Teaism's Chai

Last time I ordered from Penzey’s I picked out some broken-up pieces of cassia cinnamon, but I’ve had some trouble finding a use for them. Until now. It kind of has some heat, and I found it was the perfect thing to use in a recipe for chai I found in The New American Cooking by Joan Nathan (which I was not so excited about when I first started leafing through it, but now I’ve found a few recipes in it I love, including this one and a recipe for banana overnight French toast that I’ll write up eventually). This recipe is from Teaism in D.C. It’s all about the technique.

You start by bringing 2 ½ cups cold water to a boil, then add 1 broken-up cinnamon stick (or the equivalent in cinnamon pieces), 5 crushed cardamom pods and 5 whole cloves. Let that boil for 2 minutes, then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of loose tea over the top and add ½ cup milk and 1 ½ teaspoon sugar (or less, if you don’t like it so sweet). Bring it back up to a boil, then strain and serve.