September 23, 2004

• I love it - I've been making my own since someone introduced it to me a loooooooong time ago. I throw a bay leaf into my blend. Another good tea is lychee.
• Discovered? Hasn't chai been a fixture of indian restaurants since like, forever?
• I like when chai has a whole cardamom or two floating in it.
• And, like, Starbucks? (Although I imagine some people don't consider the concentrated stuff the real thing.) Still, I'd love to try some homemade chai sometime and see what it's supposed to taste like.
• Chai is a wonderful spice milk tea from India Chai comes from Oregon. Duh.
• I tried tea with milk once. It tasted like liquid happiness. It was horrible. I like my tea to be more austere, thankyouverymuch.
• "Chai is a wonderful spice milk tea from India that is being discovered by contemplative beverage drinkers around the world." Just like Columbus discovered America even though there were millions of people living here! also contemplative drinkers must be soe sort of doublespeak for tie wearing posers because those are the only people I have ever seen drink it (Of course just because you drink it doesn't mean I am slandering you. I'm just saying, around here that's how it is. Of course they go to Starbucks even though in this town of 60,000 there are 5 other coffee shops in a 5 block distance...)
• I've loved chai since I first discovered it in 2000 - it's the coffee alternative of choice in Santa Cruz, I think. Now my mother drinks it. I don't really know what to make of that.
• dhruva - Forgive my ignorance, but is garam masala the basic spice mixture that normally goes in chai? There seemed to many different recipes on the linked site, but I noticed a reference to "masala" - I have a spice mixture that I was told was "garam masala".
• MMmmmm, chai shakes, mmmmmm......
• jb, a chai with garam masala (literally hot spice) would be a new one for me, although I've had spicy tea before. I should also protest that Chai is not just "a wonderful spice milk tea". Chai is the regular Hindi word for tea as tea in English is for umm.. tea. That said, tea is spiced with various stuff, especially elaichi (cardamom). I like my chai kadak (hard), meaning not too milky with a sharp spicy taste. For American monkeys, where the f*** can I get milk of the water buffalo, rather than the cow? Since childhood, my chai has always been mixed with milk of the former and the tea I conjure up here just doesn't taste the same.
• Much love to dhruva from me.
• Weird synchronicity story: I was hearing one of my friends reading this exact quote at 10:12 Monday night. True story.
• I hope these internet stocks i bought pan out.
• I should also protest that Chai is not just "a wonderful spice milk tea". Chai is the regular Hindi word for tea as tea in English is for umm.. tea. Shrimp scampi!
• ...as tea in English is for umm..tea. Might try 'char", Daniel.
• Awesome site, bees.
• Chai + Hot Chocolate = blissful tastebuds
• >>I should also protest that Chai is not just "a wonderful spice milk tea". Chai is the regular Hindi word for tea as tea in English is for umm.. tea. >Shrimp scampi! Panini sandwich!
• Curious George: can one of the resident desis tell me if it is /tʃɑj/ or /tʃɑi/? Am I right in guessing that the य in चाय is the (palatal) approximant, not the close front vowel?
• For American monkeys, where the f*** can I get milk of the water buffalo, rather than the cow? I don't know man, try asking over at buffalofilter.
• jb- Garam masala- (literally hot spice mixture) is usually used in cooking. tea masala is what its called commercially, the real stuff is almost always hand made Hi wolof
• Bah! I have now taught myself the devanagari script and answered my own question. I guess I already knew this, but I was somewhat surprised at the way the consonants are ordered -- if this ordering indeed dates back to Sanskrit, then it appears that the ancient Indian grammarians predicted modern phonetics nearly 2000 years ago. Good show!
• Chai ice cream Cinammon chai cake This post brought to you as a result of a well-intended but unsuccessful fudgsicle/chai experiment.