Homemade Chai Concentrate

Makes about 10 servings
Use a 1:1 mix to milk ratio, 2:1 if you like it strong
Ingredients
- 5-6 cups water
- 2 tbsp ginger powder (Powdered makes the end result a little spicier than using fresh ginger)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp ground cloves (or 10 whole cloves)
- 10 bags of black tea with the strings cut off
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 whole cardamom pods, lightly crushed so they’re open
- 3 whole star anise pods
- 1/2 orange with peel, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp honey (optional)
Preparation
- In a large pot, bring the water to a boil
- Whisk in the four powdered spices (ginger, black pepper, ground nutmeg, cloves) first, then stir in the cinnamon stick, cardamom and anise pods, and sliced orange. Finally stir in the tea bags.
- Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Remove the tea bags, cinnamon stick, cardamom and anise pods, and sliced orange with a slotted spoon
- Stir in the brown sugar, vanilla and optional honey
That’s it! This concentrate keeps in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and makes the house smell amazing. Enjoy!
Using a blood orange helps give the finished concentrate a deep color Mixing the powdered spices Make sure you use black tea with no added lavender I use green cardamom I find cracking them helps more flavor infuse into the chai One of my favorite things about this recipe is how colorful the ingredients are Be sure to break apart any clumps in the powdered spices Bringing things back to a low boil after adding ingredients After 20 fragrant minutes of simmering Pulling out the solid ingredients Adding some brown sugar The finished chai concentrate Mixed 1:1 with oat milk 🙂