Tai chi, Chai tea and The Slap

I had my first ever Tai chi lesson and came back buzzing...It's much more gentle than yoga...not that the yoga I ever do is very taxing....nothing like the Bikram Hatha Yoga that H does! 


I felt so good after the class that somehow a cup of PG tips seemed a bit mundane. I decided to have a go at making chai tea instead.  


A quick google search revealed lots of different recipes and 'how-to' videos, including this one: 


http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_2334296_make-chai-latte.html   ...doesn't she have the cutest accent? 


(Please excuse the advert...it just comes up first...)


I didn't use that recipe although I'm sure it's lovely, because the demonstrator uses a milk steamer on an espresso maker and I'm not keen on frothy drinks... I would always choose filter coffee over cappuccino...it seems a bit like drinking air!


I used a mixture of recipes and chose the following ingredients for one person:

• A large spoonful of tea.  I used Orange Pekoe by Ahmad Tea. It has a lovely aromatic flavour
• A cup or mug-full of milk or substitute.  
• The seeds from one cardamom pod.
• A small piece of cinnamon stick or powder.
• A spoonful of honey
• Two or three black peppercorns.
• A little grating of fresh ginger.

Method:

1. Place the milk in a small pan.I used a Turkish coffee pot. 
2. Add all the ingredients except the tea and give them a good stir.
3. Sprinkle the tea on top
4. Heat up the milk and bring to a simmer.
5. Continue to warm for a few minutes so that the flavours have time to infuse into the milk but ensure that it doesn't boil over.
6. Pour into a mug or cup, using a strainer to remove the seeds, peppercorns and grains.

Enjoy...

This all-in-one method is very quick to make.  I will try the two step method of brewing the tea with water in a cafetiere (french press)and then adding to the heated milk and compare the results. Although I have to say this lovely mellow,warming milky drink was so good that I'm really hesitant to alter it...I especially loved the little kick from the black peppercorns and ginger..mmm...

...and talking about a buzz...have you been watching The Slap on BBC4?  I noticed Pip Lincolne writing about it over here it's a television series filmed in Victoria, Australia based on a novel by  Christos Tsiolkas.  I noticed the third episode was on one evening whilst 'A' was out and I watched it so that I could see what all the buzz was about...and found it shocking, intriguing, amazing, unusual,and very fast moving. I loved the sets the higgeldy piggeldy houses, noticed a coffeepot like my vintage teapot,loved the narrator at the beginning it reminded me of the introduction to Amelie or a 1950's American detective series. So I watched it again on a Sunday evening with 'A' he was intrigued too and we ended up watching the 1st and 2nd episodes on iplayer there and then and now we're a bit hooked...we have to see how it ends... 

image via