Chai...A liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea

[jayelsee]

So, do you like chai? It's entirely too sweet for me. Give me my raslak! Or even espresso. My daughter, niece, and nephew love it, but they're young.

[AgentSun]

i looooove chai. it's great great stuff.

[Johnsgirl727]

Chai is very good, but I love white and green teas. I drink no less than 4 cups a day.:D

[Owlman]

Does it get you wasted?

Because if not, then I probably haven't tried it.

[AgentSun]

i got a new box of twinings irish breakfast the other day. mmmm.

[jayelsee]

Does it get you wasted?

Because if not, then I probably haven't tried it.

It depends.....do you get a sugar high? If so, go for it. It's very sweeeeeet.

I love green tea. No sugar, though.

[AgentSun]

i get sugar highs. then again, i also get water highs. that's right...i can get hyper off drinking water.

[LT Garrix]

I go for plain old tea, no cream, no sugar, no lemon. I'm partial to Irish and English breakfast, Darjeeling and the green teas, pretty much anything but Earl Gray. Not to keen on that one.

Never tried Chai, though if it sweet, probably won't

[Owlman]

It depends.....do you get a sugar high? If so, go for it. It's very sweeeeeet.

I love green tea. No sugar, though.

No, but I have found out that Lucky Charms and Jack Daniels aren't a good recipe for breakfast at 8 in the morning. In fact, its not a good recipe for academic achievement either.

[AgentSun]

In fact, its not a good recipe for academic achievement either.

oh gosh. i probably should avoid booze and irishmen with cereal.

[grinner]

never heard of the stuff.

[trubador]

Well, Chiana is sweet as molasses. :D

[Martincore]

Mmmmm... chai! Of course I've only tried (and had more than my share of) pot-chai, and that tastes great!
(And Owlman: yes, it works!)

[AyuRocks]

I love Chai.

[faustus]

what is Chai?
I say this while I'm drinking my happy cup

[Scarran Raptor]

never tried it, I'm more of a buckwheat green, earl grey* and whatever the hell they serve with my dim sum teas kind of guy


*and yes, I was drinking it before Capt. Picard was a glimmer in Gene Roddenberry's eye

[Spedoinkel]

I haven't had the pleasure. I first heard about it from reading Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars of all places. I should probably go try to find a place that sells it.

[Afarscapefan]

I voted for the its OK. If I had a choice between chai and green coconut milk I would prefer the latter. :cool:

[LT Garrix]

Spedoinkel, go to Starbucks. As that's about the only coffee place we have around here, that's the only place I go. I can't speak for other coffee places.

[vhsiv]

'Is da bomb, baby.

But it doesn't taste like molasses, to me. More like cinnamon-honey-cardamom punch lite.

[AgentSun]

its got a bit of a spice to it, something cinnamony and with spice. i think the base to the tea is a black tea.

[scrape_medic]

Does anyone put cream in tea?

Milk maybe but cream???

[Spedoinkel]

I used to put milk in untill my sis got lactos intolorant, so I got out of the habit....just alot of sugar.

[Owlman]

Hate to sound like a broken record, but can you Irish it up?

[Spedoinkel]

You can Irish everything. I might not make it better though.

[AgentSun]

i put half and half in my tea, cause my dad has half and half for coffee. i don't like regular milk in tea, since i drink 1% milk.

[Chryse]

re: Tea High
Try Pu-erh tea, it's black Chinese tea that is said to have hallucingenic properties if you drink enough of it, like 4 cups or more in one sitting.

Chai is a Indian tea drink made with very strong black tea and spiced with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, pepper and all sorts of other spices. There are lots of difference spice mixtures, called chai masala all over the place. It's spicy and milky and yes, quite sweet as well. Homemade chai masala recipes usually say to store the chai masala in evaporated milk, so the spices will flavor the milk as well and have even stronger flavors in the tea.

I love all kinds of tea, herbal, black, green, chai, etc. Heck, half my garden is made up of herbs that I can use in teas and make my own tea blends. I even bought a tea plant this summer so I can eventually pick my own tea. It'll take about 3 years before the plant is big enough to harvest though, it had 3 leaves on a stem when I bought it.

