Chai Tea Concentrate

• 2 quarts boiling water (I fill my electric tea kettle)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4-5 pieces crystallized ginger, or 4 inches fresh ginger unpeeled and roughly chopped
• 8 cardamom pods
• 2 star anise
• 10 cloves
• 8 allspice berries
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 6-10 teaspoons black assam tea leaves, or 10 black tea bags (I normally use 10 tsp tea leaves)
• 1/4 cup honey* see note above
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 orange, sliced, peel on, optional*

1. Start boiling the water (I fill my electric tea kettle and then get the spices ready while the water is coming to a boil).
2. Add the cinnamon sticks, ginger, nutmeg, tea and orange slices if using to the pot. Pour the boiling water over the top. Cover and let steep for 20-30 min.
3. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the tea. Stir in the honey and vanilla. Store in the fridge.
4. To serve: rnCombine in a 1:1 ratio with milk. Can be served warm or cold.
5. *I recently used 5 drops of orange essentil oil in place of the orange, so if you have an orange essential oil that you are comfortable ingesting, feel free to substitute it for the orange.

boiling water, cinnamon sticks, ginger, pods, anise, cloves, berries, nutmeg, black assam, honey, vanilla, orange

Taken from food52.com/recipes/41461-chai-tea-concentrate (may not work)