What is Chai Tea? (2024)

Chai is steeped in a rich history. The name “chai” is actually the Hindi word for “tea”, which was derived from “cha”, the Chinese word for “tea”. In this case, the Hindi term chai means a mix of spices steeped into a tea-like beverage. Recipes for chai vary across continents, cultures, towns and families. But the traditional ingredients of a spiced tea blend usually include black tea mixed with strong spices, like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and black peppercorns. The spiced tea mixture is typically brewed strong with milk and sweetened with sugar or honey. However, the milky sweet tea treat we order in coffee and tea shops today has very little in common with the origins of Indian chai.

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What is Chai Tea? (1)

Chai origins

Legend has it that the origin of chai dates back more than 5,000 years, when a king in what is now India ordered a healing spiced beverage be created for use in Ayurveda, a traditional medicinal practice in which herbs and spices are used for healing. The heat from ginger and black pepper was believed to stimulate digestion; the antiseptic properties in cloves were thought to help relieve pain; cardamom was used as a mood elevator; cinnamon supported circulation and respiratory function; and star anise was known to freshen the breath.

As the healing beverage spread across India a wide variety of spices were used to prepare the drink, depending on the region of the continent or even the neighborhood where the beverage was being made.

Believe it or not, original versions of “masala chai”, or “spiced tea”, contained no actual Camellia sinensis tea leaves. Milk and sugar were also later additions to the famous drink. The addition of black tea leaves, milk and sugar were popularized thousands of years later (in the mid-1800s) when the Camellia sinensis assamica tea plant variety was discovered in India and cultivated by the British, who ruled continent at the time and had an insatiable desire for strong black tea with milk and sugar.

Components of chai

Since traditional chai beverages can vary from town-to-town and family-to-family, there is no one recipe that defines chai. But the beverage typically consists of these ingredient categories:

What is Chai Tea? (2)Tea: The Assam and Darjeeling black teas native to India are most popular to use as a chai base. But you’ll also find chai made with various types of green teas, the South American herb yerba mate or the South African herb red rooibos. You may also find completely herbal blends made only from spices and containing no tea leaves.

What is Chai Tea? (3)Sweetener: White sugar, brown sugar and honey are typical chai sweeteners, but other sugars, like demerara, turbinado or coconut, may also be used. Jaggery, an unrefined cane sugar, is a popular sweetener used in parts of India.

What is Chai Tea? (4) Milk: Indian chai is often made with buffalo milk. But the more Western version that we are used to is typically made with cow’s milk or dairy alternatives, like soy, almond, rice and coconut milks. You may also find yak or goat milk in other chai beverages around the world. Some recipes will have you steep a strong chai in water and then dilute it with milk. Other recipes have you simmer the chai spices in a mixture of water and milk or in all milk.

What is Chai Tea? (5)Spices: The spices, or “masala”, used in chai will vary by region, climate and cultural preference. Traditionally, cardamom, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and black peppercorns were dominant chai spices and all readily available in India. Vanilla, nutmeg, mace, star anise or fennel may also be seen in some traditional recipes. As chai moved west, bay leaf, allspice, cacao or saffron became popular additions. Coriander and cumin may also show up in some recipes.

Tasting chai

The huge variation of chai recipes means the beverage can take on many different flavor directions depending on the ingredients used. Chai that’s heavy on the ginger and black peppercorns can leave a fire-y bite. Others containing more vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg may leave behind a sweeter note. Those with saffron or cacao may impart some earthy bitterness. And those using fennel or cumin may have a more savory note.

As a nod to Teatulia®’s tea garden origins on the subcontinent of India, our Teatulia Chai Tea was created with the more classic, original Indian chai flavors in mind. With a blend of black tea, ginger, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon, our chai is a beautiful balance of smooth and spicy. The bold spiciness of ginger and strong sweetness of clove shine through, but the spices don’t overshadow our full-bodied black tea leaves. Our chai is just as lovely steeped in water alone as it is with the addition of your favorite milk or sugar.

