So naturally, when it comes to chai, I’ve anointed myself an expert.
While I’ve been folded into my family tradition of daily tea, brewed by an exact science with heaps of grated ginger and cardamom, I occasionally lack the time to steep my usual cup(s) and have to outsource the job. Imagine my disappointment when I tasted the overly sweet, weak “chai tea” peddled in mermaid-emblazoned cups, little more than mass market chai decoction. Luckily, not all tea concentrates are created equal—enter the Chai Box. Crafted in small batches by a woman-owned company in Atlanta, their Chai Concentrate is staggeringly good.
Unlike similar chai products that lose flavor when mixed, this concentrate has a clean flavor that shines through milk, with clear, warm notes of cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, cloves and ginger. It’s assertive, but comforting, and hot or iced drinks come together in minutes, if not seconds. It’s a morning hero. Most importantly, it’s real chai. It even passes muster with my mother, the true chai queen. Huzzah!
The 16 ounce bottle goes quickly at my house. I’ll bring some to a simmer and add milk, or pour it over ice—it’s excellent both ways. The concentrate makes delicious ice cubes, which I like for the “iced dirty chai”—a chai latte finished with a shot of espresso—I MacGyver in the summer: cold brew, whole milk and chai ice cubes. And if you like that flavor combination, a splash isn’t amiss in an espresso martini (you heard it here first).
It’s fabulous as ice cubes, and in dessert—you can go as simple as a powdered sugar–Chai Box glaze for scones and bundt cakes, or get creative and stir it into ice cream base, batters, frostings, even the milk mixture for Tres Leches. Inspired. It’s even good on oatmeal.
Maybe you’re a coffee person, or wish to stick with Starbucks, but if you’re willing to go by Word of Mouth, then the Chai Box’s Chai Concentrate is worth a try in your morning ritual. I certainly will never be without a bottle.
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