Awesome (And Economical) Chai Concentrate

rsarahl's Note:

If you like the refreshing and spicy taste of chai half as much as I do, then you're going to love how easy and good this is! I make up a batch once of twice a month and then enjoy my chai.

• Total Time: 24 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 24 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 30-40

Yield: 14.0 oz conc ...

• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg or ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 (14 ounce) can condensed milk (sweetened or unsweetened)
• strong black tea (regular or decaf) or herbal tea (regular or decaf)

Directions:

1. Pour condensed milk and spices into the blender and blend on high speed for a few seconds until the milk looks evenly "flecked" with spices.
2. Pour mixture into a clean jar or container with a lid.
3. Refrigerate at least 24 hours.
4. Alternatively, pour mix into ice cube trays and freeze.
5. To use concentrate: Brew a strong black tea or strong herbal tea of your choice.
6. Stir in 1 frozen concentrate cube or 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of chai concentrate mix per cup of freshly steeped tea.
7. Frozen cubes will keep up to one year in the freezer if you pop them out of the trays and store in a freezer bag.
8. Concentrate will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Reviews

[Cindy Lynn]

This is supposed to be refrigerated for 24 hours before using, but you know how it is when you're the Chef...I just couldn't let any of that delectible stuff go to waste. I made up a fresh hot cup of strong black tea and used it to 'rinse' the blender--figured there had to be somewhere between 1/2-2 teaspoons left in there. It was superb and I know it's just going to get better! Rather than use a can of boughten sweetened condensed milk, I mixed up a batch from an excellent copycat recipe I have, then added the rest of this recipe to it. I will definitely be keeping this on hand!!! Thank you for sharing! :-))

[Mirj]

Oh wow! I love chai, but can't always drink it since it's inherently dairy, and I try to avoid dairy, at least on weekdays. This stuff was amazing. I make my own copycat sweetened condensed milk with soymilk powder, and there I had it, non-dairy chai. I'm also not to thrilled with the taste of cloves, so I left those out and added vanilla extract. I made my first cup with some green tea, and I was in heaven. It's been about 4 days now, and I keep experimenting with the different teas that I have. My favorite so far is with an almond tea. Sarah, I'm starting to get addicted to your recipes, thanks so much!

[Mishkapett]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This recipe is soooo easy and very good...I haven't found one that had just the "right" taste..either too strong or you could taste one of the spices more than the others. This one is perfect!! I made this one with the exact ingredients called for, but I am also going to make the next batch with the homemade condensed milk from the Copycat site.