I had a yen for some Chai the other day, but with the heat, I would prefer iced. Iced is easier to make with a syrup or concentrate. Tazo makes a nice concentrate, but it’s a little pricey and I already had all the ingredients. I also had this crazy idea to making some really intense syrup and churning it in the Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment with some heavy cream to make Masala Chai ice cream.
The syrup came out great and I’ll post later if it ever makes it to the ice cream stage.
Intensely Sweet Masala Chai Syrup
Pressure cook about 10-12 min:
12 cups water
1/4 c. whole cloves
1/4 c. whole cardamom pods
4 sticks cinnamon
Release pressure and keep the mixture simmering while adding:
1 c. sugar
1 1/2- 2 c. honey
Stir often for about 15 min and then add:
6 black tea bags.
Leave on very low heat for about 3-5 min and then remove from heat. Let it cool for about 10-15 min and strain into a container to keep in the fridge. Makes about a half gallon.
Stir the syrup before pouring because of settling. Pour into a cup with milk and/or half & half with about 1 part syrup to 2 parts milk. Serve iced or heated in the microwave.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, then boil the first step for about 30 min, but you may need to add extra water because some of the water will evaporate in the boiling process.