Hello from a newcomer

Welcome, Emma.

You can also order pre-mixed chai tea from a number of online vendors, such as

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks David. I did try the pre-mixed chai tea from uptontea.com. But what I felt is that the tea was little light with those pre-mixed bags. If I steep the bag for longer time then I do get a bit stronger tea but then all the spice flavors get stronger too. I wanted more control over the spices in my chai tea. I could get that with the tea masala drops that I got.

David M. Harris wrote:

Or you can buy a tea masala blend from most Indian grocery stores. I find the common "Laxmi" brand to have too much black pepper for my taste, but many groceries will give you the ground spices to make your own and some will compound them for you also.

I cannot help but think that Emma is an advertising ploy.

--scott

You guys are kidding me, right? You really think I am doing an advertising ploy? I just can't believe it!!! And what abt you all giving URL's of uptonton tes and silvertipstea ?? In my defense - Looks like you guys haven't tried the powders that you get in Indian store. If not sieved properly it just ruins your tea. Try it and see. And you said that some stores will compound the spice powders for you. At least the one in my area doesn't.

Scott Dorsey wrote:

The problem is that guys will drop in on a regular basis here attempting to advertise things. Sorry if we mistook you for one, but invariably when someone with no posting history drops in to tell us about some wonderful new product, it's spam. Especially if it's not really a very good product.

I have indeed tried the various masalas from Indian stores, and most of them are just fine as long as you are careful with them. Mix them with a finely-ground tea and let the mixture sit for a couple weeks before you use it. I am not sure what you mean by sieving... you do indeed need to mix it well with the tea and then to let the oils permeate the tea leaves themselves.

A lot of stores will compound spice powders, but if they don't, it's really not hard to do yourself. Personally I will take a teaspoon of tea, add a pinch of ground clove (bought preground), and add three or four whole cardamoms broken open. Some folks will add cinnamon, black pepper, and ginger. Some folks will use preground cardamom (although I find it doesn't keep as well as the whole ones). But the point is that the stuff ought to be made up to your own personal tastes, and not to the tastes of some guy in a laboratory in Bangalore.

--scott