Content

• Tips
• Warnings

1 Wrap the cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves in cheesecloth and tie with string. This is called a bunch of herbs.

2 Place the bunch of herbs in a pot of water. The rope should be tied to gauze for easy removal later on.

3 Bring water to a very low boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Boiling water can extract too much bitterness from ingredients.

4 Turn off the stove, add tea leaves and leave for 2-3 minutes. 3 minutes will give a stronger flavor to the tea, but will also increase the bitterness in the milk and spice tea.

5 Take out the bunch of herbs.

6 Take out the tea bags or strain the remaining liquid through a sieve to remove the tea leaves.

7 Add honey, vanilla and milk.

8 Serve. Pour the mixture over crushed ice if you are serving the tea cold. This is for eight servings.

Tips

• Kenya is one of the countries that use the word tea, and when they say it, they are generally referring to a hot tea drink flavored with tea oil and milk. Sometimes the manufacturer adds sugar, but this is often an individual choice; Kenyans tend to use a lot of sugar. I saw this preparation once, while I was living in Kenya, and tea bags, water and milk are all heated together, masala is added just before serving. Masala tea is sold in a bottle like many other spices and can be found in many Asian grocery stores.
• Tea leaves can release too much bitterness if brewed for too long. The general rule of thumb when brewing tea is: you prefer a "strong" flavor, do not brew for a long time, increase the amount of tea you use.
• The word "tea" also has its roots in Chinese. Cha, pronounced "tea" (without "y"), is the name given to tea in many parts of China and East India, such as Bengal.
• There are four varieties of cinnamon: Chinese cassia, Vietnamese cassia, Corinthian cassia, and Ceylon cinnamon. Ceylon is twice as expensive and highly valued. Try all four or combine them.
• The correct name for the drink known as "tea" or "tea with milk and spices" is "masala chai".The word chai comes from Urdu, Hindi and Russian chai, while masala comes from the Hindi word for spices. If you say that you are making "Tea" it means that you are making simple tea. Thus, both words are necessary.
• If you don't have gauze, or it's too dirty to use, you can purchase empty paper tea bags from a tea store. Fill them with spices (and more tea leaves, if you like), close the bags with an inexpensive clip, and discard them when you're done. You can also use cloth bags made from unbleached muslin for reuse. They are tied with a lace. Alternatively, you can count on filtration to remove most of the particulate matter (although finely grated spices will pass through the bag).
• San Francisco-based Red Flower Tea Company recommends brewing black tea for 1-2 minutes at 96 ° C for the best aroma. This is the temperature at which the water is going to boil.
• Some milk and spice tea recipes call for a longer boil, such as one hour. In this case, some ingredients, such as ginger, can be cut into larger pieces. Tea can be added last (separately), and after boiling, let the broth brew. Some varieties of milk and spice teas can be supplemented with mint leaves and omitted other ingredients such as vanilla. Delicate ingredients such as mint leaves should be added at the end of the boil and just steep after boiling.
• Remember that tea with milk and spices is a recipe that is very easy to change. You may want to consider skipping or changing the amount of any of the ingredients to your liking. For example, sugar or brown sugar can be used instead of honey. Nutmeg is a common addition (freshly grated is best), and you can try adding licorice, saffron, chocolate, or cocoa.
• Feel free to experiment with other techniques, such as using green or white tea instead of black leaf tea. In other embodiments, you can use soy milk instead of skim milk. Or you could use sweeteners other than honey, such as rice or maple syrups.

Warnings

• In some cultures and contexts, the term "Milk and Spice Tea" is superfluous. So if you don't want to sound uninformed, don't drink "tea". When the term "Milk and Spice Tea" is commonly used in the United States, it is useful as it is colloquially used to refer to a particular type of milk and spice tea served in India, also known as masala tea.