Currently, I've been drinking Irish breakfast tea in the morning with sugar, fresh pineapple sage leaves and fresh mint leaves (or just sugar and milk if I hadn't picked any herbs that morning). I usually have green tea with lunch, then another cup of green tea or peppermint tea or earl grey in the afternoons. Twinings is very good. I love their Earl Grey and Lady Grey teas. Tazo is wonderful as well. I've been meaning to go to a new Indian store that recently opened up near work, Adivasi, as they have some chai masala assortments, but I haven't made it there yet. I did go to the UK Gourmet store and bought some PG Tips tea bags... PG Tips is really, really good. I love this in the afternoons sometimes too. I always have it with sugar and milk.

[AgentSun]

i have a big supermarket near me called World Market. they import everything they sell, which means 2 aisles of imported chocolate (mmm) and aisles and aisles of imported tea. if anyone has any good suggestions for tea, i'd definitely go check it out.

[trubador]

Chai is a Indian tea drink made with very strong black tea and spiced with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, pepper and all sorts of other spices. There are lots of difference spice mixtures, called chai masala all over the place. It's spicy and milky and yes, quite sweet as well.
So, basically, I can steep my standard tea bag an extra couple minutes, add a bunch of spices from my cupboard, toss in some extra sugar, and pour in a lot of milk.... and I get my own "Cup O' Chai" for 10-cents rather than $3.50+tip.

:shrug: :P

[LT Garrix]

That would be the same way I could pull out my espresso machine and make it myself. It's not out due to space considerations and I generally decide it's worth it to drive down the street and have them make it.

Actually I think it'd be worth it on the Chai if you could get the mixture right.

[VBKatLou]

I can't stand tea or Chai. This woman I work with drinks hot pumpkin/spice chai. It smells good but tasted awful to me. I got a free sample of white cranberry chai. Tasted like watered-down Kool Aid.

[Chryse]

I like this site for chai masala recipes

http://www.odie.org/chai/recipes.html

[Clarsax]

I love chai, but so far the only kind I've been able to make is the really basic kind.

[AgentSun]

i'd just shell out my 3.50 for some chai...making it is waaay too complex for me, especially when i go back to school.

[Afarscapefan]

AS maybe you could ask your teachers to let your class make chai at school as a school project.

A bit off topic.

Anyone tried Rooibos, Rooitea? Caffeine free, low in tannin, rich in anti-oxidants and it still tastes good!! It originates from South Africa. It has more of a bite to it than green tea and I love the colour.

A bit more off topic: I tried a small portion of a potion of gum leaves (eucalyptus) once. Not good. The problem may have been caused by poor preparation of course. Maybe it is an acquired taste. Apparently Koalas get a perpetual high from eating gum leaves. Must try it again some day with a few tips from Chryse.

Weirdly off topic: The strangest drink I have drunk in one of the strangest places I have visited was yak's milk in inner mongolia. As part of a greeting ceremony visitors are given yak's milk with millet (birdseed) in it. It is a grave insult to refuse to drink it - so I'm told. It wouldn't surprise me if they just said this so they could entertain themselves watching visitors faces as they drank yak's milk. Not too bad, not unlike cows milk, sweet, only crunchy.

Now for the stark raving mad OT and taking up trubador's quote

"So, basically, I can steep my standard tea bag an extra couple minutes, add a bunch of spices from my cupboard, toss in some extra sugar, and pour in a lot of milk.... and I get my own "Cup O' Chai" for 10-cents rather than $3.50+tip."

There's no need to buy Farscape DVDs for your friends. You can make your own "Farscape at Home". Trubador come into the bathroom with me. NOW! Hold up this magniying glass and look at all the alien life forms - those green ones are hynerians, those blue ones are delvinians, that big black one must be Scorpius (or a dead fly). No matter how hard you try; you will never get away from them. Now stand here while I turn the tap. Yotz!!! You forgot to jump out of the way of the little yellow bolts of light. Now you are all wet!!! Nevermind about being cold. We'll cut up the leather lounge later and make some sexy leather clothes soon. But before we do that I'll just press this button here .... hey! look at the wormhole swirling round and round. Sit here. Sit DOWN trubador! The best is yet to come. Hold this black wire in your right hand and this red wire in your left hand. I'll just flick the switch. Hey trubador, come back, I havn't shown you the Aurora chair yet. Your whole life is supposed to flash through your mind.

trubador?

truuuuubadoooor

Where did everyone go? :(

[AgentSun]

hahahahahaha that was funny.

i'm here! i'm here! oooh ooh pick me!

