RRC Archives

longlegs, I would love your recipe for chai. I am not a coffee fan but I love chai tea. I usually use the powdered mixes you can buy at some stores, and they are pretty good.

I get the powdered ones sometimes too...but it's cheaper to make it yourself...you'll probably only have to go out and buy one of the spices...the rest you probably already have in your home...this makes a great holiday drink for when your friends come over too...

2 cups water
4 bags black tea
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Boil water, add tea bags and reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove bags. Stir in other stuff (I would do it slowly bc they tend to stick together). Heat until wisps of steam rise from the surface of the mixture.
Stir with wire whisk to foam.

For iced chai stick it in your fridge to cool it, then add 1 cup crushed ice to the mixture in your blender and blend on high till smooth.

I tried making it as a concentrate (without the milk)...not a good idea...it'll keep in your fridge. You can also work on the spices to suit your taste...and actually pick your fav chai powder and add what's in it to your chai. The Cardamom smells great...

I sound like a saleswoman.

Oh...and I bet that chai would go great with Sandy's banana bread recipe.

http://www.odie.org/chai/recipes.html
http://coffeetea.about.com/cs/hottea/index.htm
http://www.foodtv.com/food/recipes/reci ... 93,00.html

i drink 2-3 cups a day (or 1 if your into doozies)

is it weird though that i don't get a caffeine rush? really, i don't. i just drink it because i like the taste. somedays i even get decaf to protect my bones... anyone else joining this freak's parade?

of course though, if its folgers, sorry to be a snob, but i ain't putting that anywhere near my gullet.

thanks longlegs. I'll try that out.

i've got a good recipe for "black" tea. really gets you in the holiday spirit and makes you feel good about yourself. if anyone is interested, let me know.

Melted coal? I've tried that, tasty with a little bit of asparagus.

no child. it's a little more "racy" than that.

What the heck is wrong with Folgers? Summertime I have 1 cup in the morning,decaf. Wintertime I fill a thermos for work, sometimes its gone by lunch.

Its the strangest thing that I saw in France. They were drinking shit-loads of instant coffee. You would think that the people who invented "gourmet" and the five star system (Michelin, thank you very much!) would have sense enough to drink only the 'good' stuff! I guess that it goes to show that we in America can make anything pretensious and fashionable. i try to stay away from the 'herd' mentality propagated by cliques.
Just for arguements sake, taste test it. Get a cup of foldgers and a cup of the good stuff. Ask the man on the street which is better and I think it could go either way. Taste is so perception dependent.

I have to say I was against the instant coffee thing, but I actually found two kinds I liked while living on the other side of the pond. It was hard to come by coffee pots of the kind I am used to here in Amurika.

Nescafe made a pretty good dark instant and then they also (Nescafe) had this crazy liquid stuff you got in the refridge section of the grocery store. You dailed up what strength you wanted, squirted it into a cup and added water - it was actually better than what most people make in their pots at home.

I am a big fan of the french press too...which was the alternative to instant over there. Seems like I can make a much STRONGER - pop-your-eyes-out-grow-hair-on-your-chest kinda brew in one of those than in a coffee machine.

Oh then there's the grind-you-own-beans thing too, which is fun and noisy in the morning...and it makes me feel a little bit closer to Juan V. and his donkey pal.

I tried this earthy organic stuff once made out of everything but coffee I think and yeah that wasn't so good......

But I digress and need another cup of coffee myself really and and and buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.