Comment

Comment by Jo Bowlin-Johnson on January 29, 2008 at 12:00pm

>>At the end of the day, we make it that way because that's just how we roll. It tastes better, it's more traditional, and it's made with real ingredients.

Amen to that!

Comment by The Barista Formerly Known As JavaJ on January 29, 2008 at 10:24am

Joe, you have a point with the boiling, but that is actually how traditional chai is made in India. One of the advantages of the method I mentioned above is that the tea is not boiled, but I have had traditional chai that was, and it still tasted good.

The main disadvantage to our method is controlling consistency. Most of our customers understand that a hand crafted drink is going to be a little different drink to drink. Also, in a morning rush, some customers get impatient waiting even one more minute than they otherwise would. Another advantage, however, is that we can customize how strong the tea, spice or sugar is. That way when someone comes in and expects a Starbies type chai, I just back off the tea and spice and add more sugar.

At the end of the day, we make it that way because that's just how we roll. It tastes better, it's more traditional, and it's made with real ingredients.

Comment by Jo Bowlin-Johnson on January 29, 2008 at 7:07am

One more thing, loose tea is not sweetened, so I usually use honey to sweeten it or use one of the syrup flavors. It gives you so many more options without having to buy a whole bunch of mixes - anything to save space and money.

Comment by Jo Bowlin-Johnson on January 29, 2008 at 7:04am

I used loose leaf chai tea all the time. I brew it two ways, depending on time. I either use about a tablespoon of tea to 1/2 - 1 cup of water, depending on the cup size and let it steep while I make a couple of other drinks.

If it's the only one I'm making, I brew it through the espresso machice, 1 tablespoon in the portafilter and just run short single shots, waiting briefly between each until I have the volume I want. But if you're going to do this, make sure you use a clean brew head. I have one side of my espresso machine dedicated to only tea.

I get my tea at Tempest Tea. They have a very good mix that brews well. They gave me the idea of doing it through the espresso machine.

Comment by Jason Duncan on January 28, 2008 at 5:03pm

We tried it in a silk tea bag but maybe the infuser is a better bet. Or, I guess we can just stick to a concentrate and save a headache!

Thanks for your help.

Comment by James Spano on January 28, 2008 at 4:26pm

Haven't tried this, just a suggestion, "being bold" as you asked. Have you used an infuser ball? Open it up, put in tea, clove, cin, etc. put it in freshly steamed milk and let it steep for a few. Remove, add sugar to taste. Voila. Maybe.

Comment by Joe Stormer on January 28, 2008 at 7:32am

Isn't boiling tea (whether black or green) as bad, if not worse, than over-steeping? The foul, astringent flavor will be well hidden behind the spices, sugar and milk, but still why would you want bad tea in your chai?

What is your goal with looseleaf? Is it have fresh chai (<24 hrs) or chai made on the spot? I've not had much chance to experiment with it, but I've heard good things about creating a concentrate by brewing strong black tea, straining the looseleaf, adding the spices and allowing it to cold-brew overnight and straining the spices in the morning. No heat would be applied except when adding hot water to the tea. You could have fresh, unique chai made to your own specifications as part of your closing procedure. Pre-blend your spices and your baristas could probably easily make it in less than ten minutes with very little effort.

Comment by Jason Duncan on January 28, 2008 at 6:03am

So you let it steep in water, then add milk and steam it... I guess I should have tried that. I think we tried to let it steep in milk and it did not work very well.

What disadvantages are you finding?

I know that Caffe DArte in Seattle uses loose leaf for their chai lattes and it is great.

Comment by The Barista Formerly Known As JavaJ on January 28, 2008 at 12:56am

We make every chai latte to order using "Tea India" and a blend of traditional spices. We can then spice or sweeten to taste. We let it steep for a minute, add milk, steam and then strain. It has many disadvantages, but taste is not one of them.

Comment by Jason Duncan on January 27, 2008 at 6:04pm

Thanks for the info Ray. I will check it out!

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