[Chryse]

Hey AgentSun,
Tea recommendations are always kind of tricky. What I like may be something you end up hating. lol For now, I'd go by brand. Tazo teas are usually enjoyable, and they have many flavors, even a variety pack. Twinings has been making tea for over 100 years now and they also have a variety pack. PG Tips is a well-known English brand of Black tea. It's very good, very strong, a bit like Lipton's Brisk tea, but better tasting. Chinese teas are complicated. They name the teas by the area in which they were grown and what method was used to cure the tea leaves. They have a variety of black, oolong and green. Japanese teas are usually green teas and are brewed very quickly, like 30 seconds, any longer and they get bitter. I'd say just go by what looks interesting in that imported tea aisle.

afarscapefan wrote
Anyone tried Rooibos, Rooitea? Caffeine free, low in tannin, rich in anti-oxidants and it still tastes good!! It originates from South Africa. It has more of a bite to it than green tea and I love the colour.

A bit more off topic: I tried a small portion of a potion of gum leaves (eucalyptus) once. Not good. The problem may have been caused by poor preparation of course. Maybe it is an acquired taste. Apparently Koalas get a perpetual high from eating gum leaves. Must try it again some day with a few tips from Chryse.

Haven't tried Rooibos teas, though I've heard of them. I've heard from others that they are pretty good. I've been meaning to go look for some.

Never tried eucalyptus tea. I didn't know you could make tea from the leaves. I'll ask around though. And yes, koalas do live perpetually stoned. I read somewhere that the eucalyptus does actually kill them after a lifetime of chemical build-up, though i wouldn't take my word for it.

[AgentSun]

i usually drink Twinings and i've got a pack of Liption because it reminds me of school.

[jayelsee]

This has turned into a really interesting thread (and to think, I really mainly posted it to see if anyone would recognize the slightly paraphrased Douglas Adams quote in my subject line. No one has mentioned that so far).

We have some real tea experts here! I have really learned a lot and can't wait to try some of the suggestions. I really like tea, although, as with wines, I am definitely not an expert. Like to learn, though.

Sadly, I still don't like chai.

[LT Garrix]

I knew I recognized it from somewhere, and kept forgetting to look it up. I thought it was a great title.l ;)

[Afarscapefan]

I recognized the Douglas Adams reference immediately. I know the Salmonella poll question comes from Through the Looking Glass. The others sound familiar but I can't place them back into Farscape episodes. The minty poll question comes from that episode when we were introduced to dentics so it must be early. Cool poll jayelsee :cool:

[AgentSun]

there are different kinds of chai and different flavors, so you might end up finding you one like, jayelsee.

[jayelsee]

It is such a good line, wish I could've taken credit for it. I really envy those of you who can write! I am just reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the first time (I don't know HOW I managed to miss it) and am laughing my a** off!

[jayelsee]

Afarscapefan, the molasses paraphrase was from the first part of Look at the Princess, when John kisses the princess.

AgentSun, I promise I will try another chai sometime (from suggestions here, perhaps?). Not sure what I had, but it was from the coffee shop where my daughter works. She loves chai, but the kind I had was way too sweet for my tastes. Are there any that are less sweet I could try?

[AgentSun]

i don't know, it really depends. the chai i drink from starbucks isn't so sweet in my opinion (i add half and half anyways) but even with it in there, my mom thinks its really sweet.

a good try that is less expensive is starbuck's tazo chai tea latte. it's chai tea with milk. it's cold, and the ice will probably desweeten it a little, so it won't be as sweet. but for some actual chai, you can go to starbucks and get a cup of chai for less than 2.50 and if you don't like it, it's not such a big deal. it's better than going to the store and buying a box for the same amount and not liking it.

