Recently, my friend/chiropractor Amanda went on a trip to India.

Now, she’s known about this blog long before it actually went live. I’ve loved chai for many years, and so when I go in it comes up when we talk and so when she told me she was going to India, I got super excited and told her to try all the chai for me.

When she came back, Amanda told me about how in India everyone there has their special recipe for chai. Some were more spicy than others and some had more ginger (basically everybody has their own version to their liking).

You could find it all along the street from different vendors, and wherever you went you were welcomed with a cup of chai (sounds like a dream come true)!

She also mentioned that not all of the chai there had milk in it. Sometimes it would just be the tea alone, and other times it would include milk or Buffalo milk.

Traditionally, chai is served in clay cups. I asked Amanda about this and whether or not they still serve it like that and she said they do, and it enhanced the flavor of the chai (she described it as more earthy).

So as she’s telling me all about this, I’m literally craving a cup of chai more and more by the second.

Amanda was so nice to bring me back chai spices and loose leaf darjeeling tea, straight from India!!!!

I’m so excited, because I will be able to make a true authentic Indian chai using ingredients that were directly brought back from India. It doesn’t get any closer to the real thing than this!

The chai spices are in a jar separate from the tea, allowing me to adjust the ratio just the way I like. Amanda also recommended adding more pepper or more fresh ginger if I like.

As soon as I open up the jar of spice you can tell how fresh it is, the aroma is indescribable.

Every chai lovers dream.

The darjeeling tea is also very good quality, it gives a different flavor than I’ve tasted before that takes this chai to the next level.

Personally, I like my chai spicy, so I experimented with the ratio of milk to tea as well as the spice to loose leaf tea. I finally found the perfect amount of everything to my taste and it was an amazing cup of chai!

This was the best cup of chai I’ve had so far, so thank you to Amanda for bringing these chai ingredients back for me! I really can’t thank you enough.

If you’re ever in Maui and need a really good chiropractor, be sure to visit Amanda at Lahaina Health Center!