Chai Tea Concentrate

I remember my first chai latte. It was Denver, I was there to be in a wedding. Lauren (the bride) and I went to a Starbucks. It was warm, she got a chai iced latte. I stole a sip. Whoa, sweet creamy goodness. I've been hooked ever since.

The thing is, tea bags of chai just aren't quite as good as that awesome latte goodness.

So. Last weekend I took the situation into my own hands and made... Chai concentrate! It's really good--though I might dull down the honey on the next batch.

Chai Tea Concentrate
Ingredients

2 cinnamon sticks
2 slices ginger, peeled
6 tablespoons sugar
16 cardamom pods
10 whole cloves
8 whole black peppercorns
4 black teabags
2 tablespoon honey

Snap the cinnamon sticks in half. Put them into a pot. Cut 2 slices off of a piece of fresh ginger (no dried stuff, must be fresh!) and put those in that pot too. Add the cardamom pods, the sugar, the cloves, the peppercorns and the tea bags to the pot.

Add 2 cups of water and bring the whole concoction to a boil (medium-high heat should do the trick). Once it's at a boil, lower the heat and simmer for five minutes. 

Now it's important to take the tea bags out--you don't want it to get tannic. 

Turn the heat off and set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes--let the spices steep. 

At that point, strain (use cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer) into a bowl and add the honey. It's still warm enough to melt the honey. Mix it a little. 

And boom, you've got yourself some chai tea concentrate. Cool it. 

Then you can keep it in the fridge! I keep mine in adorable little bell jars. Fun!