Homemade Instant Spiced Chai Mix

[psyche29]

If you're like me, you are baffled and irritated by the asinine cost of spiced chai in the supermarket. I found - and fiddled with - a recipe to make my OWN instant chai, and want to share! Recipe under the cut, along with my own notes and tips.


YUM.

HOMEMADE SPICED CHAI MIX

1 C nonfat dry milk powder
1 C powdered non-dairy creamer
1 C French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2 C granulated sugar
½ C Confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
1½ C unsweetened instant tea
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom

Optional:
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp honey powder
¼ tsp anise seed
¼ tsp white pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine milk powder, creamer, vanilla creamer, sugar, powdered sugar and tea. Stir in spices and any optional ingredients, then blend one cup at a time in a blender or food processor until it’s the consistency of fine powder. Store in an airtight container. This’ll make about 8 cups of mix, give or take a cup.

2. To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons into a mug of hot water.

My notes from making it:

1. When it says use a large bowl, it’s not kidding.

2. Blending one cup at a time is a good piece of advice; more than that will prevent the mix from breaking down into the fine consistency you’ll want. If you’re using a blender like I did, you’ll want to stop after a few seconds to give it a shake and get more of the mix down into the blades, then grind/blend some more. The finer the mix, the fewer bits and pieces will be left in the bottom of your cup.

3. You can find VERY good prices on things like cardamom in ethnic markets; they tend to have much better prices for spices. Honey powder can be found in most international markets, or online for decent prices, too. I get my honey powder HERE.

4. Next time I make this, I will probably leave out the white pepper. It’s great as is - not too spicy, so I’ve been drinking it the way I made it - but as a super-taster, I can tell it’s there. If you have any aversion to pepper or spiciness, I would use only 1/8 tsp of white pepper, or leave it out entirely and use just a dash of regular black pepper.

5. The original recipe I found called for 2½ cups of white sugar and NO powdered sugar, but I made the change for the extra bit of sweetness.

6. Don’t use 2 heaping tablespoons. I used 6 ounces of hot water and 2 teaspoons was plenty, but maybe that’s just the super-taster talking. *shrugs* Just use your own tastes and discretion.

Xposted in my own journal, too.

Comments

[delphinapterus]

Thanks for sharing. Do you know about how long the mix will keep? I know tea, if stored right, will be good for ~2 years but I'm guessing that's probably too long for this mix.

[psyche29]

You know, I've only made it the once so far, back in early February. It made a ton - or what seemed like a ton, and even after giving away a good portion of it, I'm only just now getting down to the last 10 tablespoons or so, and it's still as fresh as it was the day I made it.

I think that given a nice, solid seal, it should keep for quite a while. My best guess would be a year at most, but I go through it too quickly to find out. Sorry I can't be more helpful!

[delphinapterus]

I suspect I'll likely not have to worry about this anyway. I'm excited to try this out then try variations with some of the different versions of spice tea that I have along with liquid honey.

[florahart]

Re: spices, it may also be worth checking the "ethnic" area(s) of a supermarket. At the supermarket I frequent because it is just up the road, I have three choices for many spices: in the baking section, in the cute labeled jar with the shaker top, which costs like $6 for a couple-three ounces; in bulk foods, where I get no cute jar but the cost to buy like half a cup, which is as much as would be in those jars, depends on the spice but is often like $.29 or or $.36 something; or for a whole slew of spices, in the "Mexican" section, where I can get packages of about that same size for $1.29.

[psyche29]

That's a good point, thanks for bringing it up. I tend to leave stuff like that out when it doesn't apply to me - none of the ethnic areas in the supermarkets near me have spices in them. We've only found them in the baking aisle, or in bulk in the natural/organic food section. And cardamom, for instance, we only found in a two-ounce bottle for $10-$12. I found four ounces of it at a nearby ethnic/Middle-Eastern grocery for $3.49. If you can find it in the special sections of your local supermarket, that's great!

[amadi]

I've done something like this and left out the milk powder and then used soy milk instead of water to actually make the drinks. It worked beautifully, both hot and cold.

[psyche29]

Yes, that would be good, too!

[drgaellon]

Confectioner's sugar isn't actually any sweeter than granulated sugar, and I'd think the cornstarch in it would tend to give the chai a funny consistency. Superfine sugar, which has smaller crystals, dissolves faster and may be a better choice. (Also, since the crystals are smaller, they pack tighter, so you get more sugar-by-weight in 2 cups with the superfine.)

[psyche29]

It always seems sweeter to me, but now that I think about it, your point makes sense. It didn't have a weird consistency at all, but it may be that I only replaced half a cup with it. I will definitely try the superfine sugar, though - what a great idea! Thanks!