Mother's Day Tea Tradition - Chai Recipe

Warm fragrant spices and tea are stewed in a pot releasing flavors galore and then sweetened with Evaporated Cane Juice or Coconut Sugar.

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Then & Now

This recipe was originally created and published by me for a Brunch Week Event with other food bloggers back in 2014. I had no idea that after this post was created, my Mom, Daughters and I would have a new Mother's Day tradition.

The Informal Tea Party

Every year for Mother's Day we brew up a pot of delicious tea. Sometimes I give Mom all of the ingredients in a zip-lock bag and she brews it. But usually I brew the tea and she stops by for a few minutes and we talk and drink "THE TEA."

One year, I poured it into my vintage Pump-A-Drink and brought it to a parking lot where we met while she was working. Rain or Shine, we have our Mother's Day Tea.

It started out with lunches at an Indian restaurant where we would always order the masala tea with our meal. If you love Indian food, you might like my recipe for Rice Kheer.

I call this an Informal Tea Party because even during the pandemic and when we lived in different states for two years, we committed to still having our tea together. (On the Phone)

The ingredients are a little pricy so don't let the word Informal fool you. The money is spent where it counts, On The Spices!

We usually don't sip it out of the fancy cups I have used to photograph this post. 🙂

Chai Tea Ingredients

"Chai" and "Tea" are redundant, because they mean the same thing. However, in America and the American English language, we have so many different varieties of tea, that this is what we call it so we know exactly what flavor we are referring to. Chai is NOT the American staple flavor of tea as it is in India.

When Americans simply say "tea", we are usually referring to brewed Cold Orange Pekoe or Black Iced Tea, and never with milk unless we are talking about an English Hot Tea.

The flavor of Chai is specific, as noted by Food and Wine. "Chai is a way of life in India. Almost everywhere you go—in trains, on streets, in sari shops—you will see people gulping down the sweet, spicy, milky beverage. In America, "chai" has become known as a flavor of tea with predominantly cinnamon or cardamom notes. Jan 4, 2023."

Our recipe changes every time we make it but it goes like this. You can't really mess this up, it's so versatile. Just don't add any powdered or ground spices. That leaves a chalky taste.

Toss the ingredients of your choice in a big kettle or pot.
A vanilla bean or pure extract, star anise, cardamom pods, etc... and then at the last minute add the sugar and milk. It can brew for 20 minutes or two hours.

Strain.

Add the milk in the last 5 minutes while the heat is on low.

Originally, I called it "Spicy Cinnamon & Vanilla Almond Green Tea Chai", but today, for short, I am calling it Mother's Day Tea. At the time I wrote the recipe, I used Bob's Red Mill Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar. I've moved to using Coconut Sugar or Jaggery now because my local store doesn't sell Bob's Sugar any more.

Strain the spices out.

How about a Christmas Tea Tradition? Try the vintage recipe for Friendship Tea!

Create Your Own Signature Tea Together

I don't always use all of the ingredients but I try not to leave out the fresh ginger and cardamom. This tea is very flexible. Wouldn't it be fun if you and your loved one created your own flavor together and gave it a special name?

For a more traditional flavor (as my Mom likes it), you simply choose the black tea/whole milk in place of the green tea/almond milk. It's a win-win either way.

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