Friday Food Craft: Chai Concentrate

I love drinking chai. Nevermind the fact I have never been a coffee person, tea just generally tastes better to me. Chai even more so as it is spiced and added to equal parts milk to create a yummy latte that makes you forget its cold and rainy. I've seen lots of variations on making your own spiced chai concentrate, and this is mine :) I hope you enjoy it!

To make your own spiced chai concentrate you will need:

4 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 slices dried ginger (I rarely use ginger so I have dried sliced ginger in my pantry, if you want to use fresh which I am sure would be AWESOME, you will need 3 small chunks rather than slices)
10 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 small slice of orange peel
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
9 tea bags of your favorite black tea

Bring your water to a boil in a large pot and add in your sugar and vanilla extract. I like to do this first so the sugar fully dissolves (and the vanilla makes it smell yummy!). Reduce your heat to a simmer and add in your ginger, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel, as well as your ground spices.

*I happen to have loose tea bags that I use to put my ground spices in so I can remove them when my tea is done steeping, but if you don't you can always strain all of your bits out through a cheesecloth at the end.

Let your spices simmer in your water for about 20 minutes, then add in your tea bags and allow to steep for an additional 5 minutes. Remove all of your bags and spices and pour into container of your choice. Store in refrigerator. To serve, pour 1/2 cup concentrate and 1/2 cup milk together into microwave safe cup and heat to desired warmth. Yum!