The biggest obstacle to drinking great chai on weekday mornings is time. Who has fifteen minutes to stand at a stove before a 9am meeting?
The concentrate solves this. Make it on Sunday. Store it in a jar in the fridge. Every morning, mix two tablespoons of concentrate with hot milk, and you have a perfect cup in under a minute.
Why Concentrate Works
A properly made concentrate contains three times the normal tea strength and all the extracted spice oils. When you dilute it with hot milk, the flavours bloom back to life — more evenly distributed than a fresh brew, because the spices have had time to fully steep.
Add the sugar while the concentrate is hot to ensure it dissolves completely. A concentrate without sugar has a shorter shelf life (3–4 days vs 7–10 days) because sugar acts as a mild preservative.
Method
Step 1. Combine all spices and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Step 2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes — longer than a normal brew, to fully extract the spice oils.
Step 3. Add the tea. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
Step 4. Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
Step 5. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean glass jar or bottle. Cool completely before refrigerating.
Using the Concentrate
Hot chai: Mix 2 tbsp concentrate with 200ml hot milk. Adjust ratio to taste.
Iced chai: Mix 3 tbsp concentrate with cold milk and ice.
Chai latte: Froth the milk first, then pour concentrate through it.
Storage: Refrigerates for up to 10 days in a sealed glass jar.
“The ritual of making concentrate is itself a kind of Sunday meditation — an hour of spice and steam that sets the tone for the week.