[Chryse]

afarscapefan,
I asked on my tea discussion group, and there are a few aussies there. They gave me this link to Billy Tea (http://www.toptown.com/THEEDGE/yaleman/foodold.htm). Apparently only a particular kind of eucalyptus is suitable for tea. The others either don't taste good or aren't good for you. Hope that helps. :)

[trubador]

...Now for the stark raving mad OT and taking up trubador's quote

So, basically, I can steep my standard tea bag an extra couple minutes, add a bunch of spices from my cupboard, toss in some extra sugar, and pour in a lot of milk.... and I get my own "Cup O' Chai" for 10-cents rather than $3.50+tip.

There's no need to buy Farscape DVDs for your friends. You can make your own "Farscape at Home". Trubador come into the bathroom with me. NOW! Hold up this magniying glass and look at all the alien life forms - those green ones are hynerians, those blue ones are delvinians, that big black one must be Scorpius (or a dead fly). No matter how hard you try; you will never get away from them. Now stand here while I turn the tap. Yotz!!! You forgot to jump out of the way of the little yellow bolts of light. Now you are all wet!!! Nevermind about being cold. We'll cut up the leather lounge later and make some sexy leather clothes soon. But before we do that I'll just press this button here .... hey! look at the wormhole swirling round and round. Sit here. Sit DOWN trubador! The best is yet to come. Hold this black wire in your right hand and this red wire in your left hand. I'll just flick the switch. Hey trubador, come back, I havn't shown you the Aurora chair yet. Your whole life is supposed to flash through your mind.

trubador?

truuuuubadoooor

Where did everyone go?
Ooooooooooooooo.... wormholes..............aaahhhhhhhhhh.....

[~Nikki]

I love Chai! I am addicted. It's a little taste of India!


Chai latte, Chai smoothie.................yum!

[Afarscapefan]

Let me see I think I'll pick on ... I mean pick AgentSun next.

AgentSun was a drinker of chai,
Who thought she'd try chakan oil pie.
The chai tastes good
And so did the food
But she sneezed and was blown up sky high!

;)

[AyuRocks]

Ok... so for the first time ever I bought a chai from Starbucks. I've gotta say, it was horrible. Oregon Chai latte's are way better, a lot cheaper, and easy as pie to make yourself.

So, if you've never had it go find a grocery store that carries it (I've seen it at Meijer before) or head out to your local Cost Plus/World Market if you have one, because they always have it. Make sure to get the liquid kind, not the bag kind because it's gross.

All you gotta do is mix 1 part milk with one part liquid chai and heat or drink chilled, and it's way better than that spice water at Starbucks. ymmv, of course.

We have a Oregon Chai Latte machine at school.... oh how I miss that. yumm.

http://www.oregonchai.com/ <--they have locations that sell it.

[Afarscapefan]

Obviously people here have a sweet tooth. The oregon chai latte sounds good.

It tastes totally unlike chai, but has anyone tried Indian lasse (not sure of the spelling). It is a thin sort of yoghurt and is nice as a desert after a hot curry.

I prefer a mango lasse. Smooth and sweet. Yum. :yum:

[TalynLives]

I like chai but it's way too sweet so I can only drink it very occasionally (both for its effects on my waste line and the way I can feel a little sickly after it). If there was a half-sugar version of it readily available, I might drink it more often.

[AgentSun]

Let me see I think I'll pick on ... I mean pick AgentSun next.

AgentSun was a drinker of chai,
Who thought she'd try chakan oil pie.
The chai tastes good
And so did the food
But she sneezed and was blown up sky high!

;)

hahahahaha. thank you!

I like chai but it's way too sweet so I can only drink it very occasionally (both for its effects on my waste line and the way I can feel a little sickly after it). If there was a half-sugar version of it readily available, I might drink it more often.

i believe that at starbucks, adding more milk helps. it doesn't degrade the chai experience because you're looking for chai that is less sweet. mixing in a bit more milk will help it, i think.


i like the chai at starbucks...i think it tastes like pumpkin pie.