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What is Chai Tea? (6)

Caffeine content in chai

Teatulia Chai Tea contains black tea and so is similar in caffeine content to Teatulia Black Tea, which contains about half the caffeine than a cup of coffee. Ultimately, though, the caffeine content in any chai will vary depending on the amount of Camellia sinensis tea leaves the blend contains, where that tea plant was cultivated and how it was processed, and the way the chai was ultimately brewed for your cup.

Preparing chai

Since chai blends may contain different tea bases and different teas can have varying ideal brewing temperatures and steeping times, always ask your tea vendor for specific brewing instructions for the chai you purchased. Here are some general chai brewing tips to keep in mind:

  • Chai can be steeped in water alone, a mixture of water and milk, or in milk alone, depending on your preference. (You never want to truly boil milk, though, or you could scald or burn it, leaving an off flavor.)
  • If your chai came with specific recommendations for brewing, use those. But using about 2 grams of loose leaf chai blend per 8 oz. cup of water/milk is a safe bet.
  • Always start with fresh, pure, cold filtered water when brewing tea. Spring water is the best. And cover your tea while it steeps to keep all the heat in the steeping vessel.
  • Here is one classic chai steeping method: Steep your chai blend in one quarter to one half boiled water for up to 5 minutes (for chai with black or green tea leaves) or up to 15 minutes (for an herbal chai). Meanwhile, heat desired amount of milk to just barely a boil. Stir hot milk and desired sweetener into the water-steeped chai mixture. Strain and enjoy.
  • Just as with straight black tea or green teas, you don’t want to oversteep a chai blend that contain tea or it may release some bitterness and astringency from the tea leaves. Taste your chai after the recommended steeping time and then decide if you’d like it to steep a little longer.
  • If your chai contains black tea, it can be brewed a bit longer and in slightly hotter water temperatures than chai that contains green tea. Generally, this is somewhere between 200 and 212 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. If your chai has a green tea base, it should be steeped at a lower temperature, somewhere around 170 to 190 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. (If you don’t have an electric kettle with temperature control, just remember that at sea level water simmers at 190 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. The boiling temperature drops about a degree for every 1,000 feet in altitude increase.)

Buying and storing chai

A chai blend, just like any other tea blend, won’t really go “bad”, but it can get stale. To ensure you’re getting the freshest chai, buy it from a reputable company that can tell you when and how the chai was processed and packaged. Chai tea blends can stay fresh for up to a year with these storage tips in mind:

  • Always store tea in a cool, dark place.
  • Keep your tea away from heat, light, oxygen and moisture, and never store tea in the refrigerator.
  • Tea will last longer if stored in an opaque, airtight container.
  • Don’t let tea share the pantry with items like coffee and spices that can leach their flavor into the tea leaves.

For more information about how to best care for your tea, visit our How to Store Tea page.
Learn more about how tea is made.
Learn more about our single garden direct organic tea.

What is Chai Tea? (2024)

FAQs

What is in chai tea? ›

Recipes for chai vary across continents, cultures, towns and families. But the traditional ingredients of a spiced tea blend usually include black tea mixed with strong spices, like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and black peppercorns.

What does chai tea do for you? ›

Chai tea is a fragrant, spicy tea that may help boost heart health, reduce blood sugar levels, aid digestion and help with weight loss. Although most of these health benefits are backed by science, it's worth noting that they are generally linked to the ingredients used in chai tea rather than chai tea itself.

What is chai tea short for? ›

But in India, chai is not a flavor of tea; it is tea—chai literally translates to "tea" in Hindi, so when you are saying "chai tea," you are basically saying, "tea tea." What we think of in America as this highly specialized beverage is, in India, simply the standard way of preparing tea.

