Chai Tea

 

Captain Crawley, Anna and Bates, Lord Grantham, Lady Mary, Cora! I'm obsessed. Lord Grantham was in my dreams last night - I may need an intervention. My husband has been given the pet name Lord Melvie. My inner voice chimes in with witty little sayings like: "simply mahhh-velous!" or "brilliant!". English people are so polite and have the best vocabulary.

I may need to pick up a good habit or two from Downton Abbey. Like drinking tea! The English would probably be frightfully disdained at my version of chai tea, because I'm guessing its very "un-English" by adding sweetened condensed milk and lots of spicy cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Maybe Cora the American would approve.

Am I the only one out there that leaves a little bit of the sweetened condensed milk at the bottom of the can so that you can lick it out? Probably. Sooo yummy. Sooo naughty. Sooo dangerous with that sharp tin can top about to slice my greedy finger in half. 

Get out the spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, ginger. Very fall. Very spicy. Very good. 

Dump in the goodness. Get ready to be amazed. If you prefer an extra kick in your pants heap your spices, but I used restraint (weird) and didn't heap. Your choice - to heap or not to heap? That is the question.

Stir it up. A little more. Little more. Yep, that's good. Now pour it in a glass container and into the fridge overnight to meld and marry and become best buddies with each other.

Now brew some hot chai tea. And spoon this magic into your cup. About a teaspoon or two, depending on your sweet tooth du jour. 

Stir it up and practice your English accent, my dahhhling.

Printable Recipe Here

Chai Tea
flavors about 24 cups of tea

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon cardamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves

Place the milk in a small bowl, add spices and mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons per cup of brewed chai tea.