I’m a big fan of little food luxuries like artisan chocolates, real vanilla beans, or an excellent cup of gourmet coffee. After all, what’s the saying? Life’s too short for bad coffee? Well, I think that goes for tea as well.
I love chai, but have found that the commercially available varieties (whether in powder, liquid concentrate, or tea bag form) fall short of my expectations. The traditional method of simmering spices with tea is clearly the way to go, but who has time to do that every morning?
It finally occurred to me to make a spiced chai syrup to add to plain black of green tea. You get all the complex spice of the traditional method but it won’t take any longer to make than your basic cup of tea.
Everyday Ginger Chai Syrup
Ingredients:
* 2 cups sugar
* 1-1/4 cup water
* 2-inch piece ginger, sliced into several pieces
* 4 pods cardamom, smashed
* 3 cloves
* 2 sticks cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
* pinch salt
Directions:
Combine the ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until is has thickened slightly. Let cool and then strain into a jar of bottle. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.