Is chai tea healthier than coffee? ›

Chai lattes are rich in antioxidants, which help eliminate free radicals in the body, reducing cellular damage. On the other hand, the high caffeine content in coffee can lead to side effects such as anxiety, digestive problems, insomnia, muscle breakdown, and heart palpitations.

Is chai tea full of caffeine? ›

One cup of chai from the powdered form has 25 to 55mg of caffeine while in the concentrate, it's more likely to be 30 to 35mg. Compare that to roughly 120mg in your average cup of coffee and it's obvious that if you want to be a lively bag of beans, you'll probably want to stick to those, well, coffee beans.

What is the difference between chai tea and regular tea? ›

In very broad and simple terms the difference between tea and chai is that tea is the drink made from loose leaves and enjoyed plain or with a spot of milk, while almost all chais use a strong CTC base which is balanced by the addition of milk and intensified in aroma and flavors by the addition of spices.

Is it OK to drink chai everyday? ›

Can you drink chai tea every day? Black tea varieties, like chai tea, are considered safe for drinking daily. But black tea has a range of caffeine, from 30 to 50 milligrams, so it's best to limit daily tea drinking.

Does chai tea burn belly fat? ›

Metabolism is the process by which your body burns calories. Chai tea contains a compound called catechins, which has been shown to increase metabolism. Additionally, chai tea can help to reduce your appetite and make you feel fuller for longer. Chai tea benefits weight loss by helping to burn fat.

Does chai tea help you sleep? ›

For some, chai tea may indeed promote relaxation and prepare them for a restful night's sleep, while others might be more affected by its caffeine content. If you enjoy a cup of chai tea in the evenings, it's essential to pay attention to how it affects your body and adjust your consumption accordingly.

What is chai called in America? ›

In the US chai tea refers to a specific spice flavor palet that usually contains the following combination (though it can have other spices/flavors, as well): anise, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger. Also marketing. It is marketed as a separate type of tea.

Why you don't say chai tea? ›

So saying "chai tea" is pretty redundant. It actually just means "tea... tea". It (kinda?) made sense at the time, it was a way of explaining this drink to a new audience, building the English translation directly into the name.

What is chai supposed to taste like? ›

It has a wonderfully warm, spicy flavor that is incredibly inviting. Chai tea has a sweet, spiced flavor that is similar to black tea with notes of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, and clove. It is typically creamy and has a subtle sweetness.

Is chai tea anti-inflammatory? ›

Chai tea is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, which may help to boost the immune system and prevent various diseases. The spices in chai tea, such as ginger and cinnamon, are known for their immune-boosting properties.

Is chai tea anti-aging? ›

Studies show the antioxidants found in teas may prevent and treat human diseases like cardiovascular disease (CVD) and may also be anti-aging and anti-diabetic. “For people who find themselves maybe with occasional gas, bloating or stomach discomfort, then consuming chai can certainly help,” Crumble Smith says.

Is chai tea better with milk or water? ›

Digestive Comfort: The presence of milk in chai can help alleviate the potential acidity or irritation that some people may experience with plain water-based chai.

What is traditional chai made of? ›

Masala chai is made with black tea, spices, sugar and milk. It is basically black tea simmered with spices, sugar and milk. Various spices like cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms, nutmeg, black pepper and ginger are used.

Is chai an anti inflammatory? ›

Chai tea is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, which may help to boost the immune system and prevent various diseases. The spices in chai tea, such as ginger and cinnamon, are known for their immune-boosting properties.

Is chai a sugar or honey? ›

It can be sweetened with either sugar or honey, though honey is the more traditional choice. The flavor and aroma of chai should be rich and full, with a creamy, milky, sweet and spicy flavor.

Does chai tea make you sleepy? ›

For some, chai tea may indeed promote relaxation and prepare them for a restful night's sleep, while others might be more affected by its caffeine content. If you enjoy a cup of chai tea in the evenings, it's essential to pay attention to how it affects your body and adjust your consumption accordingly.

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