In America we often use the word "chai" to describe a certain kind of black tea beverage. In most of the rest of the world, "chai" simply means "tea," and what we think of as "chai" is really "Masala chai" or black tea prepared with milk and spices. Therefore, and entertainingly, "chai tea" is as redundant as "ATM Machine" and "PIN Number." I'd not had a chai in a while, so I recently thought I'd re-visit this eye-opening drink.
When I first tried chai, I was attracted to it's sweet smoothness. Today, drinking an iced chai, I was most drawn to it's spicy flavor. Morning Fix serves Sattwa Chai, which has an intense peppery taste at first which mellows out into a cinnamon aftertaste. I take mine with soymilk, which adds a mild sweetness to the drink. With a black tea base, this beverage has some caffeine kick, but not nearly as much as a coffee based drink. Honestly it goes down so easy I feel like I could drink a gallon of this elixir.
One of the great things about coffee culture is that it's international, and chai is definitely a part of modern coffee culture. The mixture of spices that changes "tea" into "chai" makes me think of exotic bazaars full of color and aroma. I like thinking that as I'm sipping happily on this drink, someone in India is enjoying the same beverage, and we're both participating in the same tradition. For anyone who finds the roasted flavor of coffee to be too intense, a cup of chai is a very lively alterntative.
No comments:
Post a Comment