The common myth…
People commonly hold this as the myth behind the origins of chai and I am going to go on and share the story. Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a king who ruled the region of India and Siam. He wanted to create a potion that would cure some sicknesses and found himself discovering the beverage we know today called ‘tea’. I don’t know how far any type of tea can cure illness but it is one hell of a beverage. Let’s just say it originated in India and leave it at that.
Tea is chai. Chai is tea.
Are chai and tea, the same thing? If you are in India, you would agree but if you are in the US, you may not. Just forget about the origin of the drink and look at the words. What I found amazing is that in the US, when you say ‘chai’, it refers to masala chai latte and its several variants. And, ‘tea’ is regular milk tea latte. Tea may be chai.
What is it that I am smelling?
A whiff of vanilla, cardamom? Ginger? There’s more. Some say tea was created 5000 years ago. If it tasted the same way and made the same way for that many long years, what boredom! Masala Chai Latte is just any spice in your tea to add adventure to your palette. In Asian countries, these can be ginger tea, cardamom tea, cinnamon tea, mint tea, lemon tea, honey tea and more. We have so many new flavours brewing everyday. Green tea and black tea have their own flavours strong and hard. So, what am I smelling? It’s tea that doesn’t smell like tea anymore.
How did it spread?
When we say ‘chai’, we think of masala chai and India. But in China, there was tea far before India. Did it begin from China, we don’t know. But there is evidence of its existence there even before Christ. Now, that is a long time. At a point in time, India imported tea from China before producing affordable tea for the masses. In the 1940s, it was Indian restaurants that brought chai to the US. It spread so far and wide and in such an intense manner that they had to create new flavours of chai. Today, you can get a cup of chai just anywhere.
New funky tea flavours
Like I said, we are not monotonous people. Check out some new flavours that I came across. There is Tapioca Bubble tea, also known as pearl tea. This originated in Taiwan not too long ago and what they do is that they pour flavoured tea over ice and serve it with candy-like tapioca balls. The flavours range from strawberry, watermelon, almonds and coconut. I cannot imagine how coconut tea would taste like! There is also tea made with evaporated milk in Hongkong and tea made from heavy cream in Germany. Adding to the list, I found this one the BondiChai, one of Aussies’ favourites and one that is spreading fast in the Singapore markets. The definition of ‘masala’ has widened. And it is up to you to give it a try. Meet you again with another interesting and scintillating Chai flavour of course tea flavour.
People commonly hold this as the myth behind the origins of chai and I am going to go on and share the story. Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a king who ruled the region of India and Siam. He wanted to create a potion that would cure some sicknesses and found himself discovering the beverage we know today called ‘tea’. I don’t know how far any type of tea can cure illness but it is one hell of a beverage. Let’s just say it originated in India and leave it at that.
Tea is chai. Chai is tea.
Are chai and tea, the same thing? If you are in India, you would agree but if you are in the US, you may not. Just forget about the origin of the drink and look at the words. What I found amazing is that in the US, when you say ‘chai’, it refers to masala chai latte and its several variants. And, ‘tea’ is regular milk tea latte. Tea may be chai.
What is it that I am smelling?
A whiff of vanilla, cardamom? Ginger? There’s more. Some say tea was created 5000 years ago. If it tasted the same way and made the same way for that many long years, what boredom! Masala Chai Latte is just any spice in your tea to add adventure to your palette. In Asian countries, these can be ginger tea, cardamom tea, cinnamon tea, mint tea, lemon tea, honey tea and more. We have so many new flavours brewing everyday. Green tea and black tea have their own flavours strong and hard. So, what am I smelling? It’s tea that doesn’t smell like tea anymore.
When we say ‘chai’, we think of masala chai and India. But in China, there was tea far before India. Did it begin from China, we don’t know. But there is evidence of its existence there even before Christ. Now, that is a long time. At a point in time, India imported tea from China before producing affordable tea for the masses. In the 1940s, it was Indian restaurants that brought chai to the US. It spread so far and wide and in such an intense manner that they had to create new flavours of chai. Today, you can get a cup of chai just anywhere.
New funky tea flavours
Like I said, we are not monotonous people. Check out some new flavours that I came across. There is Tapioca Bubble tea, also known as pearl tea. This originated in Taiwan not too long ago and what they do is that they pour flavoured tea over ice and serve it with candy-like tapioca balls. The flavours range from strawberry, watermelon, almonds and coconut. I cannot imagine how coconut tea would taste like! There is also tea made with evaporated milk in Hongkong and tea made from heavy cream in Germany. Adding to the list, I found this one the BondiChai, one of Aussies’ favourites and one that is spreading fast in the Singapore markets. The definition of ‘masala’ has widened. And it is up to you to give it a try. Meet you again with another interesting and scintillating Chai flavour of course tea flavour.
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