Some people are either a coffee person or a tea person. I am definitely a tea person!
My favourite staples are regular green tea and Earl Grey, and branching from that I’d have to say ginger tea, passion flower tea, lavender tea, peach tea, lemon verbena tea… the list goes on.
Most recently added to that list is chai tea – I never really liked it initially because I had only ever seen it served with milk as a ‘chai latte’, and I’m not a fan of tea with milk in general. So when I learnt that you could actually have chai in it’s original form, my mind was blown!
I tried ‘straight’ chai for the first time when I received this gorgeous Chai Walli packet in my Vegan Box subscription. This was a caffeine-free version (so minus the black tea) which was a bonus because I’m not really into black tea either.
While it was brewing in my teapot, the smell captivated me – such a sensual, spicy aroma, yet sweet and warm too. Most chai spice mixtures include ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, peppercorn, nutmeg and cloves, so it’s no surprise that my olfactory receptors were having a field day.
Other possible ingredients include nutmeg, mace, black cardamom, chilli, coriander, rose flavouring, or liquorice root. This particular mixture had dried rose petals added to it, which looked so pretty when I poured it into a glass jar for storage, kind of like a herbal pot pourri.
There are also some great health benefits to drinking chai:
- Ginger aids digestion
- Cardamom detoxes
- Cinnamon lowers blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of heart disease
- Star anise contains antioxidants and has antifungal and antibacterial properties
- Fennel seeds are concentrated source of minerals like copper, iron, calcium, potassium, manganese, selenium, zinc, and magnesium
- Pepper corn promotes intestinal health
- Nutmeg relieves pain and improves blood circulation
- Cloves are a natural anti-inflammatory
So if you feel like giving chai a go, or are already a fan and would like to see how Chai Walli fares then check out their Chai Walli online store.
They have both the caffeine-free and regular chai, as well as some organic jaggery – a natural, unrefined sweetener derived from palm sap, and is a natural sweetener used in Indian dishes, especially chai.
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