EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP
THEME: TYPES OF TEA
RECIPE: ICED CHAI SAFFRON LATTE
Iced Chai Saffron Latte is a spicy, flavourful, cooling tea drink that is ideal to beat the summer heat. Enjoy it with some whipped cream or without it.
What Is Tea?
Tea is the young leaves and buds picked from an evergreen shrub called camellia sinensis. All the different kinds of teas we know come from a specific species of camellia sinensis.
Where Does Originate From?
There are so many varieties of tea out there that it gets really confusing which one is the best. I say the one that you like, is the best. In fact, tea in many countries is a serious affair. Actually, Tea originates from Southwest China where is was consumed for medicinal purposes. It became popular as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang Dynasty. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th Century.
It is during the 18th Century that the United Kingdom became great tea drinkers. The British Empire is instrumental in spreading tea from China to India. However, some historians indicate that the famous sanjeevani tea plant may have been the first record of tea in India.
Some Tea Traditions
In different parts of the world, tea is consumed in different manners. Tea consummation in most countries is not a hurried affair. It is savoured slowly. Enjoying tea is a tradition in most of these countries. One relaxes over a cup of tea.
- Take the famous English Tea which is suppose to be enjoyed over a length of time with some biscuits, scones, quaint sandwiches, etc.
- Most Kenyans enjoy a cuppa with mahamri or chappati in the morning.
- In India, enjoy a cup of sweet spicy tea with some savoury snack.
- Chinese and Japanese enjoy small cups of green tea with a meal or/and after.
- If in Morocco, you’ll surely be greeted with a sweet or still sweeter tea which is made from gunpowder tea and mint. No don’t worry there is no gunpowder in it, its just the name of a special Chinese green tea.
- If in Russia, you’ll be served with a pot of strong tea and a cake.
Different Ways To Make Tea
There are so many ways of enjoying tea.
- Brew tea leaves in water, add lemon and a natural sweetener like honey and enjoy.
- Indian Tea. Loose tea leaves are allowed to boil in water and then milk, sugar and tea masala are added. This mixture is allowed to boil and simmer.
- English Tea – hot water is poured over a tea bag. It is allowed to brew for a while. The tea bag is removed. Little milk and sugar are added and tea is ready.
- To get relief from colds and sore throats, butter is added to hot tea. Some like to add a little milk or no milk at all.
- In colder parts of the world some kind of fat is added to tea. It provides energy and keeps one warm.
- Green Tea is brewed in hot water and enjoyed. No milk is added to green tea.
Different Types Of Teas
Actually, a few years ago I had not heard of tea houses, tea cafes or tea bars. Rooibos, Earl grey, Oolong, Green Tea, matcha, white tea, herbal tea, yellow tea, tisanes were all foreign words to me. Some different concoction of spices and turmeric given to us as kids to ward off ailments was just some yucky medicine and not Ayurvedic tea.
Besides the normal black tea that everyone consumed at home, the only other tea I knew of was what my grandmother would call ‘Ukado’ which is a Gujarati word for spiced milky tea without any tea leaves.
Some Tea Recipes On My Blog:
I love Kashmiri Tea/Kahwa when I need some relief from a cold or sore throat.
Green Tea Moment
Interestingly, my first taste of green tea was during my earlier visit to UK. When the weather had turned a bit cold in the evening, my cousin brought out a huge box of different flavoured green tea. Wasn’t even sure what it was. My brother suggested I try mint. Indeed, I was surprised when she came back to the living room with a tray full of hot water with hues of green in several mugs. That was ‘Green Tea meet Mayuri ‘moment. Instantly, loved the taste and next day asked my sister in law if she had any green tea in her pantry. After that there has been no looking back.
Tea And Me
Undoubtedly, I’m a huge fan of all sorts of tea. Certainly, my day has to begin with a hot mug of tea. I usually let the tea brew and add a few drops of milk. To enjoy tea with Indian breakfast the tea has to be the typical Indian kadak chai. The tea leaves are brewed with tea masala (a blend of spices), fresh grated ginger, sugar and milk. Kadak chai and tikhi puri…absolutely yummy and perfect Sunday brunch option.
Theme
When Veena who blogs at Veena’s Vegnation decided types of tea as our #153rd theme, I nearly missed it as I had gone to Halifax. Got back last night and was in no state to make tea. Then I realized that since I’m in Montreal I can take the advantage of the Eastern Time and still make my tea. Imediately thought of making Iced Chai Latte which I had enjoyed at Starbucks. Actually, made mine a bit different by using real spices and saffron. In fact this tea latte can be enjoyed hot or cold. To serve it hot make up the milky tea and then add frothed milk or cream on top.
Iced Chai Saffron Latte
Since the heat wave is still on in Montreal and many parts of Canada, I went for the cold one. Chai is tea so I really don’t know why the Westerners like to call it tea tea latte! What they really mean when they use the word chai its the tea masala or spice blend for tea.
What Is Tea Latte?
Before I have die hard coffee drinkers on my back for using the word latte, it originally means an expresso served with hot steamed milk. To take care of tea lovers tea latte came into existence where most coffee places will serve a spicy milky tea with steamed milk as an alternate.
Ingredients Required For Iced Chai Saffron Latte
- Tea – black tea either loose or tea bags. Amount of tea required will depend on how strong the tea leaves are.
- Water – normal tap or filtered water.
- Spices – cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom which is slightly crushed to open up the pods, saffron and nutmeg powder. Add spices according to your taste.
- Milk – cold milk. If you want to enjoy the latte hot then you will need hot milk.
- Sweetener – I have used sugar. You can replace the sugar with stevia, honey, maple syrup or any other sweetener.
- Whipped Cream – optional. But tastes so good with it.
- Ice Cubes – if you want to enjoy a chilled tea latte.
ICED CHAI SAFFRON LATTE
Ingredients
- 3½ cups water
- 1 cup cold milk any milk of your choice
- 2 1 inch cinnamon sticks
- 4-6 cloves
- 4 cardamoms slightly crushed
- 8-10 peppercorns
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg powder
- ¼ tsp saffron
- 2-3 tsp black tea leaves or 3 teabags
- 4-6 tsp sugar or a sweetener of your choice
- some whipped cream optional
- ice cubes
Instructions
BREW THE SPICES
- Add water, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and peppercorns in a saucepan and bring it to boil over medium heat.
- Let the water simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. This allows the oils and flavors of the spices to infuse into the water.
- Take the pan off the heat.
BREW THE TEA & SAFFRON
- Add the nutmeg powder, sugar, tea leaves and saffron. Cover the pan or teapot and let the tea and saffron infuse for 5-7 minutes.
COOL THE CHAI MIXTURE
- Strain the tea mixture. At this stage you can store the tea in the fridge till required.
SERVING ICED CHAI SAFFRON LATTE
- For each serving take ¾ cup of the brewed tea and add ¼ cup cold milk. Mix well.
- Pour the chai or tea over some ice cubes. Top with some whipped cream and serve immediately.
- To make a healthier version, you can omit the whipped cream.
Notes
- To serve hot chai latte, heat the milk before adding it to the hot brewed and strained tea. Can top it with some frothed milk or cream.
- This chai mixture tastes really good when served with loads of ice without any milk or cream as a cooling beverage.
- Adjust the amount of spices used according to your taste.
- Store the brewed tea mixture without adding milk or cream in the fridge till required.
- The amount of tea required will depend on the kind or brand of tea you use. I used Kericho Gold tea (not paid to advertise their products) which is quite a strong tea.
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