Searching for the Perfect Cup of Chai

Travel Blog • Eva Holland • 01.30.08 | 10:43 AM ET

Last week’s post about eating patatas bravas in Washington D.C. made my mouth water—and it also got me thinking about those meals that I’ll always associate with a particular place and time. I inevitably come back from a trip with a new favorite food or drink, and just as inevitably my attempts to re-create it at home, whether in a local restaurant or my own kitchen, fail miserably. Case in point: my search for the perfect cup of chai.

Three years ago, in India, I fell in love with chai—the ubiquitous, sweet-and-spicy, milky tea served in shops, on street corners and aboard trains across the country. I drank it in darkened pre-dawn railway stations, paying three or four rupees (less than 10 cents) for each small clay cup, grateful to pause because I had no idea where to go or what to do next. I drank it with my hosts in handicraft shops, reluctantly, knowing I’d just committed myself to buying those beaded pillow cases. Best of all, I drank it with each meal I ate in the middle of the Thar Desert, on camel safari. Our guide would fill a dented pot and heat it on the fire, then toss handfuls of cloves and powdered milk and cardamom and sugar into the boiling water seemingly at random—the result, I had no doubt, was the best cup of tea I would ever drink.

In the years since, I have ransacked Ottawa in search of chai that at least comes close to matching those cups I drank in India. I’ve tried four of five brands of packaged chai tea bags. I’ve tasted the “chai latte” in every gourmet coffee chain in town. I’ve even tested out the loose-leaf chai from an overpriced tea shop in the touristy open-air market downtown. I’ve altered my milk-to-water ratio. I’ve increased my sugar quota. I’ve tossed in some extra cinnamon or powdered ginger. But no matter what I do, I never manage to re-create those early-morning moments in India.

When I really think about it, I suppose I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Photo of chai ingredients by kk+ via Flickr (Creative Commons)