Chances are you have (had chai), for producing a cup of chai tea is simpler than you might imagine. Though I enjoy tea year-round, a warm cup is particularly comforting on a blustery February day.
I had a lovely and fascinating conversation with an old acquaintance, whom I reconnected with on social media. Tanisha Rajput, a self-proclaimed micro-chai-influencer, who is known on Instagram as chai_struck, and “TeaTuber,” told me that she plans on being more active on her YouTube channel in the spring. As we caught up with each other she graciously shared with me her knowledge of love for the afternoon delight and creating content about it.
But really, tea is not limited to the afternoon, or any certain time of the day (this I can say from having lived in England two years and the many "tea breaks" that I witnessed and partook in). We talked about the versatility of tea and how it’s a lot like music. Our “favourite tea” is dependent on our mood, and time of day, or night, for that matter. We also have a mutual distaste for the question, “Are you a coffee or tea person?” Can’t a person like both equally? No need to let generic superficial questions put you into a box!
I was curious as to Tanisha’s choice for chai as the focus of her reviews, fun facts, and trends, and she told me that although she enjoys all kinds of teas, chai has its significance for her. “It’s accessible and close to me. I drink it on a daily basis and therefore am able to share personal stories. It led me to discover a whole world of tea,” Tanisha said. She also told me how there isn’t one particular way that she drinks it, which brought us back to the concept of making choices based on how we’re feeling, or time of the day (or evening). For example, I prefer herbal teas, like chamomile, lavender and peppermint, before bed because they help me relax and as I’m easily influenced by caffeine, I try to avoid anything with even the slightest caffeine content.
Already being a tea fiend, our talk and the fun tidbits that she shared with me piqued my interest and had me looking into tea traditions of various cultures and societies. I had heard of “high tea” but did not know that there was such a thing as “low tea.” And I'm surprised that I hadn’t come across it during my stay in the UK. Upon my recent research, I discovered that although “high tea” is not interchangeable with “afternoon tea,” as is a common misconception, “low tea” is another way of saying “afternoon tea,” which is the “fancy” tea time accompanied with friends, scones, mini sandwiches, and pastries, and served in midafternoon. High tea, on the other hand, can be described as tea with supper or a more substantial meal. Take a sip of tea every time I mention the word “tea.” As I thought about how supper (and dinner) is normally served at a higher table or counter, as opposed to a coffee table, suddenly their names made sense to me. Is there a name for drinking tea while writing a blog post at your desk?
The fact that really blew my mind was that any black tea is considered chai. Tanisha told me how chai tea had been “westernized” and that is the reason for its reputation of encompassing a variety of spices, including cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom. I am most definitely familiar with a cup of chai with these ingredients that make for a sweet and spicy drink (especially in the form of a latte, which I usually have half sweetened if not unsweetened, as no added sugar is of course a healthier option, but also I really appreciate the flavours on their own without any “enhancement”).
“There are no spices sometimes. Tea vendors in India would just put water, tea leaves, milk, and sugar” Tanisha said. She added that there’s a region between Pakistan and India, known as Jammu and Kashmir, that uses green instead of black leaves for their chai tea. After learning about the origin of chai from Tanisha, I was further intrigued and decided to go down the rabbit hole of tea, which brought me to reading about the worldwide consumption and growth of masala chai (spiced tea) and its variations.
So, it turns out that I’ve tried chai tea earlier in life than I had thought, but definitely not in all its forms yet. And I’ve come to realize that it’s difficult to really categorize or use labels for tea, but I guess we do for the sake of convenience, marketing, and small talk. But if it were up to me, tea cannot be put into a box.
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