Chocolate Chai

All out of cocoa mix so I made chocolate chai this week. Following recipe is for about two 12 oz cups.

Vanilla chai

• 1 1/2-2 cups water
• 1-1 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tsp chai tea (I prefer vanilla chai) or 2-3 chai teabags or put together your own chai tea
• About 3 tsp loose tea leaves (or 2-3 teabags) I prefer black
• The following spices - about a 1/4-1/2 tsp of each (Feel free to leave out anything you don't like or most likely do not have):



Cinnamon chips

• cinnamon (I prefer cinnamon sticks or chips over ground cinnamon)
• ginger (Fresh will be hotter, but dried or ground will do)
• cardamon
• nutmeg
• peppercorns
• clove
• vanilla (extract will do, piece of vanilla bean if you have it) vanilla helps to bring out the chocolate taste

• 2-3 tbs powdered baking chocolate (Or hot chocolate mix would be even better, but I don't have any tonight) 
• 2-3tsp sugar and/or 1-2 tsp honey 

You'll also need a tea strainer, or rig up something to strain out your chai, any kind of mesh strainer or a coffee filter and funnel. I assume anyone reading this has a pot big enough to hold 4 cups of water. 

1. Set the water in a pot on the stove at a medium heat. Add the chocolate, and if you're making the chai from scratch add the spices at this step. 
2. When the water starts getting hot (Starting to steam) add the tea leaves. 
3. When the water starts to steam add the milk, you can also add the sugar/honey at this step. Or you might want to hold off and add the sugar/honey to your cup.
4. Keep the chai at a medium heat until it just starts to boil. Of course if you're like me you'll turn your back for 10 seconds and when you turn around it will be boiling over and making a mess of the stovetop. If you added the sugar/honey at step 3 it will be extra sticky. 
5. Strain the chai into cups. If you are not wiping the sticky mess off your stove right now add the sugar/honey to your chai now. 
6. Caution: Chai will be hot enough to burn your lips, tongue and if you swallow it will burn your throat. Sip carefully until it cools. Do not sue me because you scalded yourself. 

I thought it would be fun to add a candy cane to my chai. I even had the foresight to unwrap it first. The crook was broken off so it was less visually appealing. Unsurprisingly the chai was so hot it melted the candy cane really fast and I got to watch it slowly sink into the chai like a giraffe in quicksand. I do not recommend adding a candy cane to chai, though it did give a nice hint of peppermint.

sTEAp Shoppe - Caramel Apple, Darjeeling Song, Swedish Delight

I love winning things. Being terribly untalented I don't win anything very often but once in a while I win by pure luck. Recently I won in a giveaway from Soroitea Sisters, a Tall Tea Gift box from the sTEAp Shoppe. I got to pick out three different teas to try out, finally I settled on Caramel Apple, Darjeeling Song and Swedish Delight. A couple days later it arrived in the mail.

First off I'm impressed by the packaging. The gift box itself is pretty sturdy. The tins are also sturdy and have screw on lids so I won't be struggling to pry a tin open and fling half the tea across the kitchen. And to make it easier brewing suggestions are printed right on the tins.

I decided to try the caramel apple first. Here is my Steepster review:

Caramel apple, notice how clear it is

My Tall Tea Gift Box came today! I’m so excited! Right away I tore open the padded envelope, opened the box and started twisting the lids off the tins (Those are really nice tins too) and sniffing every tea. I decided to try the Caramel Apple first.
I may have put more tea than necessary in my tea strainer, but i hate having a tea being too weak because I didn’t add enough tea. Then I had issues with the thermometer trying to get the water at 205 degrees, I need to get a proper tea thermometer, the one I was using was inaccurate, or water boils at 200 degrees.
While the tea was still hot all I could taste was apple and assam tea. As it cooled I began to taste caramel, slight hint of chocolate. If you drink this tea too fast you’ll miss out.
This tea is fine on its own though a little sugar will not ruin it.

The Caramel Apple tea held up to a second steeping,  the apple taste was weaker, the caramel more noticeable.

The next day I tried the Darjeeling Song, here is my Steepster review:

Darjeeling Song with milk and sugar

This is a strong tea, strong smelling and strong brewing.

I have to admit at first sip I was afraid I would hate this tea. I tried a spoonful right after steeping it, no milk or sugar and it was horrible, absolutely horrible! I added milk and a little sugar and my second sip was a little better. I waited a few minutes before taking another sip and it was really, really good. As the tea sat and cooled a little the cardamon and vanilla must have been doing something together and made the tea a lot smoother and more pleasant to drink.

The second steeping was even better than the first, the cardamon was not weakened and I could feel the spice prickling on my tongue. I had some M&M cookies to dip in the tea and it was amazing.

Cookies and there's a little tea left

The tea even stood up to a third steeping. It was starting to get weaker but I think I might have even managed a fourth steeping but it's getting late and I don't want the caffeine keeping me up all night.  

Just wow, this tea might not be for everyone, first sip is unpleasant but stick with it, it gets better.

Saved Swedish Delight for last, it sounded exotic but was probably the least exotic tasting of the three teas I had gotten. But it was good, I like citrus teas. My Steepster review:

Swedish Delight

A nice, citrus-tasting tea. Also tastes like cranberries, which I guess is the lingonberries. Slight hints of cardamon. As this tea cools I notice that it tastes fruitier. This cup I only added a touch of sugar to, but I might try it with a little milk later.

This tea almost feels familiar, which is a good thing. Not a bad tea to start the day off with.

Swedish Delight, second steeping

Second steeping- about 4 minutes with 200 degree water. The cardamon is more noticeable, the citrus/berry taste is only a little weaker, same for the ceylon tea. How do they make tea this strong? Didn't add any sugar to this cup. No milk either, on second thought I'm not sure if the lingonberry would curdle milk and don't want to risk it. 

I had noticed that a lot of the teas and ingredients are organic, if you're trying to go organic the sTEAp Shoppe is a good place to try.