15 September, 2006
masala chai
I called David Thompson, of Larsen & Thompson tea merchants, this afternoon just to tell him that his chai brought me back to the streets of India. I discovered his great masala chai at the Taste of Slow on the weekend at the Abbotsford Convent. He even served it in little terracotta pots (baands) just like India. Except I couldn't throw it on the ground and see it smash into a thousand little pieces. That would have been rude and slightly mad.
So, back to David, of Larsen & Thompson tea merchants and why his chai kicks ass.
The latest batch was picked in June from central India and mixed with special masala spices and delivered a couple of weeks ago. In my opinion, a lot of chai being sold at the moment has the masala mix right but the tea just doesn't cut the mustard. This is beautiful - a deep rich honey colour, creamy, spicy, aromatic. Use full cream milk, raw sugar and brew it nice and slowly for 15 minutes. I'm in India again......
# posted by W @ 4:30 pm 
