamon Mix
Three of the most desired tea spices together can create an unforgettable spice blend for any tea lover. Clove, cardamom, and cinnamon create a bluntness together, influencing not only the tea's aroma but also its taste and smoothness. Even with the complicated taste, it can be made in milk or water-based tea.
The kick from cinnamon, the smoothness from Clove and the taste from cardamom create a perfect blend of tea that can touch your soul and kickstart your morning. The tea can be used on special occasions to impress your guests with your blend mix, ensuring lots of praise with the simple combination.