Chai tea has become the new naan bread and it doesn't quite have the right ring to it. Quite simply, tea in Hindi translates to chai, so why are some of us saying chai tea (translating to 'tea tea') when we look for a masala chai?
In some ways it can be said this newly coined term ‘chai tea’ was created for those unfamiliar to chai to understand the concept of an Indian black tea with spices, separate to the English breakfast or herbal tea. In a similar way ‘naan bread’ (translating to 'bread bread') was coined to demonstrate the difference between a loaf of bread and oven baked flatbread.
With that in mind, here is your 1-1 lesson on some of the different types of chai consumed in India, it’s time to find your chai and to drop the ‘tea’ at the end.
Let’s start with my personal favourite... masala chai!
Masala chai – a black tea with milk and bold spices such as cardamom, clove, ginger and black pepper
Adrak (ginger) chai – a black spiced tea made with milk and boiled with a good serving of fresh ginger
Karak chai - a black tea made with evaporated milk and fewer spices (less spicy than a masala chai)
Bombay cutting chai – a stronger black tea blend with milk containing two main spices: cardamom and ginger
If you have managed to read this far in the blog, this must mean your interest in chai has peaked and you might have just chosen your player. The truth is chai can be made in many ways all over the world and finding the right ratio of spice to chai that suits who you are is the hard part.
Take it from me, I grew up in an Indian family where every household I visited made a different chai. After consuming a tonne of chai across the world I found my perfect blend, turns out it was in my own home, creamy, fragrant and bold, a recipe rooted in generations of love. Behold the Monsoon Hills Masala Chai was born!
Monsoon Hills is a masala chai made from Assam black loose-leaf tea and blended with a range of spices such as black cardamom, bishop's weed, cinnamon, black pepper, green cardamom, clove, fennel, ginger.
This chai is a bit of a game changer, it delivers the intensity of a black loose-leaf tea without overpowering each spices unique flavour and it doesn’t require any sugar. The bonus is that it has a range of health benefits too to make you live a more balanced life.
See the list below for some of the key benefits on Monsoon Hills Masala Chai:
Ayurvedic Benefits
- Alleviates congestion
- Mood Enhancer
- Promotes mental alertness
Other Benefits
- Antimicrobial properties
- Supports digestion
- Antioxidant
- Anti-inflammatory